You keep referring to a printer, when in fact what you need is a scanner. A scanner is a device that will enable you to create a copy of your photograph or your slide in much the same manner as you would use a copy machine. Then you will be able to save the scanned photograph as a file on your computer. If you decide to purchase a scanner, at the bare minimum make sure that you get one that will scan 35mm slides because some of them will not do this. The scanners that will work include some sort of an adapter that you can put your slide in.
However, if you really want to get high quality slide scans, you need to purchase a scanner designed specifically for that purpose and they are usually more expensive, but will provide much better quality results. I have a scanner with a 35mm adapter, and while I am able to obtain some fairly high quality results, it usually requires a lot of "cleanup" for me to be able to get something that I can really use.
If you truly have hundreds (in my case it was thousands) of slides, you’d be much better off buying a dedicated slide scanner. I believe the MInolta Dimage III is a favorite of several people on the forum. The scans will be of much better quality, you can often scan at higher resolution than what’s available with an adapter on a flatbed, and the process will be both easier and faster.
This turned out to be a double post. Sorry.
I’m sorry Jim, I meant scanner. My brain was thinking one thing and my fingers something else. Jeane
Thanks Beth,
I have just looked at the Dimage III on the internet and that is probably what I will purchase. I lurk here every day and have learned so much about Elements so I knew I would get some good info. on the scanner.
Thanks everyone!
Jeane
I think you’ll be very happy with a decision to get a dedicated scanner. I have an old HP S20, which is not only obsolete, but its capabilities are below what’s available on something like the Dimage. In spite of that, I recently read a review of the quality of slide scans using the Epson 3200 Pro – currently one of the best flatbed/transparency combos – as compared to results using the old HP S20. The scans from the HP are still superior.
If you buy the Dimage and have questions, come back and we’ll wake up Bert ( Rip Van Winkle ) Bigelow . He has an earlier model and can share his experiences with you .
🙂
Brent
Beth,
After reading more on the Dimage I’m pretty sure that’s what I will get. It just popped in my mind a few minutes ago that I had a scanner that I used on my previous computer that I gave to my Grandson. It had an attachment for film and slides. I pulled it out of the closet but don’t think I will even bother hooking it up and trying it out. It was for Win 95 and before. It is a Microtek Scanner. The Dimage looks much easier to use and I am sure it will get better results.
Jeane
Hi Jeanne,
I have posted this before, and it is for people who have a Nikon Coolpix 990 or 950 camera only; <
http://www.dcresource.com/SlideCopier/>
It works very well, $40, and all you do is digitize the slides, then open them in PSE and go from there. Very easy.
For more info, if you have these cameras, let me know, as it is too much to put here, not many people have the 990 or the 950 any more.
Jane
For the DiMage Dual Scan, IV is the latest model. You might still find a III around, but I’d go for the IV. I use the II which is great, but the IV should be far better.
The main advantage of the new Minolta is the automatic dust removal. Definitely worth waiting for.
Leen
Epson supposedly has a new flat-bed scanner coming out in February that has a 4000 ppi slide-scanning function built in — and it includes the Digital Ice dust and scratch removal hardware (separate infrared scanning beam) and software. Projected price is around US$500.
Bob Warren
Bob, thanks – how will that compare against the Minolta IV that was discussed earlier in this thread? In any event, sounds like a winner!
You don’t have to wait for the DiMAGE IV, it’s out now.
So far, flat beds can’t match a dedicated film scanner, and I don’t see how the new Epson can be an exception. They just aren’t set up to scan film properly – not for $500 any way.
Beth (and others) —
My eyes "perked up" when I saw your reference to the HP PhotoSmart S20 dedicated photo scanner earlier in this thread.
I have used the S20 for the past three years and have been very pleased with the results I have been getting. Glad to see that its results are considered superior to the Epson one mentioned. As you know, the S20 not only handles slides, but also prints and 35mm strips.
Wonder if anyone else on this forum uses the S20.
Kay
I’m currently scanning hundreds of 1960’s slides from my family to create an archive. I use a Minolta Scan Dual III which is new, cheap and excellent, however the dust removal is basic. Photoshop Elements is bundled with it so that is what I use. The scanner has a very easy wizard and also a highly configurable advanced interface. I think this scanner is excellent value for money but is of course out performed by more expensive models. Check your method of connection to PC USB2 is fast, Firewire is fastest. If you don’t have either, buy a cheap pci plug in card – it will spead up the scans.
My question is this:
– The scan preview picks up a black border of the slide mounting. Because I have hundreds to scan I don’t manually crop off the boarder in the scan software but leave it until the day I might want to use the image. An I creating a problem here in that the scans will be incorrectly exposed as the driver ‘averages’ the exposure (which will be wrong as the boarder skews this)?
Any ideas?
Thanks,
olly
Another possibility is to have your slides scanned by a third party. I have had several 35mm kodachrome slides scanned by Wall Mart. Their price is 29 cents per slide, with a minimum of 12 slides. The scan is the quality of a 2 megapixel image. This saves the investment in a scanner.
Yawn…Ok, Brent, I finally woke up. Yes, I have a Dimage Dual Scan II which has the old, slow USB 1.1 interface. The III has USB 2.0. However, I did a few measurements…the actual file transfer time…the only time the interface is used…is about 15 seconds of the two minute total time for each 35mm slide. So, yes, the III will save you some time…maybe ten or twelve seconds out of each two minute period. Unless there are other improvements in the III, you won’t see a huge improvement. I don’t know anything about the IV.
Bert
Re the Epson flatbed. There’s more to scanners than resolution. Film scanners generally have greater dynamic range…which means blacker blacks. I have a reasonably good HP 5470c flatbed scanner with an external film adapter. The difference in scan quality between that and my Dual Scan II is amazing. Look in a black area, and the flatbed scan looks like colored confetti.
Bert
Re SCANNING 35mm SLIDES;
I’ve just bought a Dimage 111 but can’t figure out how to get on to Photoshop Elements. I already have PE1 installed (in Windows 98 2E) and therefore didn’t use the Elements CD(M) that came with the scanner. Is it a special version? Should I uninstall PE1 and replace it with PE(M), or have both installed (that sounds like trouble).
When I go to File >Import Dual 3 shows up and also Kodak DC120 Digital Access. I don’t have a digital camera as yet – is there a connection? something to do with TWAIN?
If anybody can enlighten me I would certainly appreciate it. Thankyou, Bonnie L.
Bonnie,
When you do your scan, save it in a dedicated folder. If you are going to print it, save it as a tif. (I keep the Pixel Polish and Auto Dust Brush selected for all of my scans.) Start Elements, open the file browser and find your file. You don’t have to do an import or worry about Twain.
One quirk about Scan Dual III is that you have to turn the scanner on before you can open the Scan Dual program.
Paul
Paul,
Sounds good. I’ll try that and let you know. Many thanksBonnie L.
re Scanning 35mm slides.
Paul,
This is terrific! I never even thought of going to the browser – so easy when you know how. And what about the PE(M) CD? I presume I don’t need that. Thanks a million.
Bonnie L.
Bonnie, I use Photoshop SE with my Scan Dual III. I run Photoshop and then use File, Import to run a scan. I can then save it an any format I want (normally Tiff with lossless compression or jpeg for emailing).
Works well for me.
Hope this helps,
Olly
Bonnie,
I have heard it said that bundled copies of PSE are exactly the same as the boxed version.
Bonnie,
I’m not sure what PE(M) is. Maybe someone else knows. If you have Elements 1 and the scanner program installed, that should be all you need. I always scan my slides to file because my primary purpose is to catalog and thumbnail the thousands of slides I’ve accumulated. I save them as low compression jpgs. If I’m going to make a high quality print, I rescan the slide as a tiff. The jpgs are good enough for smaller prints or slide shows on the computer. Good luck.
Paul
Re SCANNING 35mm
PAUL, OLLY, NANCY,
Thanks for the info. It’s all working out now.
The PE(M) – I presume the(M) stands for Minolta, but whether it’s PE1 or PE2 there,s no indication. It would be nice if it were PE2.
As others have said before me, this is a great forum.
Bonnie
Bonnie, is there a large yellow sunflower on the splash screen as Elements is opening? If so, it’s version 2. If not, it’s version 1.
Hmmm. That’s funny. My Minolta Dual Scan II came with Photoshop LE 5.0. This is a cut-down version of an earlier PS, I believe. Anyway, I prefer PSE (I use 1.0) but PSLE does have Curves, which my PSE lacks (I know there is a plugin) so when I need curves, (rarely) I just open PSLE.
If you’re going to do a lot of acanning, I would recommend that you buy VueScan software package. I have used it to scan about 3000 slides. I prefer it to the Minolta software that came with my scanner. Yours may be different, dunno…
Bert
Bert, PS Elements was not out yet when Dual Scan II was made. Elements was put in III and now IV. I assume IV has PSE – 2.
Scanning 35mm slides:
Beth,
Hi! No sunflower. I just opened it and it seems to be mainly customer and tech support. Pity.. Bonnie
Bert,
I’ll keep VueScan in mind. Not sure where I can get it but will scout around…anything to make life easier.
Bonnie
Sorry for double post, Bert wasn’t there when I began.
BERT BIGELOW
thanks Bert, I"ll look into that.
Bonnie
Scanning 35mm slides.
Having great fun with the new Minolta. Have been saving in TIFF, (a new one for me), but it looks as though I can’t use Layers in that format. Should I save in PSD to do editing and manipulations? I know I can do some in Dimage but I rather like using PE.
Bonnie L.
Bonnie – TIFF has full layers capability in Elements. That’s my format of choice; I use it all the time.
Chuck
.. .Chuck,
T
hanks, I’ll figure it out. Might have to get back to you .Bonnie
Bonnie, just open one of your saved TIFF’s in Elements, add an adjustment layer, and then Save As a TIFF again, with a different name. You should see some "Save Options’ in the TIFF Save As dialog box; one is Layers. That should be checked.
Chuck
Chuck:
Thanks, Wonderful. Thought I’d have to repeat the morning’s work.And I should make more use of the browser…
Bonnie
