Epson 4990 scanning software question

[J. L. Jones]

I replaced my 4870 with a 4990 and it's a big improvement
with respect to sharpness and shadow detail.

I umgraded the SilverFast software ($99!) and it's good.

I'd like to be able to scan several 6x6 negatives at once.
The Epson scanning software allows this. My computer has a
great deal of memory available.

However, If I attempt to scan even one 6x6 negative at 48
bit at 4800 ppi, even using the scanning software alone (not
through photoshop), I get the error message "Scanner couldl
not allocate required memory. Quit other applications and
try again.

Essentially there are no other applications running on a
computer with 2.7 GB of fast ram available. Most of the ram
is free. It's more than enough ram for a file that size.
Actually, it's got 4 GB of ram but Win2000 only sees 2.7.

This seems to have something to do with scanning in 48 bit.
It works fine when scanning in 24 bit.

Is this a defect of the software? Is there some setting I
should change somewhere?

I'd ask Epson but trying to get help from them is like
pounding sand down a rathole.

Thanks,

Larry Jones

 

[-]

I'd like to be able to scan several 6x6 negatives at once.

The Epson scanning software allows this.

If you mean that you want to scan several 6x6 images as one single long
image at 4800 dpi, then the issue you describe is well known (especially if
you have ICE on). FWIW, supposedly VueScan may be able to overcome this
limitation with some Epson scanners according to the page that lists recent
updates/tweaks to the software. You might give the free demo a try.

Doug

 

[J. L. Jones]

If you mean that you want to scan several 6x6 images as one single long
image at 4800 dpi, then the issue you describe is well known (especially if
you have ICE on). FWIW, supposedly VueScan may be able to overcome this
limitation with some Epson scanners according to the page that lists recent
updates/tweaks to the software. You might give the free demo a try.

Doug

Thanks, Doug, but I mean I want to scan multiple 6x6
negatives by putting little boxes around them and clicking
on the button that makes them all "active."

What makes me crazy is that I could do this when I first
installed the scanner and software; scan six negatives at
4800 and 48 bit. No error message. Now I get an error
message.

Larry

 

[RBudding]

Thanks, Doug, but I mean I want to scan multiple 6x6
negatives by putting little boxes around them and clicking
on the button that makes them all "active."

What makes me crazy is that I could do this when I first
installed the scanner and software; scan six negatives at
4800 and 48 bit. No error message. Now I get an error
message.

Larry

You should be able to do this with Silverfast by using the job manager
(I'm new to Silverfast and haven't tried it yet). The documentation
isn't very good, so perhaps you should buy the "Silverfast Official
Guide." I bought mine used from Amazon for $10.

Good luck.
Robert

 

[Bart van der Wolf]

SNIP

However, If I attempt to scan even one 6x6 negative at 48
bit at 4800 ppi, even using the scanning software alone (not
through photoshop), I get the error message "Scanner couldl
not allocate required memory. Quit other applications and
try again.

Some math:
1 scanline of a 56mm wide piece of film scanned at 4800ppi produces
10583 pixels. Each pixel contains either 3 (8-bit/channel-bit) or 6
(16-bit/channel) bytes, which results in 31749 or 63498 bytes.
Maybe the software has a limit of 15-bit numbers built-in somewhere,
or maybe whole scanlines (including some of the cropped edge) are
processed? Maybe the staggered sensor array needs to initially
allocate double the number of pixels before output is generated?


SNIP

Is this a defect of the software? Is there some setting I
should change somewhere?

Maybe you could try and reduce your crop area a bit until 48-bit scans
are accepted, that might give a clue as to how the software handles
all this data.

Bart