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false_dmitrii
I've tried the Vuescan and Silverfast Ai demos and still can't tell
which product will better suit me. Part of the trouble is that I'm
not sure of the underlying strengths and weaknesses of their available
features. Robert Feinman referred me to his website for a comparison,
but I couldn't find a full rundown of the major software features
(Robert, am I overlooking it?). Vuescan appears to be the
overwhelming favorite in this newsgroup...can anyone make the case for
or against Silverfast Ai, or offer any thoughts on the "target market"
for each product?
My initial impressions are that Vuescan offers more features for the
money, and possibly some unique features (not sure how many; the demo
(v. 7.6, just saw the v. 8 release post) is feature-limited). Vuescan
supports its full range of scanners directly, whereas Silverfast
apparently requires multiple purchases. Silverfast now offers true
Digital ICE, plus the RAW scanning that has given Vuescan such an
edge. Like Vuescan, their HDR package can "scan" a RAW file...but
seems to require additional $100s. Both products can be configured
for multiple scan passes, and both offer numerous output options. The
Silverfast interface is more intuitive, though not without numerous
quirks, and offers histogram, curve, and color controls equivalent to
those of image editors.
Apart from ease of use and listed features, does one product produce
particularly better output than the other? Are Silverfast's pricier
algorithms "better" in some way? I plan to use my scanning software
almost exclusively for color negatives along with B&W and color photo
prints of wildly varying quality (some are quite faded, making scanner
sensitivity more important than elsewhere). I found Vuescan capable
of good negative results with its "recommended workflow" followed by
"auto" color adjustment, though I struggled a bit getting the previews
and exposure/color locks into the proper sequence. But Silverfast's
large film database and color management system are attractive too. I
disliked Vuescan's long refresh delays but found them manageable once
I set the auto refresh to "0".
At the minimum, I'd like direct numerical control of clipping %, which
neither Epson Scan nor Silverfast SE provide. Vuescan does this; can
Ai's histogram adjust by percentage rather than level integers? It's
not immediately clear. Also, since I'm avoiding Photoshop ($$$), the
ability to do 16-bit adjustments and colorspace conversion from RAW
archive files is a strong selling point for both Vuescan and Ai/HDR.
I hope I've laid this out relatively clearly. Feel free to toss me
further questions about my requirements if I'm approaching this the
wrong way. Thanks for all replies!
false_dmitrii
which product will better suit me. Part of the trouble is that I'm
not sure of the underlying strengths and weaknesses of their available
features. Robert Feinman referred me to his website for a comparison,
but I couldn't find a full rundown of the major software features
(Robert, am I overlooking it?). Vuescan appears to be the
overwhelming favorite in this newsgroup...can anyone make the case for
or against Silverfast Ai, or offer any thoughts on the "target market"
for each product?
My initial impressions are that Vuescan offers more features for the
money, and possibly some unique features (not sure how many; the demo
(v. 7.6, just saw the v. 8 release post) is feature-limited). Vuescan
supports its full range of scanners directly, whereas Silverfast
apparently requires multiple purchases. Silverfast now offers true
Digital ICE, plus the RAW scanning that has given Vuescan such an
edge. Like Vuescan, their HDR package can "scan" a RAW file...but
seems to require additional $100s. Both products can be configured
for multiple scan passes, and both offer numerous output options. The
Silverfast interface is more intuitive, though not without numerous
quirks, and offers histogram, curve, and color controls equivalent to
those of image editors.
Apart from ease of use and listed features, does one product produce
particularly better output than the other? Are Silverfast's pricier
algorithms "better" in some way? I plan to use my scanning software
almost exclusively for color negatives along with B&W and color photo
prints of wildly varying quality (some are quite faded, making scanner
sensitivity more important than elsewhere). I found Vuescan capable
of good negative results with its "recommended workflow" followed by
"auto" color adjustment, though I struggled a bit getting the previews
and exposure/color locks into the proper sequence. But Silverfast's
large film database and color management system are attractive too. I
disliked Vuescan's long refresh delays but found them manageable once
I set the auto refresh to "0".
At the minimum, I'd like direct numerical control of clipping %, which
neither Epson Scan nor Silverfast SE provide. Vuescan does this; can
Ai's histogram adjust by percentage rather than level integers? It's
not immediately clear. Also, since I'm avoiding Photoshop ($$$), the
ability to do 16-bit adjustments and colorspace conversion from RAW
archive files is a strong selling point for both Vuescan and Ai/HDR.
I hope I've laid this out relatively clearly. Feel free to toss me
further questions about my requirements if I'm approaching this the
wrong way. Thanks for all replies!
false_dmitrii