scanning 35mm color slides

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4 at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very best
archive of these slides.

Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air? I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using TIFF
anyway?

3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

thanks!

-Jack

1iJack wrote:

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4 at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very best
archive of these slides.

Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air? I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using TIFF
anyway?

3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

thanks!

-Jack

Well, you appear to be so far off the beam that I wondered if your post
was a troll. However, here are some quick answers.

If you scan a slide at max resolution and 16-bits, saving it as a tiff,
then *each* slide will result in a file of about 30 to 50 megabytes,
depending on your scan dpi.

Even at the lower figure of 30MB, that's *90 Gigabytes* of storage
required. You will get about 23 images on a 700MB CD. That means, for
3,000 slides, over 130 CDs.

Scanning at 4,000 dpi and 16 bit is *massive* overkill for anything but
large high-quality printing. I presume you are intending to display the
images via a TV. If so, a 1,000 dpi jpeg image at a compressed file
size of about 150 or 200 kB is all you will need, perhaps even less. At
that size you will get all 3,000 images on one CD, and 8-bit depth is
all you will see on a TV. Bear in mind a TV will show a maximum of about
500 lines, so at 1,000 dpi you are providing twice the resolution that a
TV can display.

I suggest you scan several images, say 10 or so, save them as tiff for
reference, then progressively downsize and save as jpegs at varying
dpi's and compressions. Burn them to a CD and then view them on
whatever you will be using for a display. You will then be able to pick
the minimum file size that will yield adequate quality.

If you carry on doing what you propose, cleaning, scanning and afterwork
on each slide I estimate it will take you an average of 5 to 10 minutes
per slide. For 3,000 slides, that's 250 to 500 hours of work, or about
an hour a day every day for up to two years.

Better have a rethink,

Colin D.

"Pontificators are rarely Performers"

1iJack wrote:

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4 at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very best
archive of these slides.

Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air? I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using TIFF
anyway?

3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

thanks!

-Jack

Well, you appear to be so far off the beam that I wondered if your post
was a troll. However, here are some quick answers.

If you scan a slide at max resolution and 16-bits, saving it as a tiff,
then *each* slide will result in a file of about 30 to 50 megabytes,
depending on your scan dpi.

Even at the lower figure of 30MB, that's *90 Gigabytes* of storage
required. You will get about 23 images on a 700MB CD. That means, for
3,000 slides, over 130 CDs.

Scanning at 4,000 dpi and 16 bit is *massive* overkill for anything but
large high-quality printing. I presume you are intending to display the
images via a TV. If so, a 1,000 dpi jpeg image at a compressed file
size of about 150 or 200 kB is all you will need, perhaps even less. At
that size you will get all 3,000 images on one CD, and 8-bit depth is
all you will see on a TV. Bear in mind a TV will show a maximum of about
500 lines, so at 1,000 dpi you are providing twice the resolution that a
TV can display.

I suggest you scan several images, say 10 or so, save them as tiff for
reference, then progressively downsize and save as jpegs at varying
dpi's and compressions. Burn them to a CD and then view them on
whatever you will be using for a display. You will then be able to pick
the minimum file size that will yield adequate quality.

If you carry on doing what you propose, cleaning, scanning and afterwork
on each slide I estimate it will take you an average of 5 to 10 minutes
per slide. For 3,000 slides, that's 250 to 500 hours of work, or about
an hour a day every day for up to two years.

Better have a rethink,

Colin D.

"Pontificators are rarely Performers"

1iJack wrote:

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4 at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very best
archive of these slides.

4 at a time is not a batch.


Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air? I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

Get something called Ilford Antistaticum (a cloth, about $4.00).
Lay the slides on it. Fold the cloth over the slides smooth the
cloth into the slides.
Unfold the cloth and then use a very soft brush (I use Kodak
Camel hair 1").
That's it. Sometimes I add a quick blast from a can on each side.
(With canned air:
-always do a cleaning blast (1 sec) away fromt he work area.
-always hold the can so the nozzle is horizontal.



2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using TIFF
anyway?

To archive, TIF is best as you have all the data for later uses
from printing to web pages to cropping out detail etc. It takes
gobs of room so 3,000 slides will require a lot of storage
(DVD's, CD's...) You are not going to get 3000 TIF's onto a
CD... 3000 JPG's at moderate size and quality, perhaps.

For printing and monitor viewing, 8 bits is usually more than enough.



3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

Go to the Minolta site and download the latest V's of software.

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Colin -

Thanks for the heads up on the file size!

Although I intended to save the whole archived project on a 250GB HD, I sure
don't want to burn 130 CDs. Maybe DVDs instead at only 20 of them.

Thanks again!

-j


"Colin D" wrote in message
...
1iJack wrote:

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection
to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a
projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels
of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4
at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution
with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very
best
archive of these slides.

Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air?
I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but
what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is
not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit
so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the
final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is
the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and
convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using
TIFF
anyway?

3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with
Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my
XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything
over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

thanks!

-Jack

Well, you appear to be so far off the beam that I wondered if your post
was a troll. However, here are some quick answers.

If you scan a slide at max resolution and 16-bits, saving it as a tiff,
then *each* slide will result in a file of about 30 to 50 megabytes,
depending on your scan dpi.

Even at the lower figure of 30MB, that's *90 Gigabytes* of storage
required. You will get about 23 images on a 700MB CD. That means, for
3,000 slides, over 130 CDs.

Scanning at 4,000 dpi and 16 bit is *massive* overkill for anything but
large high-quality printing. I presume you are intending to display the
images via a TV. If so, a 1,000 dpi jpeg image at a compressed file
size of about 150 or 200 kB is all you will need, perhaps even less. At
that size you will get all 3,000 images on one CD, and 8-bit depth is
all you will see on a TV. Bear in mind a TV will show a maximum of about
500 lines, so at 1,000 dpi you are providing twice the resolution that a
TV can display.

I suggest you scan several images, say 10 or so, save them as tiff for
reference, then progressively downsize and save as jpegs at varying
dpi's and compressions. Burn them to a CD and then view them on
whatever you will be using for a display. You will then be able to pick
the minimum file size that will yield adequate quality.

If you carry on doing what you propose, cleaning, scanning and afterwork
on each slide I estimate it will take you an average of 5 to 10 minutes
per slide. For 3,000 slides, that's 250 to 500 hours of work, or about
an hour a day every day for up to two years.

Better have a rethink,

Colin D.

"Pontificators are rarely Performers"

Colin -

Thanks for the heads up on the file size!

Although I intended to save the whole archived project on a 250GB HD, I sure
don't want to burn 130 CDs. Maybe DVDs instead at only 20 of them.

Thanks again!

-j


"Colin D" wrote in message
...
1iJack wrote:

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection
to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a
projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels
of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4
at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution
with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very
best
archive of these slides.

Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air?
I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but
what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is
not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit
so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the
final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is
the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and
convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using
TIFF
anyway?

3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with
Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my
XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything
over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

thanks!

-Jack

Well, you appear to be so far off the beam that I wondered if your post
was a troll. However, here are some quick answers.

If you scan a slide at max resolution and 16-bits, saving it as a tiff,
then *each* slide will result in a file of about 30 to 50 megabytes,
depending on your scan dpi.

Even at the lower figure of 30MB, that's *90 Gigabytes* of storage
required. You will get about 23 images on a 700MB CD. That means, for
3,000 slides, over 130 CDs.

Scanning at 4,000 dpi and 16 bit is *massive* overkill for anything but
large high-quality printing. I presume you are intending to display the
images via a TV. If so, a 1,000 dpi jpeg image at a compressed file
size of about 150 or 200 kB is all you will need, perhaps even less. At
that size you will get all 3,000 images on one CD, and 8-bit depth is
all you will see on a TV. Bear in mind a TV will show a maximum of about
500 lines, so at 1,000 dpi you are providing twice the resolution that a
TV can display.

I suggest you scan several images, say 10 or so, save them as tiff for
reference, then progressively downsize and save as jpegs at varying
dpi's and compressions. Burn them to a CD and then view them on
whatever you will be using for a display. You will then be able to pick
the minimum file size that will yield adequate quality.

If you carry on doing what you propose, cleaning, scanning and afterwork
on each slide I estimate it will take you an average of 5 to 10 minutes
per slide. For 3,000 slides, that's 250 to 500 hours of work, or about
an hour a day every day for up to two years.

Better have a rethink,

Colin D.

"Pontificators are rarely Performers"

Thanks for the info on the cloth.

I know the TIFF format is huge but I intend to archive the whole project to
a 250GB hard drive along with some other pics. For playback, I think I will
burn to DVDs at only about 20 of them instead of CDs.

The scans look great on my 61" Sony TV.

-j

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
1iJack wrote:

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection
to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a
projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels
of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4
at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution
with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very
best
archive of these slides.

4 at a time is not a batch.


Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air?
I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but
what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

Get something called Ilford Antistaticum (a cloth, about $4.00).
Lay the slides on it. Fold the cloth over the slides smooth the
cloth into the slides.
Unfold the cloth and then use a very soft brush (I use Kodak
Camel hair 1").
That's it. Sometimes I add a quick blast from a can on each side.
(With canned air:
-always do a cleaning blast (1 sec) away fromt he work area.
-always hold the can so the nozzle is horizontal.



2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is
not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit
so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the
final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is
the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and
convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using
TIFF
anyway?

To archive, TIF is best as you have all the data for later uses
from printing to web pages to cropping out detail etc. It takes
gobs of room so 3,000 slides will require a lot of storage
(DVD's, CD's...) You are not going to get 3000 TIF's onto a
CD... 3000 JPG's at moderate size and quality, perhaps.

For printing and monitor viewing, 8 bits is usually more than enough.



3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with
Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my
XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything
over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

Go to the Minolta site and download the latest V's of software.

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Thanks for the info on the cloth.

I know the TIFF format is huge but I intend to archive the whole project to
a 250GB hard drive along with some other pics. For playback, I think I will
burn to DVDs at only about 20 of them instead of CDs.

The scans look great on my 61" Sony TV.

-j

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
1iJack wrote:

I need to scan about 3,000 color slides from my grandfather's collection
to
a CD for his viewing enjoyment without the hassle of setting up a
projector.
I will also need to do a digital capture from his fifty or so 400' reels
of
8 and super 8 films but that's another issue.

I bought a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV that does batch scans of 4
at
a time. Of course I am scanning at the highest possible dpi resolution
with
all the 'auto-correction' tools turned on so that we will have the very
best
archive of these slides.

4 at a time is not a batch.


Some questions:

1) what is the best way to clean a slide other than using a can of air?
I
mean, that will get the dust and the software cleans up the rest but
what
about those slides with finger prints and stuff on them?

Get something called Ilford Antistaticum (a cloth, about $4.00).
Lay the slides on it. Fold the cloth over the slides smooth the
cloth into the slides.
Unfold the cloth and then use a very soft brush (I use Kodak
Camel hair 1").
That's it. Sometimes I add a quick blast from a can on each side.
(With canned air:
-always do a cleaning blast (1 sec) away fromt he work area.
-always hold the can so the nozzle is horizontal.



2) When I try to use the 16bit color depth option, the JPEG format is
not
available to save the scans. This unit only supports TIFF files at 16bit
so
is the sacrifice of going to 8bit worth the time needed to convert the
final
scan into JPG format? Note: I plan to use NO compression, scan at the
highest dpi and use the all the options for the Auto Dust Brush, Color
Matching, etc. keep in mind that there are about 3,000 of these so - is
the
16bit color option in TIFF format worth the trouble to go back and
convert
them all to JPG format? Do I gain a TON of quality? Should I be using
TIFF
anyway?

To archive, TIF is best as you have all the data for later uses
from printing to web pages to cropping out detail etc. It takes
gobs of room so 3,000 slides will require a lot of storage
(DVD's, CD's...) You are not going to get 3000 TIF's onto a
CD... 3000 JPG's at moderate size and quality, perhaps.

For printing and monitor viewing, 8 bits is usually more than enough.



3) Is Anyone else using this Dimage IV model and having trouble with
Windows
XP? I seem to keep getting an 'error = 1 . unknown error' message on my
XP
PC but the Windows Me works fine. I really want to scan this to my media
system with the XP Pro on it. Else, I will need to transfer everything
over
the 'net or via CD from the Me to the XP 'puter.

Go to the Minolta site and download the latest V's of software.

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

1iJack wrote:
Colin -

Thanks for the heads up on the file size!

Although I intended to save the whole archived project on a 250GB HD, I
sure
don't want to burn 130 CDs. Maybe DVDs instead at only 20 of them.

Thanks again!

-j



I have to agree with Colin, I think you are far overkill. Do some test
at reduced resolution and with compression. See if you can tell the
difference on you 60" TV.

Do a "Best of the Best" Pick the best 50 and scan them at the higher
resolution.

I also suggest that you make two archival copies (CD or DVD) and store
one and give you father the other. That way when the HD crashes (which it
will) you will likely still have one copy. because the other one will have
been damaged or lost.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

"1iJack" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the info on the cloth.

I know the TIFF format is huge but I intend to archive the whole project
to
a 250GB hard drive along with some other pics. For playback, I think I
will
burn to DVDs at only about 20 of them instead of CDs.

The scans look great on my 61" Sony TV.

-j


It's not huge if you want to make big prints from them, and you may want to
do just that down the road. This will prevent you from having to scan
twice. Also, if you're using Photoshop CS, you will get a superior non-full
resolution image by scanning full rez, and then downsampling using the
Bicubic Sharper algorithm (one of the options in Image Size). Superior to
simply scanning at a lower resolution/file size.

As far as cleaning the slides go, if you didn't buy a scanner with Digital
ICE, you made a mistake. It saves 20 minutes of cleanup on my average
slide. If you still have many thousands of slides to go, consider
purchasing a film scanner with Digital ICE. In addition to Digital ICE,
many Nikon scanners have a slide feeder available, allowing you to batch
scan 50 slides at a go.

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com