We selected the Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 EDs slide scanner and film scanner
for scanning slides and film.
Click here for a well written, thorough review of the 4000 scanner.
If you're familiar with this type of scanner, you'll know that it produces fantastic
results but it's an extremely slow film scanner. When we decided to offer slide
scanning services and began to look at which machines to purchase, we found two
options; fast slide scanners or good quality slide scanners.
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Nikon Film Scanner and Slide Scanners
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Our solution to the quality versus speed problem had to be uncompromising on quality
but fast enough to allow us to offer low prices and quick turn around times. We
decided the only way to solve the problem was to choose the best scanning machine,
buy lots of them and design and build a system and process to allow them to work
in concert. So that's what we did. Our system is fast, efficient and
uncompromising.
Extreme Makeover - 35mm Slide Edition
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Original Slide
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After DigMyPics!
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Click to learn more about the makeover we
can give your slides.
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Want to scan your slides yourself?
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Don't underestimate how much is involved.
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Here is a brief list of what we do:
- Clean slides with compressed air
- Arrange slides by the correct orientation for the scanner
- Arrange slides to make sure the emulsion side is facing the right way for the
scanner.
- Adjust scanner settings for the type of film being scanned. There are differences
in each type of film and the scanner can't determine it automatically. It requires
a trained eye to see the problems when the film type is unknown.
- Determine if the film is ICE compatible. This sometimes requires that the slide
be scanned more than once and it takes weeks of training to know what to look
for.
- Load the feeder with a stack of slides of the same type of film and start scanning.
Watch the batch carefully because the feeders jam often.
- Wait and watch. Each slide takes about a minute or two to scan and the feeders often
need attention.
- Check to make sure each slide was scanned correctly and no doubles were fed. Rescan
any slides that show any of the many known issues that can arise. You learn these
well after scanning 4000 to 5000 slides. After you learn what you didn't know
when you started, you may want to go back and rescan the slides you first learned
on.
- Create a folder for each group then rename each file and move them to the new folder
so your images are organized.
- Open each new image file in an image editing application like PhotoShop and crop,
rotate, fix the colors and enhance the lighting. This can take a lot of time
until you start to know what to look for. We've developed a number of techniques
to fix the variety of problems. It takes us about 3 to 4 weeks to train a technician
on the variety of problems we see with the photos we scan. This on top of
the 4 year degree they already have in graphics or photography.
- Review each image to make sure nothing was missed.
- Convert each file to the type of image file you want, like JPEG. We scan to
TIFF, do all our editing, then save to JPEG at the very end. Make sure you choose
the proper JPEG settings. The wrong setting can severely degrade your image.
- Burn your images to optical media. Don't leave out this critical step.
If your hard drive crashes, all your hard work is lost.
- Optional. Print an index book of your images to make finding the image you want
easy.
- Optional. Make a copy of each image in a smaller resolution size that are easy to
email or view on TV in your DVD player.
- Optional. Create a movie from your images. This can become very complex depending
on how fancy you want your movie.
- Enjoy your new digital images.
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Have a question about resolution and what it means? Check out our article
on Resolving Resolution. Also, check
out our 35mm slide scanning and slide scanner FAQ
for more technical details on scanning your 35mm slides with a film and slide scanner.
Check out our Frequently Asked Questions on photo and slide scanning:
See our General Scanning FAQ
See our FAQ for Slide Scanning and film Scanning.
See our FAQ for Scanning Prints.
See our Photos to Slideshow Movie DVD FAQ.
See our Shopping Tips FAQ.
See our Movie Film to DVD FAQ
See our Video Tapes to DVD FAQ
See our Testimonials.
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