Where Is The Silverfast Serial Number
Martial Salleh
This is going to be a short post. In order to use SilverFast HDR Studio as an archival workflow solution as well as for a optimized FineArt workflow I find the idea of creating linear scans fascinating. What we basically do is splitting the workflow into two parts. First is the scanning process and second the post-processing that is required for every scan. During the scanning we make sure that we capture all relevant data from film. In order to do so, we do not alter the data in any way and we save the file as a linear 16bit Tiff file.
A linear file is more or less a 1:1 rendering of the luminance values of the film on the scanner. For image files we normally work with gamma encoded files. Depending on the workflow and color profile this gamma value lies somewhere around 2.0 with 2.2 as the most common value.
Color management is of course very important when we are looking for a consistent workflow. With linear files we want to make sure that there is no color profile embedded and the whole color information from the scanner is maintained until we process the files.
The biggest benefit of this workflow ism that you can scan an entire roll or a large number of rolls without worrying about how they look and you dont have to do all the artistic decision in an early stage of the workflow. You can access the linear scans at a later stage and do the final processing steps. You can of course always go back, undo changes and rethink your decisions on post-processing. Try several color balancing settings or different contrast levels. Sometimes this is very helpful for a good scan. There is no need to scan the frame over and over again, as all relevant data has been stored already. I like this flexibility a lot.
A good question and I personally think the name is for many reasons totally misleading. Well we have to deal with it and just think of HDR as a term for linear files without color profile and no post-processing done. These files are 16bit Tiff files and can be opened in any image editor. They work best with LaserSoft Imaging HDR Studio as you can use the infrared channel with their iSRD technology and use the Negafix profiles for inversion. You can however use any other software that you like to open these files and process them to taste.
When all settings are done and all frames are selected you click and hold down the mouse button on the "SCAN" icon. This will reveal the "BATCH SCAN" option and if you have selected several frames click on this button to scan all of them. If you have only one frame to scan a simple click on the "SCAN" icon is of course sufficient.
SilverFast was introduced in 1995, it is still under development today. Some scanner manufacturers bundle their hardware with SilverFast software. Some of the features developed for SilverFast, especially in the area of color management, error detection and automatic dust and scratch removal, have been patented. The European Digital Press Association named SilverFast the "Best colour management software of the year 2008" for improving the dynamic range of most scanners and for creating ICC profiles automatically.[2] In 2011 version 8 was introduced, and HDR imaging software followed in 2012. SilverFast 9 has been released in 2020.
SilverFast is offered individually adjusted to the respective scanner model. If several scanners are operated, it is therefore necessary to purchase a corresponding number of additional licenses. Upgrade rates are also offered when purchasing a new scanner.
SilverFast HDR is a computer program for processing 48-bit raw images. Many newer scanners are able to output the image directly with all existing data instead of breaking it down to 24-bit. This 48-bit raw image can be saved immediately and digital processing performed later.
SilverFast HDR contains the functionality of SilverFast Ai Studio for 48-bit raw data, such as defining output size and resolution, auto-adjusting of highlights and shadows, three-part histogram, gradation curves, selective color correction, unsharp masking, color cast removal slider, color separation, and CMYK-preview. SilverFast HDR can be used as a native plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, as a universal TWAIN module, or as a stand-alone application.
With version 6.6.1 any SilverFast HDR version supports the proprietary RAW data format HDRi. These 64-bit HDRi color files and 32-bit HDRi greyscale files contain additional 16-bit infrared RAW data besides the 48-bit color RAW data and 16-bit greyscale RAW data respectively.[7][8] Therefore, a scanner with an infrared channel available to the software is necessary. This RAW format can keep any readable image information for later post-processing.The acronym "HDR" as used by SilverFast is not related to High-dynamic-range imaging, a widely used technique to increase the dynamic range of (digital) images.
The SilverFast Archive Suite includes SilverFast Ai Studio and SilverFast HDR Studio with an integrated color management system. This package is suitable for archiving slides, negatives, and photos, whereas the post processing can take place anytime after scanning.[9]
PrinTao 8 takes over color management and all printer driver settings. It contains various printing templates like pack templates for portrait photographers or gallery wrap templates for printing on canvas.
Most dust and scratch removal tools use blur effects which degrade overall image quality. SRDx works without any unsharping effects. SRDx uses an adjustable automatic detection of dust and scratches that can be fine-tuned manually using a defect marker and a rubber tool.
SilverFast DC has been discontinued. SilverFast DC was a stand-alone software for digital camera image processing. It contained features for reading the image data from the camera, for processing, optimizing, and archiving the images on the computer, as well as for printing the edited images.
Scanner calibration: SilverFast is equipped with a color management system that enables largely automated IT8 color calibration of the scanner using IT8 targets supplied by the manufacturer LaserSoft Imaging.
SilverFast has recently updated their scanning software from v. 8 to v. 8.5. If you already own version 8, this update is free. There are some improvements to existing features, nifty new features are, well, they are new. Some of the new features include:
If you've been taking photographs for more than 10 years, you probably have a number of photos, slides, and negatives lying in drawers, boxes and probably some on the walls in frames. Chances are, if you've been taking photos within the past ten years, you probably have a hard drive with a bunch of images (which may or may not be organized but that's a different issue). I'm in both categories as I have thousands (and thousands) of slides in boxes and since I typically do not bring out my slide projector on a regular basis, I almost never see these images. SilverFast(R) Archive Suite helps me digitize my slides so that I may add them onto the images on my hard drive. While SilverFast can do a lot more than one needs for standard scanning, it does what it needs to do quite well. Keep in mind that the biggest issue with SilverFast is that it does take some time to learn. Fortunately, they do have an easy scan approach with fewer abilities to customize and fine tune the scan and a custom scan approach that does provide the user more control but requires more scanning knowledge. An approach for everyone but be aware that their help leaves a lot to be desired. More on this later.
During this review, I've been scanning a number of slides I took some 36 years ago as I traveled in Europe. One of the things I found is that even though these slides were kept in a metal box in a "relatively" safe range of temperatures and (since I live in Southern California) modest humidity, there was noticeable degradation of color lost in the slides. Of particular note though were some slides I purchased of the "Sephardi Synagogue of Amsterdam" who's color was completely shot. Since these were industrially made, I've no way to know their manufacturer and/or technique used to make them. My point is that digitizing your images may be the best way to keep them for the ages. Their age-degradation notwithstanding, this did provide a great opportunity for SilverFast to demonstrate what it could do with severally challenged images and it did an outstanding job of recovering as much as it did as you will see later in this review.
There are a number of ways to digitize things like slides: I have one friend who solved his problem by projecting his slides on a screen and taking digital photographs of the slides on the screen. I still cringe as I think about the quality (and complete loss of dynamic range) that came from that approach, but admittedly he's happy and he got the job done. To be honest, using SilverFast will not be a fast a process. In fact, it will be a lot slower, but the quality you get will be excellent.
When going through the process of digitizing your images, and you plan on performing subsequent processing of the images via Photoshop or any other image manipulation application, you will always get better results out if you start with as good of an image as possible. This is simply the "garbage in garbage out" principle. If you have good quality photos, slides, or negatives, the amount of time to make the final product look good will be less (or even dramatically less) than if you have a poor quality image to begin with.
This also goes with your scanner. If you have an inexpensive scanner, the options available to you are significantly less than if you have a good quality scanner. For my testing, I used an Epson V700 Photo (a good quality scanner) for this review. The software that came with the scanner was decent. However, Epson tends to not update their software as user's operating systems update. This leads one, at a certain point, to either use Apple's Image Capture, which is pretty bad, or purchase a 3rd party scanning software.
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