Print scanning

For the first part of the scan reviews I will be using Epson Scan software. I know many people aren't that keen on this, but I find it very easy to use and generally it produces excellent results. There are three modes; Full Auto Mode - this is a very basic setting which doesn't provide the user with a preview and next to no image control. The second mode is Home Mode - this mode does provide you with a preview and limited image control. As this scanner is aimed at the High End User, I suggest you forget about the Auto and Home modes and use the third option - Professional Mode.

Scans in the various modes

Fully Auto Mode has basic control which doesn't do full justice to this scanner
Home mode offers limited control, but not enough to satisfy a high end user (preview in thumbnail mode)
Professional mode offers excellent control on just about every aspect, but also has limitations
Scan using Auto Mode
Scan using Home Mode
Scans using Professional Mode

Fully Auto mode has produced a well saturated scan, perhaps slightly darker than I would have chosen, see the black wedges on the Kodak Grey (Gray) scale. The colour swatches are very lively and this would possibly suit holiday pictures where you would want to remember the skies and sea being bluer than blue. The face detail shows that this mode applies some degree of sharpening, this is well controlled and not overdone. Everything is fully automated, including the crop, which is slightly tight. . As you are not offered any control on the scan I am surprised at how well this mode performs. The scan took 30.45 seconds to complete.

Home Mode produced a good scan with excellent tonal qualities in both shadow and highlight areas. The number 5 grey value on the Kodak chart measured - R 119, G 127, B 131 (the value should be 128,128,128). The colours display good subtlety especially in the lighter tones. The Home mode interface doesn't offer much in the way of colour or image control, other than Brightness and Contrast adjustments, but does allow you to configure the scans with colour management etc. There are three Image adjustment options, De screening filter, Colour restoration and Digital ICE, in each case the choice is either on or off. The scan took 16.25 seconds to complete.

Professional Mode produced the best looking colours and held the detail in both dark areas and highlights. As with the Home Mode, the lighter colours display excellent quality. The number 5 grey value on the Kodak chart measured - R 120, G 128, B 128 (the value should be 128,128,128). I turned off the Unsharp Mask Filter for this scan, this gives the appearance of a slightly softer scan, but all the detail is still there, I prefer to use Photoshop's USM for greater control. I will be using this mode for the majority of the review and will deal with the filters and options on the next page. The scan took 13.27 seconds to complete.

ps. the variation in scan times is due to Auto and Home modes applying filters, these were turned off for Professional mode.