Film Scanning Tips for Epson Perfection Scanners 

2021, this video is still the best review of Epson scanners.

That SilverFast tip on only selecting within the frame!!!! OMG I went straight down and started rescanning Portra 160 again. What a difference this makes!! Prior to this I hated scanning colour film. The results are so much better and faster! Thankyou!!

Nick, FYI. Kodachrome was actually a silver based black and white film. The colors were introduced during processing. This alternative method resulted in two things, both positive and negative. By using a silver halide emulsion (like black and white film) and introducing color in processing, the film achieved a greater perceived sharpness, unparalleled longevity and resistance to fading. The downside was that the process (K-14) was extremely expensive, complicated and the chemicals toxic to the environments. There were no home Kodachrome developing kits and very few places in the country that could process it. Hence, its demise. Ektachrome, Fujichrome and other E-6 Process slide films do not have silver in the emulsion but color based dye layers,-cyan, magenta and yellow. Cheaper and easier, but less longevity. Same reason you can’t use your IR dust removal with Kodachrome (or black and white film) as the IR picks up the silver grain and interprets a lot of it as dust and you lose detail and sharpness.

I've been a pro photographer for 40 years+ and I have won several awards and written 5 books. I'm also a qualified and very experienced teacher. I take my hat off to you and am considering retiring! This is the best example of teaching photography on RU-vid. Brilliant. Well done. Loved the CCR joke (I'm old enough to know who they are).

I have watched 0:55 seconds of it and I love it already. The community needs updates to a lot of technical information. With your knowledge and with your humor it’s great way to teach. So many people do it wrong, but so far you have it perfect. I am in the market for a scanner and I hope this will direct me in the right direction. Good on you Nick!

I'm not even an analog photographer but I'm halfway through this video because 1: this subject is interesting as all get out, and 2: the way you present it and your charisma and know how really tie it all in. Now to finish this masterpiece lol

I own my V700 for about 12 years now and today I just learned a lot about it. Thank you Nick.

Nick, Your tutorial holds up still 4+ years later. Great guide on the Epson and for Negative Lab Pro. I have come back to it a few times since I picked up my Epson scanner to make sure I am doing it right.

This is exactly what I've been needing to take my scans to the next level. Keep up the great work, Nick!

Dude, thanks so much for reminding me. A long time ago, I looked for this software but it was way too expensive for my student budget. Today, I checked the prices again (since I forgot) and found out that the SE version is now actually free for my Epson scanner. Just had to type in the scanner's serial number and got a key. This is great, with Negafix I'm going to scan more of my negatives by myself again! It's just been too complicated and frustrating for what I do with my analog cameras - until now

At first I thought that I might skip here and there. 28 mins. But every moment is a rich wealth of wisdom...even the "Down on the corner" interlude. I have many slides my dad took in his photography days in the 1960s-70s and I'm finding out best options for scanning. I got much more than a recommendation on a good scanner. Thank you!

That height adjustment trick! Mental! Running a test scan as we speak!

I bought the Epson v850 and SilverFast 9 Archive for scanning negative and positive film, and I'm completely satisfied. The software has excellent tools and the scanner is superb.

Nick! Thank you so much for doing this detailed and thorough video! I've had my v750 for years and never needed to scan negatives, up until a week ago when a client had a batch of slides and negatives to be scanned. I was asked if I could handle it, of course said, "absolutely, do this stuff all the time." Then needed to learn in a hurry. I also use SilverFast, there is nothing that can compete there,, so that was handy. Then grabbed a few of my old negatives to practice with. The NegaFix tip alone was really helpful,. I'm inspired to finally tackle all of my own scanning. I was sending stuff out (ScanCafe), not my better stuff, just lots of b roll that I was ok with chancing the process to. So, finally got to my practice scanning and was really surprised with just how good the scans were. Got comfortable and moved onto the client work. Everything was soft to the tiniest bit blurry. Bummer! I tried adjusting the focus feet on the tray (yup, thanks for that tip too!) which had a negligible affect, but it helped. So, then I scanned at 3200, over sharpened in photoshop then reduced size and printed as 8x10s. Not too bad and my client was pleased! So... Thanks again Nick! I've been really enjoying your channel. The printing videos, awesome! ps. CCR, great band! Got the double LP "Chronicles" when I was a kid, been a fan ever since. ;)

Thanks for sharing. Just finished scanning over 30 years worth of negatives into a digital archive. It was tedious but looking back on all these images bought back so many great memories.

Something to consider when watching Nick talk about Silverfast. First of all, of course, great video, really helpful! Silverfast comes in a few different flavors: The SE version ($49), SE Plus ($119) and Ai Studio ($299!). Nick uses the Ai Studio version of the software. As the SE version is free for Epson V600 users at the time of writing this, because of incompatibilities between Epson Scan and MacOS Catalina (check the Epson Support page for your scanner for more info), I had the chance to give it a look and see if it'd be for me. What I found, and what is not well communicated by LaserSoft, is that plain 48bit scanning (48bit output, that is) is *not available in versions other than Ai Studio*. That implies the normally great benefit of Silverfast: iSRD, which Nick talks about. The only options with 16bit per channel are "48bit HDR" and "64bit HDRi". In "48bit HDR", the software will not scan with iSRD. It will in "64bit HDRi", but this produces a proprietary format, which is only fully being utilized (including the fourth Infrared channel that has the dust and scratches) by Silverfast HDR, the proprietary image editing software by LaserSoft (starting at $249!). There is simply no way to get the iSRD feature in combination with 48bit output that is usable with LR/PS, without Ai Studio (or perhaps SF HDR if one is able to export a dust corrected TIF that way) i.e. spending about $300. These two combined are the main selling points of Silverfast. *If* the saved time (Silverfast is significantly faster than say Epson Scan, especially iSRD compared to Digital ICE) and options is worth $300, there's no problem. But spending $50 (I'm glad I didn't have to) or even $120 and being disappointed that 24bit output is the only real option with good digital dust removal, is definitely not worth it.

This video couldn't come at a better time. I recently picked up an Epson V800, but the included SilverFast disc wouldn't install, so I downloaded the Ai demo version that you walked through in your video. Couldn't be happier. Here's hoping you don't get stuck in Lodi.

Phenomenal tip about not including the frame in the scanning area! Thank you. Fine CCR gag too...Cheers!

You are a great natural teacher. You obviously don't bullshit when you don't know. Well done, great video.

This is excellent, but perhaps should be entitled Film Scanning Tips Using Silverfast, because not much is about the Epson. Still, very entertaining and thorough.

I have this feeling you've made a lot of people dangerous Nick. This is by FAR the most awesome scanner "how to" I have seen...... and JUST before I buy my scanner!! Talk about timing!!! I knew I was smart to go back to some of your older videos....and even smarter to follow you!! You rock!!!

Hi, Nick! I really enjoyed the video, and especially your attitude as shown in your teaching style. Rather than coming across as the “Resident Expert“, you express kindness toward all your viewers. This is quite refreshing, as many making RU-vid videos, although they may have valuable information to share, use the platform to get their 15 minutes of fame! Thanks for sharing information about scanning film in such a healthy and kind manner. I have an Epson scanner which I picked up at a yard sale for a few dollars, and I am looking into using it to scan old negatives. Thanks for the many techniques and helpful hints you incorporated into your video on scanners. They will be valuable in this effort.

I watched this before but I had to come back to this after Thomas Heaton's video. So many tidbits of information thats Nick!!

You're a good teacher, Mr. Nick Carver. Thank you.

Great video ! I had my Epson V750 PRO for 12 years now and learned more by watching this video than I ever did. Trying to concentrate on the V750 online-manual is not an easy task. This gives me hope that I can get back to my hobby and have some fun doing it. Thanks a lot, looking forward to watching your wet-scanning video.

So damn helpful! Was going to rate this video 10/10 but then the CCR reference dropped and I dialed it up 11! So glad to have come across your channel.

The best epson scar review in 2023 . I am so grateful for the video. Very helpful. Thank you 😊

Still a fantastically informative yet simple video. Thanks!

Great Contend...I love how your video's are always in depth. That way there are no details lost, details that might be very helpful.

Thank you. Great explanation on how to use my new Epson scanner

You're a lifesaver. Dont know how I'd be working my scanner without this video - 3 years on from when you uploaded this. Absolutely loving the film dev process and can't thank you enough for making it that much more enjoyable!

2024 still great and got me up and running! Many thanks 🙏

not sure if you're going to read this, but: 1) I highly recommend that you try the c3c sharpening plugin for PS. it's free and it uses different algorithms from the standard ones to count the thing. let me know if you need the link. 2) I adore your videos and attitude. not shooting much film nowadays, but it is always a pleasure to watch you teach.

Great diction, clarity of thought during presentation, no "um, er, a-uh"s (talented too with CCR and juggling), focused on delivering information. Refreshing to watch. Even though I do not have Silverfast, I could not stop watching! Thank you, Nick.

Your jokes were are 5. Your knowledge of the topic is a 10. The extras I picked up are a 10. So, even with the bad Ace Ventura reference, you still pulled off a solid 83.3% lol - All joking aside, the pointers on scanning were so valuable for me. Thank you for this video! This probably helped me avoid hours of learning curve with scanning my own film (which arrives next week).

Nice CCR reference! I'lll be watching this a few more times...I always miss something first time around. Thanks, Nick. great stuff. Bob

Thank you so much Nick, i've got this software with my epson v800, never tried using it. Now that ive tried using it after watching your video, it is unbelievably better that standard epson scanning software. Thanks again.

This is THE sole best scanning tutorial ever made for RU-vid!

As soon as you said CCR I thought the same thing! That tune came in my head...

For me to get sharp scans (the grain is in focus) it's put the feet towards the plus and then put coins under the feet. This is why I like printing in the darkroom better than scanning. Helpful video regardless, the Epson flatbeds can be a bit of an info-void when you start using them.

Great video on using the Epson scanner. I never knew why the feet are on the film holder. Not matter where I looked, I never was able to find any info about. Thank you Nick, you really help me out on getting better scans from my V750.

Very good, Nick. Lots of useful information and tips. Love the way you thoroughly and methodically go through all these processes in your videos. Plus, you're a funny guy!

There is a lot of advice out there which doesn't give you the full picture into this complex process. Hats off!

I have the Epson V850 Pro, the Silverfast AI Studio 9 software for scanning and I use the Epson Fluid Mount Tray that lays the negatives perfectly flat on the scanner. My opinion is that these items that I have makes it the best scanner.

Crazy that all these years later, the Epson V scanners are still a good choice. Flip floping between choosing an Epson or a Plustek Opticfilm as I'm mainly going to be scanning 35mm slides. This was a great run through though and pushed me back towards Epson and Silverfast.

I think you just solved my Silverfast issues. I obviously did not read the manual and have been selecting the rebate... I had given up on Silverfast and gone back to Epson scan because the colors were so off base. I will have to fire up the scanner and make a few tests. Great video as always - keep it up!

Oh wow I never knew the V700 holders were adjustable! Thanks so much for that tip, that's awesome!

Pretty much how I've been doing it. Nice to have confirmation from a pro! And yes I thought Silverfast was crap until I discovered to keep the frame lines within the frame. One of those "oh wow" moments as I recall.

Nick: Just discovered this video, and: THANK YOU SO MUCH! I've been using Silver Fast for a long time, but not till now, I understand the perfect flow - thanks to You! And when you get entertained at the same time watching your videos - it's just a win-win !

There is a God, he popped up your video just when I needed it and I wasn't even looking. I have all my negatives carefully stored, dated and titled. I have the Epsom V550 scanner but I was ready to give the scanner a distance check out the window and heartbroken in finding the negs converting to poor quality images with a yellow cast and dust and out of focus. Thanks for this truly helpful and best video tutorial I've seen to date over plenty others and the tip for the best software you've recommended which I'll now look at to buy and hope is also works for my V550. I'll let you know. Cheers 😊

thanks for the little arrows tip...I just turned mine around and trying new scan

Hi Nick, many thanks for this really good and informative video. It is outstanding good and above all I like your Southern Accent, really. I was a young chap when visiting Arkansas quite a while ago, when my grand uncle was still alive (died in 1979). He had a horse breeding farm (Quarter Horses) and I was so keen living on that farm for two months. I miss this really. But back to your video - I am a pretty old guy now, but learned al lot from this. Yesterday I ordererd me an Epson V700 Perfection Scanner and will - loaded with all your expertise - surely start scnanning. Maybe I will find my old barn photos from my time at uncle's farm. I'll gonna scan them first, big oath. Thanks again (and don't forget: Save your confederate money - as the South will raise again)

Perfect timing. Was about to pick up a scanner and this helps clarify a lot of the process for me and gives me a great foundation on where to start. Glad I subscribed a few weeks ago after seeing your Liquor Store video. Please keep it up!! I will be a regular viewer even if it is not relevant to what I shoot, you have a stellar way of explaining things. You have me starting to prowling the web for some film gear when here I thought I was only intending to scan some old negatives.

Wish I had seen this 5 yrs ago. Especially for the info on focus and on Silverfast, which as been quirksome. I have tons of ancient family negs to scan and just might shoot some more film, too. Thank you.

Just me rewatching all of your videos for like the 5th time

great video Nick, much better in covering some of the setup details than most for sure. best !!!

Grateful! With this information there is no reason to suffer.

I've been waiting to pull the trigger on an Epson scanner but this video is making me feel pretty good about it and the mystery of which software I want! Thank you!

That video was the best I have ever seen. You are fantastic and best on RU-vid by a country mile. I am going to buy an Epson asap and start scanning. Thanks a million.

Great video. Very hip guy---especially CCR song. I'm ordering one of these now. It's January 1st, 2021. Happy New Year!! 🥳🥳🥳

Fantastic video, I just learned all of the things I was doing wrong with my Epson!

I for one loved the CCR reference.

You know what? I’m watched more than 5 times to make sure I do it right! And I think this is the way

I love it when you call us ''kids'' even though some of us are not LOL!!! It is suggestive to the concept of the eternal student. Keep up the good work Mr Carver. I've been watching you since my Film School days; 6 years! You inspired me to buy my first medium format camera(Mamiya RB67). Thank You!

It looks like I struck gold with your video. I am finally starting to think about how to approach scanning years of negatives. From both my old Pentax 35mm and my Hasselblad. Thank you for putting this out.

Professional details to scan negatives ,Like your friendly style ,Like your passion to teach

Dude, Thank You! Silverfast came with mine but I was too intimidated to dig through all the relevant settings, that isrd is gonna save me sooooo much time going forward.

I have a different opinion on scanning resolution: I like to scan at the highest possible resolution and save that file in a separate folder. From this large file, I keepsmaller files in another folder for quick or most common sizes. But when I need a large file, I can fall back at the original large file, without having to scan again

I'm glad I found your excellent video. I just picked up my 850 this afternoon. Now I can set it up properly.

Excellent - only wish I had this around ten years (and many thousands of scans) ago! Not only technically valuable but delivered in a great and interesting manner. Off right now to switch my V750 on.... Alistair.

Piggin Nora, I wish everybody could teach like you! Well done and thanks.

Outstanding video. You are an awesome photographer and scanner instructor.. love your humor!

12:00 forward, meaning you can't scan the full frame with the negative profile :P I find it odd that the profile doesn't have some margins around the scan area, so that you can scan the full frame but the color profile is applied based like 80% of the center area.

I havent scanned in years... but this brings it all back. Thanks for this video!

Thanks a lot, I begin with film and scanning film, your video is exactly what I needed today !

Thanks Nick! Made me switch rom Epson's software for my 120 scans!

Subscribed at "like a glove" and I just ran into your channel.

Great video. I've been tasked with scanning family photos going back at least five decades. This should help.

I use the V850 and Better Scanning film Holder and wet mount. I soent some time calibrating the scanner height, but now I get repeatable high quality scans. I scan at 3900 dpi as well. Remember the scanner defaults to the ultra hi res camera which has a narrower field of view than the hi res camera. That means that you have to use the film holder for anything smaller than 8x10. Because the default focus for the u ultra hi res camera is set to be above the scanner glass. To properly use the scanner glass directly you have to use the plastic bar include with the scanner to tell it to use the hi res camera. If you don't, anything put directly on scan glass will not be focused properly. I also use Vue Scan and Colorperfect software. It is excellent. Small learning curve, but you get far superior results imho. I also exclusively fluid mount. Dry scans are not worth it. Also use Kintronics antistatic brushes and their other items to keep dust off. That said, nice video, and interesting to see how others do it.

This was highly informative, thank you so much

Excellent tutorial, Nick. I rarely have patience for most YT tutorials and this was well-paced. One thing is that the scanner does not *really* have more than about 2400ppi optical resolution (even if the sensor has the resolution, the optics are apparently the limitation). I can't say for sure how wet-scanning influences this but I suspect it does not change the actual resolution since the scan optics are not changed. Fortunately I splurged on an LS-9000 back when Nikon still made them...

Some seriously cutty tricks in this video. Thank you for the help!

You can reduce the chances of smudging film with your fingers if you wet a paper towel with isopropyl alcohol and wipe your finger tips. Awesome videos Nick, thank you.

It looks like you've converted me from Epson Scan, Nick. I thought I was pretty happy with my workflow but after viewing this video I definitely think SilverFast is the best option for time saving and colour accuracy!

Great video! I think I’m going to pull out some old concert photos from the 80's and do some scanning today. I’ve got a lower end scanner, but it’s still going to be plenty good for social media. I think I’ll start with Robin Trower, then move on to Roy Buchanan. Thanks Nick.

well, mr. Carver, after all the bashing of flatbed scanners I have endured trying to figure out what to use at home for medium format, your reassuring and absolutely informative vid has made it a lot easier. Thank you, and I will be happy as well to learn about the wet mount procedure.PS that framing-within-the-border thing, I have no idea why I have scanned my film like that from the very beginning - maybe because those borders are often somewhat 'crooked'? Anyway, good to know now that I apparently did do it right without any idea that I actually did!

Hey, Nick! I watched this video again after many years and wondered, where´s my Silverfast software, ´cause I bought Epson V550 scanner years ago and don´t remember to get any version of it. I´ll have to check the software disk again and hope to get SF by registering my product. Thanks for your great video, which, I think, has all the ingredients for better results with negative scannings.

My V800's negative carrier has adjustable sliders around the carrier - not feet. The default setting on each slider is indicated by a triangular mark.

RU-vid "watch this Nick Carver video" Me "I've seen it" RU-vid "watch this Nick Carver video" Me "I've seen....ugh, nevermind, I'll watch again, it is Nick Carver after all. Good quality videos"

This is an excellent video.. I now feel comfortable buying a scanner.. thank you

I will be watching this as I go, thanks for this brother! Amazing 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Awesome man . . . I feel like I just took a master class!

Just bought a epson V850. This tutorial was excellent. BTW Silver Fast does come with the scanner now. Can't wait to see your 'Wet Scanning" tutorial. Another fine video Nick

Good video and great audio with the lav. Everyone should use one. Couple of things for your viewers. Buy a Spyder Calibration Unit to Calibrate your monitor. Monitors out of the box aren't good for color correction.,etc. Worth the cost. 35mm is really soft on my V700. Buy a 35mm film scanner, so much better, even the cheaper ones will be sharper than a Epson flatbed

Hi Nick. Just wanted to follow-up on my earlier message. Since viewing your video, I checked a few more of them and now have a better understanding of your fondness for film versus digital. My comment was similar to asking a photographer why he was using a bulky DSLR camera when he could just have used an iPhone or Galaxy to take a picture. I guess there is just a “je ne sais quoi” about film picture, that digital cannot match. Just like purist audiophiles will only use analogue audio equipment to enjoy their favorite music. Thanks for your videos.

Great comparison video! I always wondered what the attraction was to DSLR scanning. Ive always suspected that it would be a pain even when it comes to feeding the negatives through. A good scanner like the V850 and Silverfast is the way to go. I’ve scanned a 200mp medium format frame on mine.

Just rec'd the Epson V850 Pro and in comparing film holders with yours for height adjustment, noticed the V850 holders have sliders now, with 5 increment height settings (by default set at 2); also knock-out tabs to remove sliders for lowest setting possible. Since you use the plus setting on yours for sharper results, will try the 3rd setting on mine to see if this works as well. Thx.

Great tutorial Nick. Thanks so much for sharing. Got your link from Thomas Heaton's video. This will be very helpful for an upcoming negative/positive project. Cheers from LA.

Many thanks for this superb tutorial Nick! Especially liked the tip on flare & construction paper.

Top tips and lively delivery! Thanks.