I am about to purchase a Polaroid Slide Scanner, SprintScan 35
Plus (Mac) which has 2800 dpi resolution for $98. Does anybody
have any experience with this unit before I plunk down my
dollars?
My slides on Orchid were scanned with a similar unit, but with
only 300 dpi and I was duly impressed even with this low of
resolution.
After reading various threads on scanners and digital cameras,
it seemed to me that for now, I can transfer my slide collection
and archive it fairly well. I already purchased a UMax scanner
for my photoetching work (direct laser output onto the
metal…way cool). The digital camera will be the last to
purchase.
Now all I need is more office space and to increase my
horizontal surfaces 10 fold.
Hmm… that husband of mine is taking up a lot of space, maybe I
could…naaah.
Where the month says February and the weather says
March…still.
I am a digital girl too. Just bought a digital camera WAY too
cool for words. Anyway, 300dpi is a standard in the print
industry. Anything lower then 300dpi will look pixelated and
crummy.
I just bought the UMAX Astra 1220U for $100 after I mailed in my
$40.00 rebate. The slide adaptor cost me an additional $100 to go
with the unit. I LOVE it. It was better then my old Microtech
scanner that cost $800 dollars three years ago. Technology is
just getting cheaper and cheaper. The UMAX has a usb adaptor so
you can hook it up to one of those new Mac computer IMACS (way
too cool - now you can get them as cheap at $900 and most of them
come loaded with real simple graphic programs and great fonts so
you can start banging out promotional stuff right away)
Before you decide on a scanner check out the products web sites
and compare I never bought a poloroid product before
but the scanner sounds great especially it if comes with slide
adaptor ( I would make sure it does come with a slide adaptor)
I am about to purchase a Polaroid Slide Scanner, SprintScan 35
Plus (Mac) which has 2800 dpi resolution for $98. Does anybody
have any experience with this unit before I plunk down my
dollars?
My slides on Orchid were scanned with a similar unit, but with
only 300 dpi and I was duly impressed even with this low of
resolution.
After reading various threads on scanners and digital cameras,
it seemed to me that for now, I can transfer my slide collection
and archive it fairly well. I already purchased a UMax scanner
for my photoetching work (direct laser output onto the
metal…way cool). The digital camera will be the last to
purchase.
Now all I need is more office space and to increase my
horizontal surfaces 10 fold.
Hmm… that husband of mine is taking up a lot of space, maybe I
could…naaah.
Where the month says February and the weather says
March…still.
Karen - I do a lot of photoetching using GOCCO silkscreens.
Please tell me where to get more info on the Umax you referred to
earlier. Dottie Wood @dwood
The Umax is a scanner for a PC. There are many scanners out
there, it’s just the one I chose.
The actual image for etching, is related to the output, meaning
a laser printer. I use the scanner to scan the images, and a
laser printer for the toner to act as a resist. Does this make
sense?
Here is the post I have replied to a couple of interested people
regarding this.
Briefly, the direct laser method is ironing the paper, image
side down directly onto either copper or brass, with your iron on
high. Let the paper and metal cool completely to the touch.
Soak the metal and paper in water for three minutes. Gently rub
the paper away with your fingers and the image with toner should
adhere.
Make sure that your metal surface is very clean and scratch
free. Clean metal with 400 grit sandpaper and then swab with
alcohol. This gets rid of any surface grease.
Etch with ferric chloride, image side down and suspended in the
ferric. Do not let it touch the bottom. Fresh ferric should
etch in about 1 to 1.5 hours. – Karen Christians M E T A L W E R
X 416 Main St. Woburn, MA 01801 781/937-3532 http://www.metalwerx.com/@metalart
Thank you, Karen, for your post on etching using a laser printer
for resist. This has opened up a world of possibilities for me!
I’ve never done any etching but often thought of it. Any tips
about using ferric chloride?
Umax also supports Mac. It’s not the scanner but the software
that depends on what machine it operates on. I have a Astra 1200S
and I love it.
I’m interested in the etching you are doing. I have done some
using glass and acid and was wondering if brass or copper is the
only metals that this technique will work on ? Have you tried
aluminum, or silver ?
Why do you have to suspend the metal ? Is it because the acid
will not get to the metal where it touches ?
Hope you don’t mind me asking such basic questions.
Thanks for your interest. Ferric chloride is an iron salt which
will etch copper, bronze and brass. The best etching is slow, 6
or more hours because the detail is very clean. You can get
ferric from Bryant Labs, Radio Shack or electronic supply
stores. It won’t hurt you if touched, but will stain like the
dickens. If you want the entire protocol for etching, send me
a SASE for .60. I’ll send you the protocols and my supply list
(for everyone I use, not just etching). I also teach workshops
in photoetching.
-k
Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
416 Main St.
Woburn, MA 01801
781/937-3532
I want to chime in on the Epson Perfection 4990. At my day job I’m a
professor of art history at a local university, and my department is
currently digitizing a collection of tens of thousands of slides. We
started off with dedicated slide scanner, which was slow but
effective. We recently purchased the Epson Perfection 4990 flatbed
and it scan like a dream. Our standards are probably different–we
need sufficiently high resolution that we can project the images on a
large screen. Just thrilled at its speed, ease of use and the quality
of the scans. It is well priced, too. Not a stockholder, just a
pleasantly surprised and satisfied customer!
Megan Cifarelli (my first post, been lurking for months!)
I’m glad to see good solutions for going from slides to digital,
though my personal solution is having my photographer-- Larry
Sanders-- send me digital files of every slide he takes for me.
Now, does someone have a good idea for the other way 'round? I have
images of my display that I took with my Nikon 990, edited out my
name on my banner, etc, then tried to have made into slides for show
applications. I took them to the place I have always had my 35mm
slides processed, a very reliable camera and photo place. The slides
came out unusable, colors altered, and no better when they sent them
back for another try.
I guess I have to get actual slides shot, but I much prefer editing
them in Photoshop to taking down my banner and so forth before
shooting.
Don't use the software supplied with the scanner. Use VueScan,
It's well worth the money and effort.
I would like to affirm the value of VueScan. I have a rather ancient
Epson scanner. When I started using VueScan it was as though I had a
brand new state-of-the-art scanner.
I was one of the keepers of the art department slide room at Vassar
in the 70’s, and I would have killed for a slide scanner and digital
images if it would have been possible then. Your post brought back
memories of metal 35mm mounts, glass slides and dry-mounting prints
for the walls. Oh, yeah, and I remember that guy (a student) who used
to sneak into the art library at night to photograph the images from
books…illegally. No other college ever did that, of course.
Brian Corll
Brian Corll, Inc.
1002 East Simpson Street
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Some time ago, this topic came up, and slides.com was one of the
places suggested. I have been happy with the quality of the slides,
as well as the prices.
Noel - I’ve been using iprintfromhome.com Prices are reasonable and I
am very happy with the quality of the slides I got back. They look
great. The only thing I didn’t like was the time… took about a week
to get them from when I ordered, so give yourself some room timewise.
As for scanners I have a Nikon Coolscan V I am very happy with…
scans both slides and negatives.
