This document explains in painful detail how to use the slide scanner in CMC 106. Most of it is fairly obvious, but please note the attention paid to inserting the slide with the proper orientation--this DOES matter.
This scanner allows you to obtain digital images from mounted slides and film negatives. It scans at a much higher resolution and color depth than the flatbed scanners in CMC 106. Therefore it may be useful in situations where both negatives and prints are available and extremely high-quality images are desired, as well as in situations where only mounted slides or negatives of the desired images are available.
Slides should be inserted face-up and sideways (with the "side edge" of the mount into the slot first). Although it is possible to insert the top edge of the slide in first, and to put the front/top face of the slide facing downwards, the images you get will be of lower (or at least more variable) quality then if you insert the slide in the correct orientation and the edges of the images will be cropped off. Push the slide in until you meet resistance. The left edge of the slide will be flush with the front of the scanner. When scanning begins the slide will be drawn into the scanner, and then returned to it's original position. Whenever it is in this original (left edge flush with the scanner face) position, it can be safely removed from the scanner.
Scanning negatives requires the use the a special mounting bracket provided by Nikon. The bracket is hinged along its long edge and should be pried open carefully. Place the negative strip inside so that the image numbers on the negatives face up (where the side of the bracket with the Nikon logo defines the "up" side). Align the negative so that the boundaries between images align with the corresponding boundaries on the bracket. Close the bracket so that it clicks shut, making sure that the ends of the black plastic case are snapped together as well.
Adjust the black plastic case holding the negative strip so that the image you want to scan shows through one of the two windows on the silver outer casing of the bracket. Then insert the bracket into the scanner with the Nikon labelled side up, and the image to be scanned showing through the silver window that goes into the machine first.
It's okay if several other images proceed the desired image into the scanner. Only the one showing through the hole in the silver bracket will be scanned. Insert the bracket until you meet some resistance--the image to be scanned should be within the scanner, but the rest of the bracket may hang out the front.
Though there are several possible approaches, the best is probably to start up Photoshop (the copy on the local hard drive, not the network (MacLab) version). Select Acquire from the File menu and select Nikon Scan from the sub-menu. If that option is not there you are probably using the network, and not the local, version of Photoshop.
A window will appear. First select the type of image--positive, or negative, and color, black & white or grayscale, from the bar in the upper left. Then click the preview button on the lower right. After some noise and motion from the scanner a preview image should appear. By clicking and dragging on the image you should be able to select the area to scan. The four buttons at the bottom of the image allow you to zoom in and out and change the orientation of the image. After you've selected the region you want to scan click the autofocus button. It's in the lower middle of the window and looks like inverted receeding railroad tracks, or possibly an old-fashioned camera. Then adjust the output resolution in the box in the upper part of the window. Though you can put in any number, the best result will be achieved using a resolution of 2,700. Note the file size is displayed just below the resolution. At the maximum resolution the files may become very large. So, if you can live with lower resolution your files will be smaller and more manageable.
The rest of the buttons adjust image quality. I won't say much more about them other than that the series of 5 small buttons to the left of the preview image are (from top to bottom) Brightness, Contrast, and 3 Color Balance controls. You can set their values by clicking the button and adjusting the pop-up slider. For more information on adjusting the Gamma Curves (the graph in the left corner of the window) see the Nikon Scan manual. (or just play with the curves and see what they do)
When you've got the image selected and adjusted to your satisfaction click the scan button in the lower right. When the scanner is done scanning you should be able to remove the negatives or mounted slide without encountering any resistance.
For more info see the manuals or me: Sean Fox x4037, sfox
Maintained by Sean
Fox, sfox@carleton.edu
Last updated: Thursday, 31-Aug-2000 12:26:08 CDT