21. September 2018

Caution when updating to macOS Mojave (10.14)!

Apple has ceased to support 32-bit systems. Scanners lacking 64-bit drivers are not compatible with macOS 10.14.

For the last several years, Apple has been preparing to transition to a purely 64-bit system. In macOS 10.14, this step has been taken: 32-bit apps and drivers are no longer supported. In this new version, affected scanners will no longer function with SilverFast until their drivers are updated to support 64-bit.

At this point in time, your scanners manufacturer only supports 32-bit drivers, which are currently not supported by macOS 10.14. We thus urgently recommend that you contact your scanner manufacturer prior to updating to macOS 10.14 in order to determine the compatibility of your device.

You can find further information concerning this issue here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208436

Affected devices:

Canon:

• CanoScan 4400F
• CanoScan 8600F
• CanoScan 8800F

Epson:

• Expression 1680, Expression 1680 Pro, ES-2200
• Perfection 2400
• Perfection 2450
• Perfection 2480
• Perfection 2580
• Perfection 4490
• Perfection V10
• Perfection V100
• Perfection V200
• Perfection V30
• Perfection V300
• Perfection V33
• Perfection V330
• Perfection V350
• Perfection V37
• Perfection V370
• Perfection V500
• Perfection V550
• Perfection V600

Important note:
The SilverFast update 8.8.0r14 is the last update to support 32-bit macOS systems. In the future, SilverFast will be developed solely in 64-bit.

14. September 2018

Visit us at Photokina Trade Fair 2018

The photokina fair, world leading fair for photo, video and the imaging branch as such takes place in Cologne from 26th to 29th September. Discover trends and innovations in the world of photography from 10am to 6pm (to 9pm on friday).

LaserSoft Imaging will again be represented at the trade fair this year together with its partners Epson and Plustek. Immerse yourself in the world of photography and experience the latest developments in the digitization of analog image data. For this we will introduce our revised version of the SilverFast Archive Suite. See yourself how effortless, easy and safely you can create brilliant Fine Art Prints and Large Format Prints using our PrinTao 8 large format printing solution.

Scanning: SilverFast Archive Suite

Over time, analog images lose quality and color; they fade and they even are at risk of fungal attacks (cf. Picture). LaserSoft Imaging thus presents its new SilverFast Archive Suite: a flexible and safe to use complete solution of scanner and image processing software for the digitization of slides, filmstrips and photos which doesn't require any further processing in Photoshop. The ingenious RAW data concept, which is the clue of our SilverFast Archive Suite, enables thousands of analog images to be digitized in a very short time.

Printing: PrinTao 8

PrinTao 8 is THE printing solution numerous for Large Format Printers – professional results, yet easy and intuitive to use. PrinTao 8 contains ICC Profiles for the most important papers of many renowned manufacturers – for color consistent printing.

Come and visit us!

Visit us at the Epson stand (Hall 2.2, Booth B021) and at Plustek (Hall 2.1, Booth E011). We look forward to introduce consumer and business solutions in the areas of scanning, image processing and printing to you.

If you are still looking for a ticket, you may register here to receive a voucher for a free day pass (as long as supplies last).




10. August 2018

Jonathan Notley has released two new videos on youtube

UK Photographer Notley introduces his SilverFast workflows for scanning negatives and black-and-white film

Youtube: How to Scan Black-and-White Film (ft. SilverFast 8.8)

Jonathan Notley: « Scanning black and white film might seem easier (because you don't have to worry about colour) but it's still important to get as much detail out of the negative as possible. In this video I show you some of the tools I use in SilverFast to get good results. »

Youtube: How to Scan Colour Film (ft. SilverFast 8.8)

Jonathan Notley: « Showing you some tips and tricks for scanning your Colour negatives at home. »

28. June 2018

UK Photographer Jonathan Notley relies on SilverFast

Jonathan introduces his SilverFast 8.8 scanning workflow exemplary with 6x7 positive film

SilverFast comes with a lot of tools for whatever difficulties you may stumble upon when digitizing your slides. Jonathan Notley is a skilled photographer and loves shooting analog film. His Youtube channel really is worth taking a look at. He has now published a video on how to digitize E6 slides. Don't miss it.

About Jonathan: « Jonathan Notley is a British Portrait and Landscape photographer living and working in London. Whilst best known commercially as a portrait photographer Jonathan also has a passion for analog processes. On frequent trips he uses medium and large-format film to photograph the coasts and waterways of his native United Kingdom. Jonathan relies on digitizing his negatives using SilverFast scanner software to get the best out of digital printing options. »

You may also like to visit Jonathan's website, you will find a lot of his great photographic artworks.

12. June 2018

Ektachrome film will be back

Kodak on Instagram: first test photos shot on the revived Ektachrome film

Five years after Ektachrome has been discontinued, the new film will soon be available. Kodak is in the final phase of fine-tuning the coating process. Of course, the formulation itself is well-known, but some of the more than 80 different chemical components were no longer available. First, new producers had to be found for these chemicals, which has meanwhile succeeded. Kodak has now published first test pictures on Instagram.

Question: « Where did the Ektachrome pictures you recently posted came from? »

Kodak: « They came from the most recent narrow coating trial. We looked at the test shots on a light box, and were very excited. While we recognize that scans don't necessarily do the film justice, we posted them to help people understand we remain hard at work to bring EKTACHROME to market. »

Ektachrome – end and new beginning

Ektachrome has been on the market since the early 1940s, but faced with financial difficulties in 2012 and the lack of demand due to a fast-growing digital market, Kodak ended the production of many film types – including Ektachrome.

But in recent years, the sales of professional photo film is steadily rising again. Professional and enthusiastic photographers discover the artistic control through manual processes and the creative satisfaction of a physical end product.

It may be assumed that the new Ektachrome film will be available this year, maybe in a couple of weeks.

15. May 2018

SilverFast at the CEBIT 2018 trade fair – everything new?

The German CEBIT trade fair this year comes up with a completely new concept – LaserSoft Imaging will join in!

Like every year, LaserSoft Imaging will be present at CEBIT for its partners and customers. You are invited to visit us in Hall 17 Booth H17 at the Schleswig-Holstein joint stand. We cordially invite you to talk to us about our scanner and image processing software SilverFast or to lean more about how SilverFast can be used as a business and industrial solution in your company.

Consumer: SilverFast is considered to be the most successful scanner software in the world. Many practical features are used to efficiently and safely transfer analog images into digital image archives. SilverFast is used by both home users as well as professional photographers and supports the most important photo and film scanners from all renowned scanner manufacturers.

Business: SilverFast is individually customizable, resulting in numerous possibilities for an application in the industry, but also in archives, authorities, museums and other institutions as well as in the field of medical and ID imaging. Our solutions are already used very successfully in production environments, for example in the area of quality management as reliable and cost-effective measuring instruments. Combined with today's robotic technology there are many possible applications to perform fully automatic quality checks all around the clock, 7 days a week.

We have a long-term cooperation with the German federal printing agency „Bundesdruckerei“ for producing ID cards, which makes us to experts in the area of passport and ID card issuance. In addition, together with Epson we are distributing healthcare solutions for capturing X-ray images.

Hall 17 Booth H17 at the Schleswig-Holstein joint stand

Come and meet us at our stand, we are looking forward to your visit!

4. May 2018

Kodachrome feature movie now on Netflix

Since April 20, 2018, the Kodachrome movie is available on Netflix

Kodachrome details the journey of a seasoned photographer (Ed Harris) and his estranged son (Jason Sudeikis) who roadtrip across the states along with Harris' nurse (Elizabeth Olsen) to get several rediscovered rolls of Kodachrome film developed before the last lab capable of doing it shuts down for good.

Source: www.netflix.com





23. April 2018

digit! - (R)Evolution in Scanner Profiling

The digit!, a German professional journal for digital images, introduces the new Advanced Scanner Calibration.

In order to obtain predictable and correct colors in an imaging workflow, it is important that all devices involved are profiled. Due to production processes, even devices identical in construction show small deviations. However, these deviations can be compensated witch a color calibration.

Scanners are profiled with color charts called targets. For these targets, there is currently a new and much more accurate standard in development. As an ISO member, LaserSoft Imaging plays an important role in designing this standard. Targets according to the new ISO standard are already available – worldwide only from LaserSoft Imaging. The digit! now presents these new Advanced Targets and the related SilverFast Scanner Calibration in a 2-page article.

digit!: « A highlight is the demonstrably higher amount of Color fields. Exactly 600, this is more than three times as many. This large number of measuring points results in extreme accuracy. […] For the longest time, LaserSoft Imaging targets have counted among the best on the market. »

The complete article and many more interesting stories can be found in the current digit! issue 2-2018.

You can also download the article here as a PDF file.

21. March 2018

International Color Day - March 21st, 2018

The International Color Day goes back to Maria Joao Durao, President of the Portuguese Color Association, and was first celebrated in 2008. The date, 21st of March, was not chosen randomly.

The date refers to the equinox in spring, day and night are exactly the same time. The spring equinox is regarded as the symbolic equivalent of the complementary relationship between light and shadow as a fundamental element of colors. Fine color gradations are also the factors that make up the quality of our photos and images. They should not be left to chance.

Advanced Scanner Calibration

Get perfect color when scanning your photos, slides and filmstrips by profiling your scanner first. With unprecedented accuracy, the brand new fully automatic Advanced Color Calibration from SilverFast will create color profiles for your scanner. Using SilverFast Ai Studio or the SilverFast Archive Suite and a SilverFast calibration target, the color calibration is effortless: accurate colors – perfect images.

Learn more about the new Advanced SilverFast Calibration Targets.


16. March 2018

Netflix announces Feature Film: Kodachrome

Kodachrome - U.S. Premiere - (Netflix Launch: April 20, 2018)

Kodachrome was a popular slide film produced by Kodak between 1935 and 2009. It was the first commercially successful three-color film with natural color reproduction. Kodachrome film features great sharpness, fine grain and vibrant colors. In addition, it is extremely well preserved in archives. Although the producing and development of Kodachrome film has been discontinued, Kodachrome is still present and there are rumors Kodak maybe will bring it back. For Scanning Kodachrome film, SilverFast is widely recognized to be the most powerful solution. Now Netflix has announced a full feature Kodachrome movie.

About the Movie: « Matt Ryder (Sudeikis) is convinced to drive his estranged and dying father Benjamin Ryder (Harris) cross country to deliver four old rolls of Kodachrome film to the last lab in the world that can develop them before it shuts down for good. Along with Ben's nurse Zooey (Olsen), the three navigate a world changing from analog to digital while trying to put the past behind them.

Starring Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis and Elizabeth Olsen, Kodachrome is directed by Mark Raso and written by Jonathan Tropper. Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Eric Robinson, Jonathan Tropper, Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Leon Clarence serve as producers. »

Source: www.broadwayworld.com

Read more about Kodachrome and SilverFast in this article on www.shutterbug.com.

12. March 2018

New Targets for Scanner Calibration
LaserSoft Imaging once again demonstrates pioneering spirit with the production of "Advanced Targets" for Scanner Calibration, more measuring fields and increased Target accuracy. For many years now, Scanner-Calibration has been subject to the IT8-Standard. Scanner-Calibration measures the individual color recognizing capabilities of a scanner and creates a unique Color-Profile. The generated Color-Profile helps software with color management, ensuring that images maintain their color-integrity on a wide-range of devices (e.g. monitors and printers). The ISO-Norm 12641 is part of the IT8-Standard. The ISO-Norm 12641 is currently being expanded by the ISO-Committee, in order to do justice to the steadily increasing importance of color accuracy. We at LaserSoft Imaging are very impressed by the reliable precision of these Advanced Targets and have already begun Advanced Target production. These 12641 (-2 ISO-Candidate) Advanced Targets will be offered in our Online Store until March 31st 2018 at a special introductory price. Click here to view the complete press release or click here to be taken to our Scanner Calibration page to find out more about our new "Advanced Targets".	Advanced Color Calibration Target
(Please click to enlarge)

10. January 2018

Google Pixel 2 Camera vs. a $20,000 Hasselblad

At the beginning of this year, the PetaPixel photo blog has published an interesting article stating a very important information on Dynamic Range.

What a willing reader can learn from the comparison between the Google Pixel 2 smartphone and the 20.000 Euro Hasselblad camera is how immensely important the Dynamic Range is to achieve good images. It is not without reason that SilverFast Multi-Exposure for us is one of the most important feature highlights for scanning. The example in this article impressively shows what happens when the Dynamic Range is insufficient.

PetaPixel: Google Pixel 2 Camera vs. a $20,000 Hasselblad

Incidentally, the same principle also applies to scanning. Image data which the scanner does not capture when digitizing is lost and can not be recovered by any software calculations. However, software can help to optimize the Dynamic Range for scanning allowing the scanner to capture as much image information as possible. Read more about how SilverFast Multi-Exposure can help your images.

SilverFast Multi-Exposure is included with SilverFast SE Plus, Ai Studio and the Archive Suite.