SilverFast Knowledge – 3. Summary of the Work Steps

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		3. Summary of the Work Steps
		SilverFast 8 is a very powerful tool when it comes to digitalizing large or small inventory originals. Thanks to technologies like the WorkflowPilot, despite the complexity of its tools, it's easy to use - not just for professionals but also for hobby users – a program that can get the highest possible quality in scanning results. When scanning with the WorkflowPilot, less-experienced users are relieved of many tasks. For example, they need not worry about the order in which tools should ideally be used. Short help texts are displayed for each tool and in each step, so that it's always clear what the current tool is for. The user can then still freely decide whether the tool makes sense for the current motif, or whether he would simply rather not use it. Otherwise, the procedure with the WorkflowPilot is very similar to the procedure without it, and in fact largely identical. Each scan starts with creating a preview of the scanner bed to select the area to be scanned in the final scan. The magnifier can zoom the scanning area to the window size so that the scan frame can be adjusted with precision. Then the resolution and dimensions of the scan have to be specified. These are based on the anticipated purpose of the digitalized image. For a slide show on your home television, both can be kept a little lower. If the image will be used for digital printing, however, higher values are needed. So it's important to think a little in advance about the reason you will be making this scan. Then the process continues with the reconstruction of the black and white point and the middles. The right tool for this purpose is the pipette. Once these values are set, detail resolution is improved in the highlighted and shadowed areas. In the histogram, the available range on the tonal value scale can be extended for highlights and shadows. On the gradation curve, you can then adjust the contrast and the midtones until the right overall impression is obtained. In the next step, the sharpness impression of the image is improved with unsharp masking. Even though the term is a little confusing, this tool can achieve significant improvements. Photos that have been in storage for a long time usually change color and get a color cast. This can be corrected in different ways. First, SilverFast 8 provides different image auto adjust types that can lead to very good results in most general cases. You can then use the tools for Global Color Correction (GCC) and Selective Color Correction (SCC) to put the finishing touches on the light balance of a picture. With a little practice, these tools can be used so simply and intuitively that the use of image automatic can simply be omitted. If the original is damaged, the dust and scratch removal (SRD) tool in SilverFast 8 can correct these defects. The tool can be applied to the entire image, but freely definable masks can also be used to restrict it to certain areas of the image. The different configuration options of SRD make it possible to correct defects in the image very specifically. Once everything is set up the way you like, the actual scan can be carried out by clicking the Scan button. SilverFast 8 receives the image data from the scanner and executes all the image improvements configured in the tools.