Will Faa Print Film Photos?

In answer to your general question, will FAA print scanned film images, the answer is yes. Before I put down $30 for premium membership I had them make a 24" print of this one, which was originally shot on 35mm film, and it came out beautifully.




As to your two images, maybe not. They're very low resolution and have some noise. Beefcake is awfully grainy. Neither will print very large due to their low resolution. My example above has a resolution of 5617x3262 pixels. Yours are only 1813x1225. Mine is more than 8 times the size of yours. (Not bragging or anything.)

Yes they are low res - to keep down costs I was thinking of sticking to low-res scans until a customer shows an interest for a larger-sized print in which case I will have a high-res scan made.

This is a high-res scan I had made, but since it was shot on 400 ASA film there is no way of getting around the grain. Will FAA make a distinction between noise and grain do you think?

I've been scanning all of my negatives into hi res files over the past few years. They are good enough to print 20x30's...some bigger. I have sold a few and haven't run into problems. i do clean up the noise in Topaz before posting. On most I turn off the hi res preview as it adds unnecessary sharpness.

So does scanning add noise to a film photo?

The machine I use is a commercial scanner and it does add sharpness/noise to my files. There is a way to go in and lower the sharpness but then it gets too soft for me. I'd rather reduce slight noise than go in the opposite direction.

Thanks Joann, playing around with Dfine 2 now and it does make a difference for sure; the noise cleans up nicely.

Nice shots

Dean,

My work took a turn production wise I did not expect. I have not used my scanner at all.

But I bought my scanner with your questions in mind.

I have The Epson Perfection v600 photo scanner.

The price some $200 months ago.

It would have done what I needed. At least I think it would have.

Dave

Dean,

I should add I have a good background in the arts, but had no background in photography or Photoshop.

I have had to work hard to get up to speed to complete my work.

I have a good friend who on the technical side gave me a lot of advice early on. My friend
is an amateur photographer who at one time studied with someone who worked with Ansel Adams.
My friend is a retired engineer in his mid 70s. From very early on he was giving me advise specifically
aimed at quality and resolution issues.

He suggested buying a photo scanner instead of using a camera after considering just the issues you are
asking about. It took me a couple of months and a lot of study to buy in, but he was right.

Dave

Dean,

There should be software to reduce any noise and other problems. The Epson scanner comes with ICE
software. The resolution is very high. That of course is a good thing.

Joann,

Just curious what sort of scanner to you own?

And is it now older? Or still new?

Dave

Hi David,

I had the negatives scanned by a lab directly from the negatives, but low-res. Are we talking about the same thing here?

Nope.

Why low-res? Costs?

I have to bow out. Dont know enough.

Like I said I did not need to journey down this road.

My scanner is gathering dust.

Dave

Yes, costs. It's expensive to have high res scans made. The lab I use seems to be doing a good job except for the noise.

Ive added some noise reduction to one photo, would this be more acceptable in terms of FAA printing?

Look into your own machine. Digital equipment is coming way down in price and going
way up in quality.

You need high resolutions to make larger prints. But you know that.

I am not at all sure if the Epson v600 does not work with negatives.

I have good news for you. From a few years ago with the intro of the v600

http://www.imaging-resource.com/SCAN/V600/V600.HTM

@amazon for $205

http://tinyurl.com/o9olf2b

It is worth it. Good luck,

Dave

BTW higher res when you use ICE software allows for more work to
be done on the noise....etc....

But I think the ICE software might actually automatically kick in.

You will need a Wolf Faust color card to calibrate the scanner. That costs
$20 including shipping from Germany. A total deal.

You will need Vuescan software as well. Vuescan allows for calibrating the
scanner and managing the image and preview window etc....

I have the $79 verson. That is another bargain. The competition is not as good
and costs a lot more.

Dave

My best scans were made long ago with a drum scanner. I have some scans here from my V600, but that is not really up to my standards. There are lots of labs that scan cheap. I am just a procrastinator. My New Years resolution was to start sending slides out to a lab. I haven't done that yet but I do have a table set aside with cotton gloves and film cleaning supplies.

Depending on the results from the lab I may buy some new software to clean things up.

When I shot film most people never enlarged much more than an 8x10. If you were shooting Velvia on a tripod you could go 20x 30 or more and see no visible grain. So I would say if it couldn't make a large print back in the day its not going to suddenly print at 40 inches. That said there are digital artists that can do amazing things from small old prints.

that's a tough call because up close it's a bit wavy looking. but its film. i think it could go either way depending on size. i think it mostly depends on the textures of a scene, if its wood, metal, rock, the noise will blend and it's ok. it's when the sky is flat and noisy, they make a huff about that.

---Mike Savad

Thanks Bradford and Mike,

No longer a drum scanner in the town where I live and drum scanning is very expensive so that's not an option. I have been reading up a bit on the subject and it seems scanning does introduce noise to a picture. From what I've read scanning offers better IQ than using an enlarger, so in theory I should be able to go bigger than 8x10 without problems. The original Tiff file is 6mb and maximum print size I am getting through FAA is 20 by 13.5.

Mike, did you look at the reworked version?

Would appreciate any other input anyone has regarding printability...

@ David, I use a Noritsu commercial scanner to scan my 35mm and medium format negatives. It does have the ICE software which it nice as it will remove dust and scratches from negatives. It will not do anything for grain though. You will need to have a seperate software program for that. It is expensive to scan hi-res files, as Dean says, but worth every penny. I am lucky to work in the field and have use of the scanner for personal use.

I have a Nikon scanner that has ICE for dust and scratches and GEM which softens grain in varying degrees.

i don't think you would have had a problem with the second one because it's all texture. the first one has that smooth mirror and face and it's more pronounced there.

but it really depends who looks at it. often you can explain to them that it's film grain or you meant it to look that way and sometimes they say ...oh, ok, and send it out.

---Mike Savad