Scanning Photos

[Tim Shirey]

> 
> Tim,
> Do you really have an OSX version of the Epson Scan software?


Yes - Epson Scan for OSX and SilverFast SE is also in OSX.  That was one
thing I made sure before purchasing it because I also heard that Epson was
dragging their feet on providing OSX support for other models.  I was
planning to purchase the 2450 but it was the guy at the store who suggested
I wait 2 weeks (end of March) for the 3200 to come out.  I started using
SilverFastSE from within Photoshop to do my scans by noticed that it
automatically scans from 48bit down to 24bit.  With Epson Scan I could scan
and save at 48 bit.  One catch to doing that ... if I want to work with it
in Photoshop (which I always do), I discovered that I can't use the "move
tool" in Photoshop when the file is saved at 16 bit per channel.  A warning
comes up for me to convert to 8 bit/channel.

One odd thing with the scanner is that the convenient "start scan" button on
the front of the scanner doesn't do anything for me - From the description
of how it works, I got the impression from the description and screen shots
that it's a feature with the Windows software and not Mac.  I have over
1,000+ slides to scan and would have appreciated setting it up for a one
button scan. :-)

- Tim

Ps. - slightly off the subject... I just finished a fun video "home school"
project with our 3 girls (ages 8, 10, 12).  I had them prepare a 1 min.
stop-frame animation and they spent time learning about the planning stages,
lighting, different types of camera shots, etc..  We packed it all in 4
hrs..  Anyone interested can view it on our homepage (9.4 mb filesize):
www.illustratedWORD.com
Link to page:
www.illustratedword.com/family/stopframe_project/stopframe_hs_project.htm

Used a Canon GL2, G4 PowerBook, and "FrameThief" (shareware) animation
software.  Nothing professional but a learning experience.
Sidenote: The background music was downloaded .mpg songs from
"Britishaudio.com" - some great sounding, downloadable, royalty-free music
at a good price (if they still have the half price sale...). Average cost
was $9 for a 1 min. song.

---------------------

> The best
> I have been able to find from Epson is OSX Twain drivers for something
> like Photoshop. I do a fair amount of OCR and I have to boot to OS9 to
> use Epson's software. I bought a 2450 a year and a half ago with the
> understanding that they were going to come out with an OSX version of
> the software, they have been back peddling ever since. If you really
> have  aversion I will start harassing Epson about when they are going to
> make it available to current scanner owners.
> 
> If you are trying to use the scanner to its maximum the SilverFast SE
> software is much better, more control, than the Epson software for
> pictures. Have fun scanning.
> 
> Eric
>