Step 6 - Editing "Job" Images

Our next task is to select an image for optimising. This is relatively simple to achieve since all we need do is mouse click the image in the "Job-Manager" control window and then choose the "Edit" button. The screenshot below shows this in red.

 

Selecting an Image for Editing in SilverFast

Once the image is selected and the "Edit" button clicked the image will be pre-scanned into the main SilverFast Prescan window. When the pre-scan is completed we MUST crop the image. If the image is not cropped the colour/contrast corrections will include the frame border within the analysis and so a poor result will almost inevitably follow (especially the case with negatives). Now we can use all of the SilverFast colour/contrast/sharpen tools as required to optimise the image. Once completed we simply select the "Save" button (circled red in the screenshot below). Notice that the "Save" has replaced the normal "Scan" button.

 

 

The optimised image is saved back into the "Job". We can now proceed to the second image and repeat the above process of image selection, however, this time we do not need to press the "Edit" button. A quick check of the Job-Manager window below shows that Image 1 has been cropped, colour corrected, gradation corrected and some Unsharp Mask (USM) has been applied. Image 2 has also been cropped, colour corrected and gradation corrected but no sharpening has been applied.

 

 

The above process is repeated until all images within the "Job" have been edited.

Step 7 - Saving the "Job" Images

Once all the images making up the "Job" have been edited we must "Save" the "Job" so that it can be scanned at a later time. However, before we save the "Job" we must tell Job-Manager that the editing process has been completed. This is achieved by pressing the "Edit" button so that it is released (see screenshot below).

 

 

Now we can choose the "Save" command from the "Job" menu and give it a name, ideally one that reflects the content of the "Job".

 

Save "Job"

 

At this point it's also a good idea to choose the location to where the scanned images will eventually be saved. However, make sure the destination disk/folder has adequate space to hold the images. The file sizes are show adjacent to the thumbnail so calculating the amount of space required shouldn't present any problems.

 

Choosing the final location of scanned images

 

Note: 

Even after saving the "Job" it is still possible to re-edit any single or group of images making up the "Job". It's simply a matter of selecting the image and pressing the "Edit" button. However, this time round the scanner does NOT need to pre-scan the image since a copy of each pre-scan has been saved to your hard disk. Of course, after re-editing we must again save the "Job".

 

Step 8 - Scanning the Images

Up until this point we have only pre-scanned our images and carried out the cropping and edits, now we must actually scan the sequence of images to our hard disk. Select each of the images by simply holding down the Shift key and clicking the thumbnail. Selected images will be shown with a "white" surround (see screenshot below). To begin the actual scanning process simply press the "Start" button.

 

Scanning the Images

 

The process of scanning our sequence of images can take quite a long time, especially if the edits included rotation and the images are large. However, during this phase we can be doing something else as the scanner need not normally be attended, at least not until we need to reload the film carrier. We can also use the "Stop" button to stop the process and thus allow reloading of the film carrier if that is necessary. LaserSoft have provided some visual feedback to denote progress through the "Job". This takes the form of coloured LED's that are positioned on the right hand side of the Job-Manager control window. The LED's have the following meaning:

• Yellow - the image is currently being scanned

• Green - the image has been successfully scanned

• Red - Image has failed to scan

• Grey - Image has not yet been scanned

If the "Job" is stopped at any point and then restarted only those images that don't have green or red LED's will be scanned. Those with a green LED have already been completed and those shown with a red LED have failed. Always check the status of the LED's before restarting the scanning process.

SilverFast with Job-Manager is an extremely powerful and useful productivity tool. Hopefully this tutorial will have provided sufficient insight as to how it works that you will decide to try it for yourself.