Getting maximum resolution from a pro 100

[zing]

Greetings once again. I was wondering about getting maximum resolution when printing photos.

When I am starting with a scanned negative coming from my epson v550 I can choose up to 6400 dpi I don't mind the time it takes to scan.

I then take the scans into photo shop to take care of scratches and at times do some corrections using the histogram function or make adjustments to wring out the best possible image leading to better photo prints. I use the old photoshop cs3 and large negatives so I know there is potential for great resolution

Now here's the question for me. It has to do with choosing the best resolution possible When I choose image size, it really makes it easy to choose any print size I would want while maintaining the aspect ratio

I also have the option to determine the resolution. What is the best I can hope for resolution wise from the pro 100 ? I'm starting with large b & w negatives ?

Thanks

Bill

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I think there are various aspects to your inquiry. I guess you are scanning B/W negatives with your scanner. Best camera lenses already long time ago could resolve, with suitable film material, between 30 to 50 lp/mm - line pairs per millimeter, multiply that by 25, and you get 1250 lp/inch, or count the lines individually and shorten them to a dot you get 2500 dpi, but this only in the center, no lens did that at the edges. So add some reserve and you end at 3600 or 4800 dpi for your scanner which are quite typical values for film scanners. Whether your scanner actually is doing 6400 dpi is questionable, if at all then with a very low contrast ratio between black and white. Those high numbers are mostly marketing hypes. When scanning B/W engatives you need a scanner with a high Dmax, the highest density it can differentiate, and to get there at all you need to scan with 16 bit , because the density range of a good B/W negative goes over 8 - 10 f/stops, up to 12, and you cannot handle that with an 8 bit scan. To get the most out of your scanner you may look into the Vuescan software with lots of options, some of them going beyond the options you can use via the Epson scanner software. That may include scratch removal if the scanner offers an infrared channel for that.

Let's take a 3" x 5" negative which you enlarge 5x and print in a format similar to 15" x 25", that would reduce the effective output resolution of your scan from 2500 dpi by this factor to 2500/5 = 500dpi.

Now let's look to the printer. If you would use the printing software Qimage it would show you the effective output resolution depending on your driver settings - typically 600 dpi with Canon printers. So printing a 500 dpi image with that printer resolution should work without much loss - loss from interpolatotion from 500 to 600 dpi. Don't be fooled by the 2400/4800 etc dpi values posted by the printer manufacturers - those just indicate the resolution within an image pixel to render the color of that pixel - with smaller CMY ink dots. QImage offers you a very flexible layout control, and does a very good job interpolating these different input to output resolutions. If you would print resolution test targets you directly could see the difference between QImage and the standard driver output. And QImage offers you a useful range of sharpening options at print resolution level, not at image resolution level.

And there is another challenge, as addressed above a good B/W scan can have a brightness latitude of 8 - 10 - 12 f-stops, but a print on paper only 4 , on good photo-paper, with a good printer with good inks. For a good B/W print you need to do some pre-processing. local contrast enhancement etc to keep that contrast range visible one way or another, that depends on the motive, on your personal preferences and other soft factors. So yes, you can print great B/W images with your Canon printer which you have scanned

 

[zing]

Thank you ink stained fingers !

Excellent information and again there is so much to think about and I love it.

I'm still thinking about your response about converting my temporarily dead mp610 to a gray scale machine.

A little of the history of what I'm working on. I inherited a box of negatives dating from the early 1900s and ending in the late 1940s.

My grandfather died two years before I was born but for an old cowboy and Dakota homesteader, He took some really great photos and all of them were taken with the folding range finder type cameras that had the extending bellows and only a rectangular piece of wire to frame each shot

Again, I want to thank you and the others that are helping with great real world advice.

The depth of knowledge being shared here is really amazing.

I went to frys Saturday to buy ink as my shipment from adorama still hasn't arrived. I almost bought another printer there.

The high pressure sales weasels didn't even know or understand what they were selling and couldn't tell me from looking at the cartons and price cards on the shelf what sizes of paper the machines used.

That suits me just fine as I'm now saving up for a machine that can print 17 x 20

Bill

 

[The Hat]

Hi Bill, it must be amazing to see all these old negatives come back to life and to revive history once more.

Keep doing what you’re doing but just remember to set your scanner output to Greyscale instead of colour and that will save a huge amount of space.

I also use CS3 and CS4 and they work just as good as the latest’s CS cloud Products, you can resize any of your negatives to any size or resolution once in Photoshop after you have scanned them.
click to enlarge.

Here also is a PDF dealing with image resolution that might help you and maybe others too, I can’t compliment the Author because I don’t know who he was, bless him..

 

[zing]

Thank you Hat for the great information

I make myself procedure sheets as a kind of checklist towards being able to produce better printed images.

It is an amazing thing to find an old negative and scan it and recognize that the person in the image is my father at about 7 years old riding a horse and moving the cattle around.

Its a real perspective changer for sure. I now see my grandmother as the young beautiful school teacher my grandfather married in 1915 instead of the old grey haired lady.

 

[turbguy]

I extend the "dynamic range" of my B&W scans by scanning several time at different "exposure" levels, then combining the resultant 16 bit greyscale tiffs with HDR software. I have been surprised at details in sky and shadows that appear "blocked up" when viewing the negative by eye.

My film of choice was Kodak High Contrast Copy film, processed for full range. Results were better than Technical Pan, but ISO was only about 5 at best. Sadly, these film is no longer available.

Even better are neg scans from the wet collodion process...

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Yes, B/W films had a very wide exposure latitude with a very high dark denisty Dmax which some scanners cannot even reach. Such HDR function is available as well in the Vuescan software if the scanner hardware supports it. When running the demo version with your scanner you directly can see whether this option is available for your scanner or grayed out. And it is interesting to see that some scanners have that functionality although the manufacturer's driver would not support it.

 

[zing]

I only had a few moments to look into the vuescan.

So far I've only gotten as far as cnet and I'm thinking I will check out some of the try before you buy software they are offering.

I love film !!!!!
I hope to have an opportunity at some point to set up the darkroom gear from when my dad was alive.

Thank you for the excellent thoughts !

Bill