The Polaroid SprintScan 35 slide and negative scanner

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This device will allow you to input 35mm photographs, both negative and reversal film. The advantages over using our current flatbed scanners are:

The obvious tradeoff is that this device will not accept other materials besides photographic film. In addition, film sizes larger than 35mm will not fit in the scanner, and it is also impractical to scan smaller formats, since no holders are available for them.

Below you will find instructions on the basic operation of the scanner--these will suffice for most properly exposed originals. For more challenging images, read also the instructions for exposure and color correction. The latter allow you to take full advantage of the scanner's quality, since corrections done before scanning (working on the original 30-bit data) will yield better results than the same corrections done after scanning, in Photoshop (where you are working on 24-bit data).


Basic operation

The SprintScan is not a network device. It can therefore be used only through the computer directly connected to it. The scanner is operated from inside Photoshop, using an acquire plug-in.

  1. Set up the computer and the scanner so that they will operate properly
  2. Locate the Photoshop application icon (in the Paint folder on the hard drive) and double-click on it.
  3. Pull down the File menu, then the Acquire submenu, and select the SprintScan 35 command
    File-Acquire-SprintScan menu in Photoshop
  4. The SprintScan control palette and preview window will appear. Notice also that Photoshop's menus will be replaced by the plug-in's.
    the SprintScan Acquire palette
  5. Insert the original in the scanner, with the emulsion side facing towards the back of the scanner, and the top of the image pointing down. Use light reflections to help you identify the emulsion side (it is duller, and the images appear to have a faint raised edge).
  6. Select the film type that matches the original emulsion from the Film pop-up menu.
    the film type
pop-up menu
  7. Select Color or Grayscale scanning from the Type pop-up menu.
    the color vs greyscale type pop-up menu
  8. Select Landscape or Portrait orientation from the View pop-up menu. Super Slide is a square format used occasionally for audiovisual presentations.
    Note: filmstrip frames must be scanned in Landscape view, regardless of the actual orientation of the image (which can be rotated later in Photoshop).
    the View pop-up menu
  9. Click the Preview button.
    click Preview
button
  10. Once the image appears in the Preview window, adjust the cropping frame using the cropping tool.
    the Crop tool
  11. Click the Auto Expose button to force a new exposure calculation based on the new cropping area.
    the Auto Exposure button
  12. Select a value from the resolution pop-up menu. While you can enter any resolution, the values listed are the scanner's "native resolutions", which will provide better results. Also, keep an eye on the Size figure, so that you do not exceed your disk capacity.
    the Resolution pop-up menu
  13. Click the Scan button.
    click the Scan button
  14. After the scan completes, a new untitled window containing the scanned image appears, and Photoshop's menus are restored. The window is a normal Photoshop document, which you can proceed to save in any supported format using the File menu.

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Additional info on exposure and color correction

The following assume that you have already clicked on "Preview" and that the preview window with the image is on the screen.

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Last updated by Sandro Corsi on 6 NOV 96