ScanWizardProTx is the free interface, at least when I bought my 4000t (precursor to your scanner).
Harald E Brandt wrote: > First of all: > Finally Microtek responded today, after more than a week! They attached > the firmware version 1.61 for the ArtixScan 4000tf, saying > "Unfortunately there is no Mac OS X updater available for this scanner > model. The attached updater is for Windows only." > > Great! But there was no other information attached, no upgrade > instructions, no release notes, and no information inside the > zip-archive. Nevertheless, I have already managed to install it from > the temporary-connected PC over USB, but I had to install ScanWizard > just for the updater to find the scanner. And it works! (I normally use > Mac OS X, but once the firmware is installed in the scanner, it is of > course as good from Mac OS as from Windows.) It is too early to say if > there are any improvements though. > > On 2006-01-30, at 16.24, Carlisle Landel wrote: > >>Are you sure you need a firmware update? Would you mind re- >>explaining the problem? > > > No, I'm not sure I need it. It is more of a "hope" that quality goes up > and erratic behaviors go down... > > Originally I wrote: "Although the scanner still works, it sometimes > happens that it misses focus, or that the calibration tables come in > wrong, or slightly inconsistent brightness/color between scans, so I am > hoping that a firmware upgrade might perhaps help." > > When I joined this list in 1999, I had a lousy scanner, but then I > bought the ArtixScan 4000tf as soon as it was possible to buy it in > Sweden. I happen to belong to the picky ones, so even though this > scanner is supposed to be one of the best (e.g in terms of shadow > performance), I have never been fully pleased, and the quality of > scanner software, IT8-calibration in particular, is generally lousy > with zillions of problems. Issues have been discussed with LaserSoft, > and I've had various private communication with Ian Lyons and other > friends. It has taken me a long time to get results that I consider > descent. If you are interested in calibration issues, you may want to > read the articles <http://photo.bragit.com/it8tests.html>. Still > though, the scanner sometimes misbehaves, and it has always been like > that. > > As for why it sometimes misses focus, I don't know. I'm just hoping > that new firmware will make it better. The most confusing aspect > though, is the erratic behavior of multisampling. I have generally > stayed away from multisampling for that very reason, but I really want > to use it more. (It is common to hear people say it is not needed with > this scanner, but that is just outright wrong -- if you demand > capturing full-range slides all the way down to the deep shadows.) > Apart from sometimes missing focus, the problem is that the brightness > in the shadows sometimes change with different scanning sessions! > Sometimes by a lot! Sometimes also shifting the color somewhat. Both of > these problems seem to be related to multisampling (seem to happen more > often then), despite this scanner has hardware support for > multisampling. In principle, it could also be SilverFast that is the > culprit here, but I don't think so. I suspect the electronics in the > scanner is not stable enough, or its firmware is not good enough. > > I know I am picky -- some might even say perfectionist -- but I want > full-range scans, and I want to do ALL image manipulation in Photoshop, > including dedusting, i.e I really "just" want as clean and raw and > noiseless sharp scans as possible. > > I tried VueScan a few times, but gave up on it. I have never before > tried ScanWizardProTX, since it was not even available for Mac OS X > until "recently", and I don't know of any people who use it. But since > I had to install it on the PC just for installing the firmware, I > started to wonder: Who use it? Does it have any merits over SilverFast > Ai 6 for a person that really "just" wants clean noiseless raw sharp > scans -- no image manipulation done by the scanner software! > > ______heb___________________________ > Harald E Brandt http://bragit.com > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
