This leads me to believe that VueScans hardware driver routines aren't properly tested with every scanner (it has happened with several versions of VueScan, not just one).

On my scanner (Plustek OpticFilm 120) VueScan has some times caused the scanner to make weird noises, completely lock up, and all sorts of stuff that requires me to unplug the power to the scanner and restart the computer to get things working again. And it's also easy to get a processed scan in Silverfast. It's easy to get a 'flat' scan in Silverfast. Both these features ensures that I easily get great colors in my scans. I also use Auto-IT8 color profiling in Silverfast as the scanner included an IT8 target. NegaFix works a lot better for me than ColorPerfect in Photoshop. What I truly enjoy is the film profiles (NegaFix) in Silverfast which saves me a loooot of time. I actually prefer the way Silverfast works. But judging by the deathly quiet across the internet (and even relatively speaking in this thread) I may be the only person who's ever considered leaving Vuescan and crossing the barricades to join the opposition. Is Silverfast the Quark of scanning software? Trying desperately to hang on by selling at inflated prices to a few corporate customers who haven't bothered to do a cost analysis of the alternatives? There are virtually no blogs with helpful tips from professionals or enthusiasts using the software, and on Flickr what appears to be the 'official' Silverfast 8 group has one question (posted 2 years ago) with zero answers!

I actually wonder who is using the Silverfast? There are so few recent hits on Google, and those that exist are often of the 'I hate Silverfast'-variety.

Nothing earth-shattering, and vastly overkill for my snapshots, but frustrating to know that such good results are wrapped in such a wretched application run by what appears to be a rather predatory company. There must be someone who has a good word for the software?Īnyway I was doing some more quick tests when I got back from work tonight, and indeed there is a touch more detail visible in the scans than I could get from Vuescan. Sad not to get any input from people using Silverfast and satisfied with it.

Vuescan cost