The Photographer's Imaging Workspace...

Better Light's ViewFinder™ software displays a large finished preview image, with zooming and scrolling, on the computer monitor immediately after each prescan. Extremely accurate exposure levels can be set using a combination of Line Time and ISO settings, and of course lighting and camera f-stop options.

Exposure times (Line Time) are adjustable in 1/3 f-stop increments from 1/8 to 1/240 second per line. Line Time multiplied by the number of pixel lines in the image determines the total scan time.

ISO settings are linked to the Color Balance numbers (on Color Tab) and provide a standard reference for the amplification level of the sensors. This sensitivity can be adjusted in 1/10th f-stop increments and provides the fine-tuning control to reach very precise exposures. Any ISO can be used with any file resolution, without restrictions.

Each scan back model offers a variety of resolution options to determine how large of a final digital file you would like to scan. Used in conjunction with the Scan Area button and the Cropping Tool, you can select file sizes ideal for the needs of your project, from approximately 2 MB up to the maximum capability of your scan back model.

  • A pop-up menu can be used to define and save preset crop sizes – helpful for catalog layout formats and repeated page formats.

  • When selecting the “Fast Prescan” check box the speed of the prescan can be cut to as low as 4 seconds, without loosing resolution on the preview image. With the “Crop Prescan” option enabled, the prescan time may be even less, depending on overall setup.

  • By default, when the Scan is made, the image is saved to the dedicated hard drive in the Control Box. When the image is retrieved with the File Manager or automatically, a number of file format options are available including: 8-bit or 16-bit files, DNG, or changing the tone curve that is applied to the image.

  • Each image can be identified by typing up to 63 characters. ViewFinder also provides an Auto Naming function and Auto Numbering that is setup in Preferences. The numbering sequence can be in customer specified intervals. An additional “User Notes” field is also provided for any other data you wish to capture with the image. This information, plus specific capture information from the camera is accessible in Photoshop from the Info option under the File menu.

A new "SuperView" option will fill the preview screen with a full-resolution (active setting) that only takes the time of a prescan. The size of the area with vary with the resolution setting and this sampling area can be dragged to to the area of the image that you wish to check at full res for detail and sharpness.

Image size can be set several ways, and locked to prevent inadvertent changes:

  • Manual entry of size in pixels, inches or metric notations.
  • Click and Drag the cropping rectangle.
  • Enlarge or reduce the Scan Area proportionally with Up/Down buttons.
  • Increase or decrease the Resolution setting to control final file size.

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