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- Outdated, counter-productive user interface
- Virtually non-existing documentation
- Moderated or even censored user forum and Facebook page
- Overpriced given the lack of documentation and poor support

Bought this software a couple of weeks ago together with a Reflecta RPS 7200 scanner. I followed the advice in a review on www.filmscanner.info, and went to their affiliated web shop www.scandig.com.

To begin with, the software uses an incredibly oldish, but most important, counter productive user interface. The "WorkFlowPilot" and its childish little airplane may be a help for a single occasional scan, but as soon as you want to use JobManager or "ADF scan" to do some serious batch scanning, it must be deactivated. The software and the (little existing) documentation, do not match, buttons are for instance described in the documentation that do not exist in the software. To delete a custom parameters set, there is no delete menu item, instead you must click on the item to add a set while holding the Alt key... But this is described nowhere in the documentation.

Documentation: virtually NIL; There is a 15-pages "quick start" guide (A5 format), with 7 pages for cover, legal stuff, installation etc... 8 pages on WorkFlowPilot, a back cover and THAT's IT! Other than that there are a couple of small (4 to 6 pages) booklets on JobManager, ADF Scan and Focus Control. These is a bunch of videos that show the use of some user interface elements, ans some of them are still describing and old version of the program. There is no comprehensive user manual with something like a table of contents and an index to look up the needed info.

There is a "user forum", but all posts in there are moderated (even a typo edit!) or even censored. You'll understand that such a forum has very little interaction and is not helpful, when for each question you post, you have to wait for it to be approved, after which it will maybe be answered with a staff member of LaserSoft (producer of SilverFast).

Actually, instead of using the forum, they open a support ticket for you to answer question like "Where is the documentation" :-) !

I turned to they Facebook page hoping to find more interaction, and they banned me from their page. I even tried to contact their CEO, "Physicist and visionary" Karl-Heinz Zahorsky through a Facebook message but never got an answer.

Customer Service

Non-existent (or nearly)

Similar Products Used:

Vuescan

The review is for version 8 on Windows 7 and Epson Perfection 750 Pro

1. Works fairly well once you have it set up.
2. Scanning slides is great - load the tray and come back when it's done.
3. Works in standalone or via Photoshop
4. Can scan transparencies or pictures and changes modes so transparencies are done with transmitted light not reflected.

1. The user interface is not intuitive at all.
2. Tech support is awful - I reported that some of the short cut keys were not working 6 months ago and several releases later they are still not fixed. Not on the priority list according to TS. Also reported a problem with scanning via Photoshop -- tech support verified the problem but no fix after 6 months.
3. Documentation is only so-so.
4. The scan speed could be a bit faster.

Will do a good job, especially of scanning multiple pictures just load and go. Scan quality is good but scan speed is a bit slow.
Don't expect much from tech support.

Customer Service

Not good!

Similar Products Used:

Silverfast version 6, PrimeFilm software and scanner

Well..... I suppose it works.... Most of the time. But the scanner's not always seen when it starts up. I have to switch the scanner off and back on.

Blimey, I think my review says it all. Did I mention the music on the QT movies? Really, really, *really* poor user interface making it a daunting task to do loads of scans. Professional?! I don't think so.

Just appalling. Really amateurish conversion from Windows to Mac OS. Which means the Windows version might be more stable and professional but I'm afraid I only have experience of the Mac one.

So overpriced. I felt I had to buy this software as my Canoscan 8800F comes with a driver that doesn't take advantage of all the scanner's features. Thanks Canon. After emailing support they told me the only option was Silverfast. To be honest if I'd known this was going to be the case I would have chosen another scanner. Seriously: this software's so bad it's made me regret my scanner purchase.

The scan results are fine but I'd hate to give it any credit, I wonder whether any driver could get half-decent results from the Canoscan. For the price I really don't see how this software is better than if I was able to scan directly into PhotoShop - which would be easier to use than the ridiculous Ai's controls. Colour correction seems to take on an arbitrary life of it's own; every pre-scran of a strip of film brings up a new, blown-out, look meaning I have to go in and adjust each scan area during pre-scan even if I'm working on the same reel which was originally exposed at the same time - although, sometimes, just moving the scan area with the mouse will change the grading closer to what I expected the settings to show.

Saving of presets is such a pain that I find it easier to manually adjust each time. The included preset for film stock hardly make any difference. Scratch removal leaves artefacts (now to be fair, this could happen any time you ask a computer to 'make up' the missing parts), it also takes so long to set up that I do the job quicker and easier in PS. Noise reduction is ok, but it's quicker in PS.

I genuinely don't understand how others are saying it's a 'productive' piece of software. It's taken ages to get used to the interface and understand some of the bugs. The latest version that I've just upgraded to now applies random settings to frames.

Poorly written and designed (oh my: the music on the QT movies): a very unhappy software purchase.

I anticipate a good review to appear above mine in a matter of weeks. Funny how this has happened with the other bad reviews of this software...... Funny that.

Customer Service

I can't bring myself to talk to them: I might lose my temper.

Similar Products Used:

Epson scanner software

Features, features, features, nothing is missing.

none discovered so far.

This is the most sophisticated scanner software on the market.
You have to invest some time to really learn how to use this mighty tool.
There are great automatics allowing beginners to use SilverFast, but mastery is achieved by learning all about the tools and imaging in general.
It's worth the effort, perfect scans are the reward.
Learn it once and save time every following scan.

Customer Service

Very nice support team. When I had some issues with setting some parameters, the support team got back to me the same day,
explaining my questions well and helping me with the settings.

Does big files

Like I said, It's not an expectation to expect it to be good.
It's a price point seller thing for scanner companies.

Defaults to that Adobe stuff. Why?

Becomes tedious with all the steps and selections.

Very poor interface.

It's very hard to be exhaustive for all the issues here that I have identified. I know quality aspects are an idividual thing for various readers/ users, but being truthful in a limited spece is difficult and very time consuming. Buit, I'll give my impressions form this point of view:

That point is this: There should be no issues!

Goofy steps to get results. Really awkward workflow and it does not make sense in an intuitive helpful way. It's a time pit really!: Look up this, try that, redo and compare, watch a video, reset and select... of course there are all the crashes and hang-ups along the way. When it works... of course you like it.

The code needs work, lots of work. After all these years, YuK!

The Epson software may be simple, but you can understand it the1st time!

How can a so called 'Praised' software package be so awkward really! But, I know why.... the version needs to be carewfully though out to make it 100%.
Too bad IBM never got into this, then it would be perfection!

When you purchase a 3-D imaging X-Ray machine.... now that is something that really is supported and works! {as in before you buy it}

Customer Service

I'll call em up and get back to you on this one.
From what I read here it's 50, 50 as to what they do.

Similar Products Used:

I have used $100 - $500 office home scanners... much much easier to work flow.

Professionally, I use medical 3D imaging and I have to say, consumer stuff reallly needs more attention to details. There are 100's of 1000's of programmers out there that know code that could improve this software..

- powerful features, you won't find elsewhere
- ease of control
- perfect color management
- time-saving HDR / RAW workflow

- little bit pricy without bundle & discount

SilverFast came in a bundle with my 9000F. Unfortunately it was just the basic SE version, though, it's preferable to the manufacturer's software. I soon updated to the SilverFast Archive Suite, saving money by using an introductory discount.

The Archive Suite offers a mass of very effective funktions for sharpening, remove noise and grain, eliminate dust&scratches, and so on ...
I'm quickly scanning photos and slides in my archive, batch processing them later. The IT8 color calibration ensures true-to-color results.

I would recommend this software to any scanning activities. thumbs up.

Customer Service

- fast shipping
- support not needed so far

Similar Products Used:

Epson-Scan. It's a world of difference. Epson-Scan is too basic, where SilverFast is very sophisticated.

About the only thing available for scanning 4x5 color negatives on my Epson Perfection 4870 (Mac OSX 6) The Epson software doesn't work for 4x5 negatives.

Silverfast customer support is the worst I have ever experienced. Initially, when I bought the software, they debited my credit card account, but never sent an access code. They absolutely do not respond to email inquiries, and have no other way to reach them. I had to dispute the transaction with the credit card company to finally get my money back. By the way, I tried contacting them through their forum, but my post was rejected because "our forum is not intended for individual tech support." Obviously they read my inquiry, but weren't willing to address my issue.

So, ultimately, I had to pay for it twice and cancel the first transaction with the credit card company.

This is fairly good software for scanning your old 4x5 negatives and transparencies. I used to use it a lot when I was shooting with film. I recently had a need to scan some old negatives, so attempted to buy the upgrade (the old version I had wasn't compatible with Mac OSX 6.) After a big hassle, I was able to upgrade to the newest version. It gives pretty good scans from 4x5 negatives, and I like the option of choosing profiled film types. There are a lot of redundant features though, so scanning isn't quite as straight forward as it should be. I found I get the best results by using different profiles, not necessarily the one that matches the film. This software is much better than the Epson Scan software supplied with the scanner.

Customer Service

The worst! They took my money, but didn't deliver the goods.

Fast, trouble free, great technical customer support.

Price is a bit steep but since they are tuned to each scanner I can understant. You do need to watch for how you set up the various color spaces. DO NOT us the NikonLS5000 profile. I just stuck with Adobe RGB. ProPhoto even seemed to ahve some problems that I need to sort out with the silverfast people.

I have a Nikon CoolscanLS5000 with the SF-210 auto slide feeder hooked up to a dedicated PowerMac G5 running Leopard (10.5.x). My project is to scan about 25,000 transparencies. A year ago I got through about 20,000 with the Nikon supplied software. It was a painful process. Crashes, jams, etc etc. If I could get through about 100 or 150 slides w/o a mishap I was lucky. The stack loader holds about 50 sowith 4 minutes a scan, every few hours or so I would "top it off". It took about 2 years to get through 20,000 then I had a one year hiatus.

In November I wanted to finish the project off. When I started the G5 had OS 10.3 or 10.4 on it. Now with OS 10.5 the Nikon s/w was kaput. No technical support at Nikon, nada. So I plunked down the money for silverfast Ai Studio. I've had experience with the Epson V750 version for larger negatives and transparencies. Downloaded product. Skimmed the manual which is pretty convoluted to be kind. Ian Lyons on the web has good advice. In any case I needed to find a tweaking set up that could be untouched for the 5000 slides left. Fortunately, nearly all are well exposed, etc. I had already tossed about 75% of my slides when they were first processed. I used an artist's camel hair or sable hair brush to give the slides a quick clean - some are 45 years old. Tried the iSRD dust removal technique in SF. Worked like a charm. Careful comparison of 2005 blow up of before and afer did not reveal ANY loss in sharpness, color, etc. I am scanning at 4000 dpi yielding a 115Mb file. I use the multiexposure technique and settled on about 60% color tint removal and a small boost to the darkest parts of the slides. That's it. BUT - after a shortwhile the program began to crash. After a week or so of back and forth with the very helpful people in Germany, theysent me a somewhat fixed up version of the program and said I should delete every last trace of the Nikon scanning software.

That was a couple of weeks ago. SInce then I have scanned nearly 2000 slides at 3 minutes a slide, not 4 as with the Nikon scanner. No crashes, no glitches, no problemas. nada. Except for a few times when the slide feeder hung because of problems with the slide mount. AMAZING. A million times better than the Nikon s/w ever was. But you might ask, how about the results? LOVELY, better than Nikon as well. Admittedly with use of constant set of parameters some slides could use some tweaking. But for overall archiving and quick prints they were great. Images I will use for exhibts I'll probably rescan on an as needed basis with individual twekas. For now it seems that simple adjustments with LR 2.6, Photoshop, and/or VIveza do the job very nicely, again only as needed. I haven't tried the HDR version yet but may do this in the near future.

WHo should buy this?? Anyone who has a signifcant amount of scanning to do, esp. if you own a Nikon scanner like I do. I'd guess that other slide scanners will work equally well.

Customer Service

Great.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon scan; SF for Epson flat bed.

* profiles for many negative films * IT8 calibration * prescan concept allows adjustments prior to full resolution scan * Nice automated tools

* Price * Confusing array of product offerings * software is specific to scanner model

This is fantastic software. Nice workflow manager (scan pilot) guides you through the many choices. You can set most adjuustments to auto, though, and tweak the results from there. I was able to get very nice scans the first time I sat down to use this software.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Vuescan Epson TWAIN

None

Recently made the switch from conventional printing to digital and use Silverfast software for both my Epson 1680 and Nikon LS4000 scanners. I use the Epson to scan 4x5 trannys and need everything that Silverfast has to offer to overcome the softness that flatbeds impose on scanned images. Very good product. As to Silverfast''s product for the Nikon LS 4000, in almost all categories, it outperforms Nikonscan. Primary reason for using Silverfast: full support of color management. Nikon''s color management does not provide the means to use custom scanner profiles; Silverfast does. Silverfast for LS4000 support ICE and multi-sampling. Expect Silverfast to deliver their version of grain reduction (GEM)sometime in 2002. Can''t wait.

Similar Products Used:

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