DDS Flatbed Scanner Guide

Note: this guide will be using 35mm film as the example in all set up images, but the process is nearly identical for other formats.

Insert your film or slides into their corresponding adapter. For film adapters, open the adapter via the latch at the bottom of the adapter. Before inserting your film, note the orientation guide at the top-left corner of the adapter. Place your film in the adapter, sliding it underneath the tabs as illustrated. Secure the film in the adapter by re-attaching the latching plastic piece.

Place the film adapter onto the scanner, lining up the white arrows on the right side of the adapter with the corresponding arrows on the scanner. The adapter has two pegs that will slot into the scanner to ensure the piece is seated correctly when scanning.

Remove the white backing card used for standard scanning from the top of the scanner lid. Please handle this carefully, lifting away from the scanner hinge as shown:

Gently close the scanner lid (both the top and bottom of the scanner contain glass and electronics).

Upon launch, the Epson Scan 2 window will give you a number of options and settings to adjust before scanning. When scanning negatives or slides use these settings, reflected in the screenshot and explained below:

Scan Settings

You do not need to adjust this field

Mode: Photo Mode

Photo mode is the most appropriate setting for negatives and slides.

Document Source: Transparency Unit

This tells the scanner that you are working with transparent content like slides or film, rather than reflective content like artwork or documents. There is also an option called "Transparency unit (With Film Area Guide), but selecting it will result in a scan that includes the entire surface of the scanner, with the film adapter visible. Using the "transparency unit" setting will result in scans that only feature photos/slides.

Document Type: Color Negative, B&W Negative, or Color positive 

This refers to the kind of material being scanned. If you are scanning photo negatives choose the appropriate kind (color or B&W). If you are scanning slides, they are likely color positive).

Image Type: 24-bit Color

This setting determines the color depth of the resulting file when your material is scanned. 24-bit color is appropriate for almost all color images, though if you are not concerned about file size and would like the most accurate representation of your material you can change this setting to its highest value, 48-bit color. Scanning at the highest color depth will result in a much larger file, but if you will be doing professional-grade photo-editing or are doing archival work this may be appropriate. If you are scanning black-and-white documents change this setting to 8-bit grayscale. If you are scanning black-and-white photographs or artwork you may want to compare how a color scan and a grayscale scan represent the image, and use the color depth you prefer.

Resolution: 2400 dpi

This number adjusts the number of dots per inch (dpi) that your material will be scanned in. When scanning negatives or slides 2400 dpi is the lowest setting recommended. If you are planning on enlarging material that you're scanning it is recommended to increase dpi. Higher dpi settings will take take longer to scan, and result in larger files. When working with negatives, however, increasing the dpi can drastically change the amount of detail visible in a scan. If you're curious to know more about dpi Adobe has a thorough article explaining it.

Scanning Quality: High

When scanning negatives and slides we suggest using the high quality setting.

When your film or slides are loaded into their adapters and placed on the surface of the scanner and you've set Epson Scan 2 to the suggested settings above you're ready to begin preview scanning your material. Press the "Preview" button in the lower left corner of the Epson 2 application. It may take a few moments for the scanner to do its first scan, as the lamp inside needs to warm up to its optimal operating temperature. Please be patient. Upon completion of the preview scan your software window should look similar to this:

On the right you can see a preview pane showing the individual photographs that are part of the strip of film that was loaded into the scanner. If your scan results in an image that shows the entire scanning surface, make sure that the "thumbnail" option at the top of the application is checked. This will cause the scanner to automatically detect individual photos in your material and create thumbnails of them. 

You can use the zoom slider at the top right of the window to enlarge the preview size of your images. If your images are upside down or mirrored due to being loaded incorrectly you can correct their orientation using the tools on the left side of the preview pane. 

By default all detected images will be included when you begin saving/scanning. If there are photos you don't want to save you can remove them from the list by mousing over them and clicking the "X" that appears:

The bottom of the windows shows the number of photos you'll be scanning next to the "Scan Count." When you are ready to proceed with saving your photos continue to the "Saving" section here.