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Scanner and digital camera software. Demo ($49.00)
SilverFast Epson Scanner Software ... LaserSoft Imaging has gained 25 years experience in the development of imaging software that has now been incorporated in the redevelopment of SilverFast scanner software. In combination with a variety of innovative ideas and the usage of current software technology SilverFast 8 has been evolved that we can proudly present as the best scanner software.
The WorkflowPilot, a unique feature, is a core element of the new software. As a kind of assistant, it guides the user in the correct order through all processing steps required for his
The WorkflowPilot, a unique feature, is a core element of the new software. As a kind of assistant, it guides the user in the correct order through all processing steps required for his
What's New
Version 8.0.1r5:
- Completely redeveloped software
- Mac OS X 10.7 Lion support
- WorkflowPilot - A guiding assistant
- Multi-Tasking
- Redesigned GUI
- Preview Concept
Requirements
- Intel
- Intel Mac OS X 10.5 or later
- Supported scanner
SilverFast Epson S... User Discussion (Write a Review)
Overall:
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SilverFast Epson Scanner Software ... LaserSoft Imaging has gained 25 years experience in the development of imaging software that has now been incorporated in the redevelopment of SilverFast scanner software. In combination with a variety of innovative ideas and the usage of current software technology SilverFast 8 has been evolved that we can proudly present as the best scanner software.
The WorkflowPilot, a unique feature, is a core element of the new software. As a kind of assistant, it guides the user in the correct order through all processing steps required for his individual workflow. Turning your analog originals into convincing scans is so simply, because all complex operations become just a child's play for the user.
The SilverFast Preview Concept allows to immediately see the result of any adjusted setting in the preview window. The user interface of SilverFast 8 is newly developed by current standards, for the user can operate all major functions quickly and easily. SilverFast 8 supports the latest 64bit hardware and is therefore extremely fast and efficient.
The WorkflowPilot, a unique feature, is a core element of the new software. As a kind of assistant, it guides the user in the correct order through all processing steps required for his individual workflow. Turning your analog originals into convincing scans is so simply, because all complex operations become just a child's play for the user.
The SilverFast Preview Concept allows to immediately see the result of any adjusted setting in the preview window. The user interface of SilverFast 8 is newly developed by current standards, for the user can operate all major functions quickly and easily. SilverFast 8 supports the latest 64bit hardware and is therefore extremely fast and efficient.
- SilverFast SE 8 for 49,- The straightforward way to professional scanning for everyone
- SilverFast SE Plus 8 for 119,- Advanced functionality for advanced users
- SilverFast Ai Studio 8 for 299,- The professional version with all features and highlights
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Gskibum reviewed on 22 Dec 2010
This is a powerful app with a fairly deep learning curve. Over the years I've instructed several users on the operation of SilverFast so I do have a strong sense of this.
However, I have to grade their tech support as simply awful. Once in the past I had to resolve an installation problem that was caused by the mis-manufacturing of the installer disk. The copyright system was improperly implemented. Correcting this problem entailed a long and tedious task of convincing tech support there wasn't anything wrong with my system and that the problem did indeed rest on them. Finally they acknowledged the problem and a fix was deployed by them.
Now I'm experiencing a problem with SilverFast working with an Epson V750 on *Snow Leopard*. Here I am, once again, confronted with the long and arduous task of convincing them they have a problem with their software. They have the attitude that the product is infallible and that the cause of a problem no matter what is the creation of the end user.
On this 2008 Mac Pro system I had been, and continue to, happily use SilverFast on Leopard 10.5.8 with both a Nikon LS-8000 and the Epson V750.
I have several Macintosh computers and among them many more operating system installs. I have tried SilverFast with the Epson V750 via FireWire on about 6 different configurations of Mac & Snow Leopard and it simply does not work.
On my scanning station Mac, when I upgraded to Snow Leopard, I did so by installing it on a new hard drive. Not once have I been able to get SilverFast to work with this Snow Leopard install and the Epson V750 via FireWire, although it does continue to work with the Nikon LS-8000.
When booted into Snow Leopard Epson's scanner software and Image Capture will operate with the scanner without any problems. But SilverFast will not see the V750 via FireWire.
I have installed yet another new hard drive and installed a new Snow Leopard, and installed only Silverfast. Nothing else. It did not work. So I wiped the drive and installed Silverfast, but this time after installing the Epson drivers. No joy. Silverfast will not see the Epson V750 scanner via FireWire. If I install the Nikon plug-in for Silverfast it will operate normally.
I submitted via their web site support forums a detailed accounting of the nature of the problem and troubleshooting steps I have tried. Only to discover that their support forums are moderated to the point that any topic that will reveal to the public any problem or bug with the software will not be posted. Yes. You are reading this correctly. Only posts that do not reveal to the public problems and bugs with the software are posted. They will not permit a post that may in any way cast a poor light on the product.
I received the following e-mail response to my attempt at my posting on their support forums:
"Dear customer
thank you for your interest in LaserSoft Imaging's SilverFast software solutions.
Our forum is not intended for individual tech support, this would make the forum hard to read for users searching for certain information.
Also personal/restricted information like your serial-number may be necessary which should not be posted in a open forum.
Therefor a ticket has been opened to answer your support request most swiftly."
What a complete joke.
This is an obvious lie. It is so bad of a lie that the truth is exactly the opposite. You see, every single day I search one forum or another for solutions to technical problems. Every single one of them does allow a post like the one I attempted to post with Silverfast. Those posts being present on user forums are a gold mine. A complete wealth of information awaiting a keyword search by anyone seeking a solution to a technical problem with a product.
Let's just say for the sake of argument that LaserSoft isn't concealing information on their user forums that don't cast the product in a bad light. Then this simply means that LaserSoft has such low regard for their customers that they believe we are too inept to do a keyword search of the forums.
Frankly, it could be both. They don't want information that may cast a bad light on the product to be made public, and they have low regard for the competence of their customers.
If everyone were to prohibit posts such as this, any efficiency for customers in finding solutions to technical problems would simply cease to exist!
I had not kept a copy of my detailed accounting because I had submitted it via the web form. So now that is lost. Yippee.
I did recreate a shorter accounting of the problem and sent it off, referencing the newly created support ticket. Yet the language in this reply was obviously a canned response that has likely been sent to thousands of other customers. And it was obvious that the person I had been working with had not read either of my accountings of the problem.
So SilverFast the product is a rather decent and powerful product, so long as a customer does not discover a bug within it. When such a bug discovery happens, get ready to run up against a wall of denial, arrogance and disdain by LaserSoft.
They disgust me to no end.
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Instead of being a useful asset for everyone's benefit, the forums have been relegated to a storefront checklist-item for the sales department to show to potential customers "lookie here we have a support forum"!
When really the potential of the support forums are ruined.
ColorBurst RIP is the opposite. They initially provide technical support only via the forums that are participated in by active company personnel. If during the forum post it appears to be a problem with the product, then the case is escalated from there.
But LaserSoft is too paranoid about having too many people post information on topics like "My Epson V750 Cannot Be Found"! The public can't be allowed to see that. It might look bad if we do.
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After all the blaming me for having things wrong with my system, LaserSoft just released an update that addresses this very problem.
So months after I first contacted them regarding this issue, and had to deal with their idiotic canned responses, my scanner now works on Snow Leopard!
+101
On the Silverfast web site is little information regarding this. You know. They delete things that cast a negative light on the product.
Go LaserSoft.
There are still scraps of information that were overlooked by their overzealous moderators.
One thread discussing this indicates that USB should be used instead, and that USB is every bit as fast as FireWire.
So I did a test.
Talk about a bogus claim. I didn't retain the information but the lack of performance with USB compared to FireWire was as significant as one would expect.
So here's what the scoop is with this problem:
I can get SilverFast to work with my Epson scanner reliably, up and until I use it with my Nikon scanner. Then Silverfast breaks with FireWire and the Epson scanner. But it will work with the very slow USB. This is not an option for the volume of work I have.
Before Snow Leopard, with Leopard and Tiger, SilverFast worked just fine with both my Nikon and Epson scanners via FireWire at the same time. I couldn't have both scanners powered on simultaneously, but I didn't care.
But with Snow Leopard this does not work and they seem to have no intention on correcting this problem. I'm stuck with the dreadfully slow USB.
What a shame that a decent product like this is produced by a company with such indifference to their customers.
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siamlotus reviewed on 04 Mar 2010
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+9
We are photojournalists for high quality publications and many of our agency members still use film or have a large archive of film.
For people with a high standard in scanning SilverFast has been the standard. No other software is able to utilize and enhance the power of scanners as effectively as SilverFast.
I did not experience any of the bugs or support problems that other users in this thread described. The Lasersoft team has responded in a timely fashion to all of our sometimes very complex support requests.
+3
Timothygrayphoto reviewed on 12 Dec 2009
A bit about my background and workflow...
As a professional photographer, fine art printer, and educator, I work primarily with medium format film (6x7) scanned with an Epson Perfection V750-M Pro flatbed scanner with custom cut ANR glass, using Silverfast Ai Studio 6.6.1.r3 to produce a 64-bit HDRi "raw" scan which is then adjusted/refined using Silverfast HDR Studio 6.6.1r3. The final images are then output, in-house, to an Epson Stylus Pro 7800 wide format archival pigment printer. I regularly produce and exhibit 24"x30" prints using this method, and my work in in private galleries and corporate collections.
Needless to say, my standards are VERY high, and I simply would not be able to produce comparable results that met the needs of my gallery representatives and clients with anything other than Silverfast.
The quality of the scan, the flexibility of the new 64-bit HDRi format, and the level of control offered by this product are unmatched, and I have used many scanner and software combinations over the years, including Vuescan and Flexcolor (for Imacon), and the results just don't hold a candle to what I get from Silverfast.
Two standout features for me are 64-bit HDRi and iSRD.
Being able to scan the full dynamic range of the film, plus the infrared channel for later processing in HDR Studio is, hands down, the single most important innovation in scanning software in the past 10 years.
I was never happy with Digital ICE; it is painfully slow, doesn't allow me to adjust the settings, and the overall result is less than stellar. That's not the case with iSRD, which is fast, really fast, and effectively targets the defects without affecting image quality.
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My advice is to stay away from SilverFast. Their foundation is aged and creaking and the only hope is that another company will see the gap and step in.
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When I purchased a new Mac Pro workstation last year I had to upgrade SF to version 6.6 in order for it to work with Leopard and Intel. Since then it has not worked. Every time I launch it, whether through the PS plugin or standalone, it gives me a "scanner not found" error, and either quits or I have to force quit it together with PS losing my work. Apple's Image Capture and Epson's Epson Scan find the scanner immediately. Ironically, using Windows XP via Boot Camp with the same version of SF works fine as well.
I am a veteran Mac user with good technical background. I keep my workstation up to date, and check it for problems regularly. I can see clearly that this version of SF is problematic, but support only replies with general solutions like reseting, re-installing, checking permissions, etc. I have been very specific in my description of the problem numerous times but I do not get professional and specific responses. I use many other products, and I have worked myself in software companies for many years; I can see clearly when I am dealing with a low quality product. Even when it did work in prior versions, the software seemed outdated and buggy. While the scan technology produced great results, the usability was awful. The interface is amateurish and belongs to the early 90's.
I have tried to post my problem in their forum twice but the post did not appear.
I cannot find anywhere on their site a customer service address, so I sent my request to sales, after giving up on the support team, but I did not get a response from them as well.
I currently do not want any explanations or support assistance - just my money back. I am infuriated and disappointed from this attitude, and surprised by the lack of professionalism. I've never experienced such apathy and disrespect from a "respected" company.
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rpphoto reviewed on 10 Jul 2009
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First - it crashes constantly under Leopard (10.5.5 anyway). It is a carbon application, and is launched from a "launcher" application, so your dock ends up filled with 3 or so icons. Some windows spontaneously lose their contents intermittently - buttons and checkboxes disappear.
Second - there seems to be no way, when scanning slides and negatives, to auto-select the multiple frames of the film strip or slide holder. This means you have to manually mask each photo individually and scan it! And then, the zoom-in button doesn't work,. so you have to mask based on a tiny, frame-sized image.
Third - it doesn't default to sensible scan resolutions. Who the hell would want to scan negatives at 150 dpi?? You have to select "other" then use a slider to get maximum scanner resolution. And even then thete is no guidance as to whether you are getting true optical versus interpolated resolution.
Fourth - some of the buttons just don't work (eg. histograms). Maybe these are disabled in demo mode, but this is not documented.
Fifth - no uninstall. I had to use "Pacifist" to pull apart the .PKG files to find where it put all its files, in order to manually remove it from my system.
I'd value the developer's response to the above, so I'm not going to rate it, to be fair. I suggest that anyone evaluate with your own scanner very very carefully. Persoanlly I cannot believe they can ask so much money for this producy when it simply doesn't work at all with my Epson scanner.
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I use a V750 and did not have any instability probs so far.
Previously one of my 1TB Datatanks (FireWire) caused a problem with my FireWire bus which caused my Scanner to fail sometimes.
But that vanished after switching to USB.
The Datatank draw far too much power from the bus.
So now SilverFast is stable.
That did not change with the r5 update.
I never had any problems with vanishing icons neither.
I scan negs with a prepared maskset I saved as a preset in my Ai Studio.
And the soft zooms into any active frame when I click the zoom button.
My framesets also include the necessary resolution. I set that individually for any individual scan anyway. For prints I do not need more than 300dpi anyway, so I only raise the res for scans into my archive.
With my soft (I also checked demo mode ;-) ) the buttons all do work.
Maybe the previous poster set his scantype to an HDR scan, which is some kind of raw format and is supposed to do that.
There is an uninstall script in my SilverFast folder but I have not tried that so far.
Would be nice if Apple would some day invent some kind of software manager. Would make life much more easier.
[660r5]
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Support by Phone only between 3:00 p.m - 5:30 p.m. ET (Monday-Friday)
what is that all about???
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That's not really the answer I was looking for. I don't expect to have to perform a work-around for software that previously worked.