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The length of panoramic formats require special handling every step of the way. They require bigger darkroom equipment to process. They are bigger to mount and frame and take up a lot of storage space. In recent years improvements in PC-based imaging equipment and software have given new life to panoramic photography. Now anyone with a PC and an inexpensive printer can output first-rate prints. It takes the same amount of skill as conventional darkroom printing but is much more convenient. Except for processing film I do all my work digitally. I can print panoramic images scanned with an inexpensive scanner and printed on an Epson printer better than projection prints. There is a great time and cost savings. Before 2006 I spent a lot of time and money on printers and special inks to make salon quality black and white prints. Standard home printers now make excellent archival color and monochrome prints without special software or non-OEM inks on a variety of museum quality papers. What follows is a list of equipment and software I presently use and some informational links. Computer. Windows PC with lots of memory. Software. Adobe PhotoShop - you really don’t need anything else. NIK and Topaz PhotoShop plug-ins are excellent. Scanner. Film scanners for sizes above 35mm are costly. Newer flat-bed scanners with film adaptors reach film scanner performance. I have a scanner test and examples at: Epson flat bed Scanner They are way out-dated but will give you some idea of what to expect. Printer. The Stylus Photo 3800 uses archival pigment inks. |