Photography I / The Darkroom, Digital and Hybrid Workflows
Practice question · Select all that apply

Why can two scans of the same negative produce prints that separate the shadows quite differently? Select every statement that is part of the reason.

Hints
  1. Three describe real differences between scanners and their settings; one describes something no scanner does.
  2. A scan is a measurement; it leaves the negative as it found it.
Show the answer
  • A. The two scanners may record different density ranges, so one clips where the other does not
  • B. Sampling resolution changes how grain and fine shadow detail are rendered
  • D. The tone curve applied during scanning distributes the available levels differently
Why

The fourth would be alarming if it were true. Everything else on the list is real: density range decides what is clipped, the tone curve decides where the levels are spent, and resolution decides what fine detail survives, three independent decisions, any of which can change the shadows of the final print.

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