We used to have an Agfa Forte Plus film recorder, and could make 35mm slides from our computer. It had three choices for resolution:
| Resolution | Horizontal Pixels | Vertical Pixels |
| 2K | 2,048 | 1,366 |
| 4K | 4,096 | 2,732 |
| 8K | 8,192 | 5,464 |
8K resolution is more than necessary for 35mm slides so we usually used 4K if the slide had text and either 2K or 4K if it did not. We no longer own this equipment, but we have lots of documentation and knowledge, if you need help
We could output photographs. We never completely mastered the intricacies of color management - we usually did well enough for slide shows, but if you needed to fade an unaltered picture into an altered picture we would image both so they would be consistent.
The software which drives film recorders works with TIFF files. It does not do non-integer scaling, so the best sizes for an image are either 4,096 x 2,732 pixels or 2,048 x 1,366 pixels. The software also does not rotate pictures. They must be in horizontal format to be imaged.
We could accept images in any format that Adobe Photoshop could read, and convert them to TIFF files. We could also rasterize Adobe files.
A film recorder was the easiest way to make title slides. Nothing else came close.
We prefered TIFF files. We could also take PICT images or PICT scrapbooks, JPEG, Targa, and several other formats. or we could handle Adobe Persuasion or Microsoft PowerPoint files.
We had a fair number of fonts available. We had all the fonts which came with PowerPoint, those which came with Deneba Canvas, and many PostScript fonts, including the Type Basics package amd the fonts that came with Illustrator 10.0. If you need a particular font check with us.
We have Cartesia's world databank and can generate slides with maps. These can take a while for us to make, and you need to discuss it with us so we can find out what you want in the map.
If you were working with more than one projector, it was very useful to have slides with crosshairs and rectangles on them so you could line up the projectors. You can design your own alignment slides using one of the programs that makes title slides, or you can ask us to run off a set. Our slides usually were processed by Kodak, and their paper mounts did not align well. The slides needed to be remounted in something like a Wess VR mount which gets them all to line up.
We also used to have an Oxberry bulk film back for the film recorder. It had very exact frame to frame registration and we could use PIN registered mounts rather than the VR mounts. This was easier and more precise.
We have a PIE PrimeFilmXA slide scanner. It scans 35mm slides only. We also have a flatbed scanner.
We can produce high density scans. If you need slides canned we can help.
We can edit images. We can fix scratches, retouch images, remove backscatter, build collages, etc. This can also take a while, and you will have to describe what you want done.
We can accept input and send output on DVDs or CDs. Macintosh and PC format disks are fine. We can read and burn CDs in several formats. We can read DVDs and read and write DVD-R disks.
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This page sponsored by Mermaid Underwater Photographic. Contact us at mermaid@underwater.org.
Last modified 12 July 2020