Technically, the 4500t offers 2571 dpi optical resolution, using a 10,000-element CCD, true 42-bit color, and an impressive 3.9 dynamic range. The footprint is about the same as most flatbed scanners (20.5 x 14 x 6.6"), and weighs in at a luggable 22 pounds. The connection is SCSI-2 only, but the 4500t includes both 25- and 50-pin connectors on the back panel (see photo), and Microtek includes a high quality Adaptec 7850 PCI SCSI card (the 7850 includes an internal SCSI connector in addition to external port) for those with PCs or G3/G4-era Macs with no SCSI port. At first I thought SCSI an odd choice for a new scanning device (versus Firewire), but it made sense once I considered that a large installed base of Macs and PCs do have SCSI already, and many workgroups have set-up older Macs (e.g., 9500/9600, etc.) as scanning stations. Still, if you've made the move to an all USB/Firewire workplace, or work exclusively with a notebook, you might find the SCSI interface a decision-buster.

Opening the box for the ArtixScan 4500t was one of the most pleasant "out of box" experiences I'd had in a long while. Microtek has carefully packed everything, and the respective documentation and drivers come in one internal box, while the film holders come in another. The SCSI card and cable sit in an open cube, to be found first. The documentaion comprises separate quick-start guides for MacOS and Windows, with a bound advanced user guide for the included ScanWizard Pro software. An installation and operation manual shows a diagram of everything, including how to open a modern Mac G4 case to install the SCSI card. There is even a troubleshooting section on Windows IRQ conflicts with screen shots to resolve any driver issues. The unit looks well built with the only part that might break if dropped inadvertently could be the hinged plastic front drawer cover.

Set-up was entirely painless since I already had the same Adaptec card installed on both my G4/500 and my Windows PC. The provided CD put all the drivers in the right places on both machines, and both Photoshop 6 under MacOS 9.1 and Photoshop 5.5 under Windows 98 had no problems seeing the scanner and loading the ScanWizard Pro interface. The only hiccup was the first scan on the Mac gave me a "rotation error," even though I had not chosen to rotate the image. Still, on relaunching the import module, it asked me if I wanted to continue scanning from the batch list, and it went ahead and completed the scan immediately before even loading the ScanWizard interface. That's the best "recovery" of an error I've yet seen, and it might have been my fault since I couldn't duplicate the rotation error.

The ScanWizard interface certainly reflects Microtek's long history as an experienced scanner manufacturer. The softare is way ahead of what shipped with my Scanmaker III a few years back and far superior to the Kodak software recently reviewed (see Kodak RFS3600 review on this site). Rather than click through tabs of options, all the typical scan options are aligned in a palette on the left, with pull-down selectors for each option. Each option provides for preset, as well as custom choices. This flexibility allows you to develop settings for almost any scan procedure, save sets of options, and then override any option set simply and quickly. The preview was clear and crisp, and far more usable than most scanner previews which are often only useful for cropping purposes.

The SnapTrans templates allow you to quickly setup options for the film sizes you scan most often, such as 4x5. When created, you can choose from preset jobs, such as 4x5 POS Job, for a positive film scan. This quickly presets the option palette to proper width, height, 300dpi and 100 percent output size. I found the pre-scan image correction tools very intuitive with controls like "remove cast" to adjust for film stock/lighting issues. And any adjustments made can easily be added to a menu for future use. I also liked the large image previews on the correction panels, and the fact that the main scan preview window reflected changes to the correction panel preview. This provided two image size previews simultaneously and is very useful, particularly with tone curves.

The preview scan is fast, and took about less than 15 seconds for a 4x5 positive. Start-up and calibration is equally speedy. A full scan with minor cropping and correction at 600dpi took under 60 seconds for a 4x5. A 2571ppi CMYK scan from a typical 4x5 would produce an image of almost 400MB, so you can scan for just about any output purpose with the ArtixScan. ICC color profiles are easy to setup and work with, and a Kodak color target is included.

As to its most important criteria, the quality of the scans, I scanned several 4x5 positives, 35mm mounted slides, and film strips (using the glass holder). The ArtixScan proved far superior in its ability to capture image information than the PhotoCD Pro scans I had done a couple of years back, captured more detail (edges less fuzzy) and looked less grainy on the negatives scanned than the Kodak RFS3600 recently reviewed (ironic since the ArtixScan uses a Kodak CCD). The 3.9 dynamic range really did make a difference on some of my over and under-exposed slides, particularly those shot on Ektachrome under artificial light. The ArtixScan proved superior to the Kodak 35mm slide/film scanner, and totally blew my Scanmaker III flatbed with transparency adapter out of the imaging water (not surprisingly). Like most manufacturers, Microtek claims you can get "drum scan" quality with the ArtixScan, and I have to conclude after spending a week with it that it's the closest I've come to a drum scan on the desktop.

In practice, all scanning modes were pretty simple, although scanning 35mm film strips and unmounted slides was problematic. Even using the glass holder it was difficult to get the unit to properly set-up for multiple frames since the templates aren't designed for this purpose. I didn't try scanning an APS film strip, although with some effort it might be possible. I would likley not use this scanner for scanning anything other than properly mounted 35mm slides, and the larger medium formats for which this product is better suited. The four-up slide mounting feature worked flawlessly once I loaded the proper template and made sure the scanner was "warmed up."

The scanner is not particularly noisy (and much quieter while scanning than the Kodak unit recently reviewed). It makes less noise than my PC does sitting in the "ready" mode and is rated at 55dBA maximum.

Overall, the ArtixScan is an ideal choice for prepress and photography professionals who need to scan various film sizes, stocks, and get very high quality results. It's not inexpensive, and the SCSI interface might cause some to look elsewhere, but you can't beat the quality of the scans, the very powerful scanning software, and the overall quality of the product.

 < E N D >