I am positioning the slides in the holder that came with the epson 3490 scanner. It cuts off the top and bottom of picture. what can I do?

I had this problem and what I figured out is that there is random stray light getting through between the holder and the slide itself. So, I created another template and taped it to the holder. The goal is to eliminate the stray light. This is how I did it basically. Get a black sheet of construction paper. Line it up with the Epson slide template and cut out holes for each slide so just the image/film plus a tiny edge around is exposed.

You have to have the plastic slide holder (positioner) placed perfectly. Look at the "A" and "C" tabs on the plastic holder. If they don't position your slides over the center of the glass, you are using the wrong tab! Slides have to be back-lit, which is what the top cover does. It doesn't light up the sides of the scanner glass, only the middle.

Try switching slide position in slide holder. A 90 degree turn might help.

I am having exactly the same problem. Any solution yet?

Make sure the white document matt has been removed from underneath the lid. Then make sure that the document type has been changed from reflective to Film etc. If film is greyed out then check the cable is connected properly from the lid to the base of the scanner.

If the start button light is flashing red, it is because of one of the following problems:

• The scanner is not connected to your computer properly or your software is not fully installed.
• The transportation lock is locked. Slide the lock to the unlock position.

After trying these solutions, unplug the scanner to turn it off, then plug it back in.

You really cannot scan a neg without a special holder. I recommend paying $90 to Costco and buying their special USB Scanner which scans one neg at atime! They are great!

Thanks,

Mark

I don't know if this is truly a "solution" or not, but I get the same thing on my HP 4850 scans. After scanning, I just crop the pictures to remove the black borders. Can you do that?

If the start button light is flashing red, it is because of one of the following problems:

• The scanner is not connected to your computer properly or your software is not fully installed.
• The transportation lock is locked. Slide the lock to the unlock position.

Please do the following to scan slides or negatives in manual mode of the Epson TWAIN:
For scanning transparencies in HOME mode - for EPSON SCAN models, not Epson Twain/Manual mode models.
1) In the program you are working from, begin the scanning process. If working in FULL AUTO MODE as the scan begins click PAUSE or CANCEL, then change "Full Auto Mode" to "Home Mode".
2) You will now see all Epson Scan settings displayed. If the scanner has not previewed automatically, click the large preview button to get a visual of what is on the scanner.
3) Ensure the settings on the Epson Scan are correct for what you wish to scan. For example, the DOCUMENT TYPE for transparencies must be either "Color negative film", "B&W Negative Film" or "Positive film"*.
* FILM here indicates that the item being scanned is transparent to light; this setting is also used for slide scanning. Positive indicates that the image is in true colors (ie the grass is green and sky is blue), whereas negative indicates reversed colors, as produced in some photo finishing processes.)
If the DOCUMENT SOURCE is set for a flatbed related option, ie PHOTO, the scanner is looking for reflective items and will not activate the backlight in the transparency unit. If the DOCUMENT TYPES for "FILM" are greyed out or cannot be selected, close the Epson Scan, reseat the power/communication cable connecting the base of the scanner to the transparency unit, then reopen Epson Scan and try again.
NOTE for PROFESSIONAL MODE users: DOCUMENT TYPE should read TRANSPARENCY for film scans.
4) Ensure the other scanner settings are correct for the type of scan you are doing. For example:
IMAGE TYPE should be color photo for all positive or negative color transparencies, or BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO for monochrome transparencies.
DESTINATION is unimportant, however you should select a RESOLUTION appropriate to what you plan to do with the scans. (There are no hard and fast rules for DPI. As a general guideline, if you are saving scans at original size, a resolution ranging from 400-600 DPI should capture enough information to faithfully record the image. If the slide or negative will be enlarged, you will need to increase this DPI accordingly. We have no means to calculate what your exact needs will be in this situation; you will need to experiment and view the output to gauge the appropriate input DPI from the scanner.)
PREVIEW. If your scanner is doing a THUMBNAIL PREVIEW, the slides will automatically preview and appear in boxes on the left side. Here, you can select or deselect the slides you wish to scan.
If you recieve a message that the scanner could not find the film, or you see in the preview that part of the scan is cut off, click the down arrow next to the large PREVIEW button and click NORMAL, then PREVIEW again. In NORMAL PREVIEW mode, the scanner will capture all information on the flatbed; you will then have to manually marquee or crop the slides you wish to scan. Use the left mouse button (click, hold, drag) to lasso one slide inside a box made of dotted lines, then click scan. Only the selected area will scan. Repeat this process for as many slides or filmstrips are on the bed.
5) Click CLOSE once scanning is complete. The images will now transfer to the application in use.