I previously mentioned that I had been suffering some problems with noise with the artixscan 4000. I have been trying to scan (with both Silverfast and Scan Wizard Pro) a slide that is high contrast that looks great when projected. I have been unable to get a usable scan particularly in the area of a very dark area of a loch. I have just tried Vuescan and the result was immediately much better. See: http://www.greenbank.themutual.net/artixscan4000_noise.htm Vuescan also look sharper and the rest of the image looks pretty good too. Previously I have been led to believe that Silverfast was much better on slides but unless someone can tell me what I am doing wrong in Silverfast I'll have to get the plastic out and visit Ed's website. Steve