Installing Vuescan and Nikon Scan on a Windows 10 64-bit PC.
Introduction
For scanning software on the PC I use both the Nikon Scan software that came with the Nikon film scanner and also the Vuescan application.
The Nikon Scan software was only supported up to Windows Vista, and also only for 32-bit versions. Thus it cannot be directly installed on a modern Windows 10 64-bit PC since the scanner drivers do not support this Windows version. However, it is possible to use the Nikon Scan with the scanner drivers provided by a Vuescan installation.
Installing Vuescan
The first step is to purchase a copy of Vuescan from its website. Then download the latest copy of the application, selecting the version appropriate to Windows 10 64-bit. Once downloaded click on the file (e.g. vuex67-9.7.79.exe) to start the installer. Note the installer needs administrator privileges.
The installer will then ask if you want to install scanner drivers. Click “Install” to install these drivers.
Vuescan should now open and the purchase details can be entered, or press “Continue” to run the trial without purchasing yet. Connect the Nikon Coolscan to the PC with a USB cable and power it on. In Vuescan select the menu “Scanner | Find scanners” and the Nikon Coolscan should be discovered.
To verify operation of the scanner a test scan of a piece of film can be conducted using the appropriate scanner adapter. For example, insert the MA-21 adapter into the scanner, and then a mounted colour slide into the adapter with its long side parallel to the direction of the adapter path and front of the slide towards the top of the scanner.
In Viewscan:
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In the “Input” tab, select the Nikon film scanner in the “Source” selection box:
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Press the “Scan” button to scan the image:
This should result in capturing a scan of the inserted slide on the PC.
Installing Nikon Scan
The Nikon Scan application can be installed in a Windows 10 PC so long as you use the Vuescan scanner drivers, not the drivers provided by Nikon.
Download the Nikon Scan software. The latest version is v4.03 and it can be downloaded from the Nikon website. Once downloaded, click on the file (e.g. nscan403en.exe) to start the installer. Note the installer needs administrator privileges.
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At the first dialogue box press: “Next”.
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At the second dialogue box you need to agree to the license be selecting: “Yes”.
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Next select the folder to install the Nikon Scan software into (the default is normally ok).
and confirm if a new folder needs to be created for this by selecting “Yes”.
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A dialogue box will appear asking which scanner drivers to install. Do not install any drivers here as the program will be using the drivers installed by Vuescan previously. Therefore de-select all drivers in this dialogue box before pressing “Next”.
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The installer should now install the software and then ask if you want to install a desktop icon.
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Next the installer shows a dialogue box requesting how to setup the colour profiles. I normally just select: “Use name list”.
Then select the colour profile you want Nikon Scan to attach to scanned images. I normally select “Adobe RGB” for this.
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Finally the software will require you to restart the computer.
The Nikon Scan installation should be tested by using it to make a test scan of a piece of film. For example, perform a test scan of a colour slide using the MA-21 adapter inserted into the scanner.
Launch the Nikon Scan 4 software. This should display 3 windows:
- The main window.
- A scanning preview window that should identify the film scanner in its title bar.
- A scanning tool palette.
Pressing the “scan” button in the scanning preview window should trigger the film to be scanned. The resultant scan should appear in the main window.
