LaserSoft Imaging AG is a software developer designing software such as

SilverFast SilverFast is the name of a family of software for image scanning and processing, including photos, documents and slides, developed by LaserSoft Imaging. There are also other applications for image processing using digital cameras or printers ...

for scanners and large format printers. The company's headquarters are located in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, north of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, and another office in Sarasota,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

History

1986 - 1990

LaserSoft Imaging was founded in Spring 1986 by the physicist Karl-Heinz Zahorsky, the president of the company today. LaserSoft Imaging became an early adopter of color- and image processing on the

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

. It was the first company to distribute video digitizers, such as Pixelogic's 'ProViz' and Truvel's 'TrueScan', the first professional color scanner for the

, which was first shown at

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

trade fair

CeBIT CeBIT was the largest and most internationally representative computer expo. The trade fair was held each year on the Hanover fairground, the world's largest fairground, in Hanover, Germany. In its day, it was considered a barometer of cur ...

in 1988, to which LaserSoft Imaging was invited by

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

1990 - 2000

Karl-Heinz Zahorsky published many articles about

image processing An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...

in several professional journals. In 1990 Hell Graphics, the world's leading

drum scanner An image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop ''flatbed scanner'' ...

developer in

, hired him as an independent consultant to keep up with the rapidly proceeding desktop technologies. In 1991 LaserSoft Imaging became a registered GmbH and moved into a large Prepress house to help in setting up color reproduction on the desktop and to link Chromacom systems to Macintosh Computers. With RipLink LaserSoft Imaging presented a system to link major prepress systems, like Hell, Scitex and Crosfield to

. The distribution of leafscanners started the chapter of high-end scanners on the desktop. LaserSoft Imaging consulted Leaf, Canon,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, Seiko and others regarding desktop high end color. LaserSoft Imaging also was involved in the development of the Photone Prepress, after the product had gone through its infant stages. In 1994 LaserSoft Imaging started the development of

, which was first presented in its early stages at

1995. Version 2.0 was demonstrated at

1996, version 3.0 was released in December 1996, version 4.0 in 1998. The second office opened in Sarasota,

in 1997.

2000 - 2010

LaserSoft Imaging released

version 5.0 in 2000, version 6.0 in 2002, version 6.5 in 2006 ant the latest version 6.6 in 2008. LaserSoft Imaging changed the company into a public corporation (

Aktiengesellschaft (; abbreviated AG, ) is a German word for a corporation limited by share ownership (i.e. one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (where it is equ ...

) in 2001; the founder is the sole shareholder. Today, LaserSoft Imaging has implemented scan software for over 300 scanners for Mac OS 9,

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lap ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

98, 2000, XP, Vista. In the beginning LaserSoft Imaging's software was mainly distributed in

, but now,

is distributed globally through distributors as well as world-wide bundle agreements with manufacturers such as Canon, HP, Seiko Epson, Cruse, Leica Camera AG, Microtek, Nikon, Pacific Image Electronics, Pentacon GmbH, PFU/Quato, Plustek,

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

, and

Umax UMAX is a domestic interline intermodal freight transport program that provides shipping and logistics of containers. The program is a partnership; its parent companies are Union Pacific Railroad and CSX. Launched March 29, 2010, UMAX has ...

. The company also supports high-end scanners such as the

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

( Linotype) Topaz, Tango, Nexscan, and Chromagraph (3300 and 3400). LaserSoft Imaging's SilverFast was awarded "best color management software of the year 2008" by the European Digital Press Association (EDP). The award was given for improving the

dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base ...

of most scanners with its

Multi-Exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be ide ...

feature and for automatic creation of ICC profiles. The Fogra came to a similar conclusion after testing LaserSoft Imaging's

IT8 IT8 is a set of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards for color communications and control specifications. Formerly governed by the IT8 Committee, IT8 activities were merged with those of the Committee for Graphics Arts Technolog ...

targets and SilverFast's colour management system in 2009 by attesting full conformity to the strict ISO norm 12641. The HDRi raw data format was also developed in 2009. By adding the RAW data of the infrared channel to the usual RAW data it contains any readable image information for later post processing.it-enquierer.com
Article on HRDi and iSRD
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Products

The company's products can be classified in four different categories : * SilverFast SE / SE Plus / Ai Studio (Scanner Software) * SilverFast HDR / HDR Studio (64Bit / 48 Bit Image Processing Software) * SilverFast Archive Suite / Archive Suite SE * SilverFast PrintTao 8 (Software for large format printers) * SRDx Photoshop Plug-in (Dust and Scratch Removal) * LaserSoft Imaging is also manufacturing reflective and transparent IT8 Targets (ISO 12641-1), Advanced IT8 Targets (ISO 12641-2) since 2019. * The Resolution Target (USAF 1951) is a tool to determine the maximum resolution of a particular scanner.

Literature

* Taz Tally, Ph.D. ''SilverFast - The Official Guide.'' Sybex, 2003. * Taz Tally, Ph.D. ''SilverFast - Das offizielle Buch.'' Mitp-Verlag, 2004. * Sascha Steinhoff: ''Scanning negatives and slides : digitizing your photographic archive'' - Rocky Nook, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lasersoft Imaging Software companies of Germany Privately held companies of Germany Companies based in Kiel