I just bought this scanner and started to scan manga tanks and the scans come out very bad!

I use the default program that came with the scanner "Epson scan Ver 3.50A"
Settings are photograph mode - grayscale - 300dpi I didn't change any other settings

After I scan the page I try to level using my usual leveling settings I've been using as an editor for my scanlation group and the scans look like crap. This just tells me the scans are crap because I've leveled other raw scans with no problems.

Can anyone help me with the settings? thanks!

It's a given that you need different settings when using a different scanner. Even scanners of different models from the same manufacturer (and I almost exclusively use Canons) give very different results.

I have no idea about the features of that particular program, though, but the one basic principle is to first change to the "advanced" or "professional" mode, then look for anything that says "auto" and turn that off. I'm sure those autocorrection features are very useful if you're clueless and trying to make scans of old photos look pretty, but for manga, they always screw things up.