Negative scanning is a term that is used to refer to the scanning of both photo negatives, most typically those on 35mm film, and also, of film slides. Scanning negatives or film produces a more quality print at a higher resolution, since scanning a print would produce a lower quality, second generation copy of the image.

Think of the difference in quality between the music on a CD purchased at a store and the music on a tape made from that same CD, and it is easy to see why scanning negatives and film slides is the preferred method of the professionals when it comes to obtaining prints from these mediums.

Make sure to always organize your negatives by group, and use your scanner’s batch mode to scan each negative by category both before and after scanning. You can still name each scan individually if you want to, but the batch scan feature eliminates the absolute necessity of this step.

You should also take care to make sure to use a scanner with Kodak’s Digital ICE photo restoring software. You can also use a special film cleaner and compressed air for especially stubborn particulate matter. USB slide scanners mostly meet this standard.

Before you start scanning, you should adjust your settings to 3000 DPI. In terms of file formats, we recommend that professional photographers use the TIFF format, and that novices use JPEG, due to the large file sizes of the TIFF format.

You should also compare the difference in negative resolution with Kodak ICE and without, and never, ever, crop your negatives until you have scanned the entire image in.

What Are Some of The Benefits Of Negative Scanning?

First of all, whether we want to admit it or not, most of us have at least one or two dusty boxes sitting in our garage, attic, or basement full of old negatives and slides, and unorganized photos. In short, a treasure trove of memories that no one will ever see.

Do not let your family history molder in a cardboard box. Instead, you can preserve it safely, inexpensively, and using a usb slide scanner.

A photographic negative is a very delicate thing. It can be permanently damaged by the slightest fingerprint or piece of dust. Scratches cannot be removed from a negative, yet they do show up on a print made from the damaged negative. If you have negatives in your home, you need to make sure that you store them properly to preserve them. You just might need a reprint from it when you least expect it. Best of all is to digitize your slides and negatives so you can keep them on a computer or DVD for posterity. A USB Slide Scanner is your best starting point.

Negative Preservers

One option you have to preserve your negatives is to place them in archival quality negative preservers. These are 8 ½ by 11 sheets divided into sleeves that are the right size for a strip of negatives. If your photo lab cuts your negatives, you simply slide the negatives into the sleeve and stick the sheet into a binder. Use lint-free gloves when handling negatives so that you do not accidentally put a fingerprint on them. Be sure that the sheets are made from acid-free materials so that your negatives will last for many years.

Glassine Envelopes

Glassine envelopes are traditional negative storage devices used by professionals. The envelopes are translucent and are made from non-plasticized paper that is acid-free and pH negative. Both negatives and photographs can be safely stored in these envelopes and can be used as long-term storage options. One benefit of glassine envelopes is the fact that they come in a wide range of sizes, making them ideal for the professional who shoots on a variety of formats.

Uncut Sleeving

Some photographers prefer to leave their negatives uncut. This can create a difficulty when storing negatives, but it does lower the risk of damage on the developing end. Roll sleeving is the best storage option for uncut negatvies. This is a continuous roll of plastic sleeving that the photographic negative roll can be fed into. The sleeve can then be cut and rolled for storage. Again, these storage sleeves should be acid-free.

Digital Storage

Another option for storing negatives is storing them digitally. Professional negative scanning services can scan negatives and make high-resolution positive images from them. The resulting images are burned onto a CD, which can then be stored. Future reprints can be made directly from the CD.

Digital storage eliminates the need to hang on to negatives for years and years. Photographers who have many years of shooting under their belts know how much of a challenge it can be to keep all of the negatives in order from various photo shoots through the years. With digital negative storage, many images can be stored on one compact CD.

Regardless of the storage option you choose, never leave your negatives in the sleeving from the developer. Unless you are using a professional lab, the sleeving will not be acid free. This means that the acid in the plastic or paper can damage your negatives. Some labs will not sleeve negatives at all, leaving them open to fingerprints, scratches, and dust. Choose the storage option you prefer, and store your negatives in a safe way in order to properly preserve the images they contain.

Storing film negatives can become a hassle quite quickly, and since today’s photography is turning more and more digital in nature, you may want to find a digital storage option for your negatives and slides. Scanning negatives and turning them into a digital file is entirely possible, but you need the right equipment to do so.

Scanning Negatives at Home with a Flatbed Scanner

If you have a scanner with the right adapter, you can scan negatives and slides at home using a simple flatbed scanner. Keep in mind that simply putting your negatives on a flatbed scanner will not work. Flatbed scanners are designed to scan photos by capturing the reflection of the light shown on them. Because negatives are transparent, this does not work. You need a transparency adapter to scan negatives. The transparency adapter, when used in place of the scanner’s lid, shines light onto the negatives from above, and the sensors can pick up this light and capture a digital image of the print. Without the adapter, a scanned negative or transparency will look like a big black square.

Scanning Negatives at Home with Film Scanners

If you plan on scanning negatives frequently, you may want to purchase a scanner designed to scan film. These scanners give you a better final image, because there is no piece of glass between the negative and the image sensor. Also, the light is more intense with one of these scanners. They also typically have a higher dpi resolution than flatbed scanners.

Another reason film scanners give a better final image has to do with the density of the image. Photographs have a density of approximately 2.0, and negatives have a density of about 3.0. Because flatbed scanners are designed primarily for documents and photographs, they are calibrated closer to the 2.0 range. This means that scanning negatives with a flatbed scanner will result in tonal loss. This is slight, as in a negative the tonal loss occurs mostly in lighter areas, but it does affect the final image quality a bit.

High Resolution Is Key

Regardless of whether you use a flatbed scanner or a film scanner, you will want to scan your negatives at the highest resolution possible. This will make the scanning process take a while, but if you intend to make prints off of the resulting digital photos, you will be glad you took the time to scan the picture at a high resolution.

If you are one of those people with boxes of old negatives in your basement or hall closet, you are not alone. Photography has been a popular hobby with people ever since the invention of the first camera.

One problem that professional and amateur photographers alike have always faced is deciding the proper way to preserve their art once it has been shot and developed.

The good news is that if you are one of those people with boxes of old negatives and pictures old enough to be in the historical archives, many companies offer 35mm slide scanners that do a great job of digitizing your old slides and negatives.

Scanning a negative not only allows for the development of the image, but also enhanced digital clarity, even for the oldest negatives. Photo restoration can also repair sun damage and scratches. While there are many companies that offer these services, here are some things that you should look for when choosing a photo restoration and slide scanning service

3000 dpi slide scanners for 35mm slides, as well as 110,120,126,127, and 200 format slides

Industry standard automated dust and scratch removal, utilizing programs such as Kodak Digital ICE. The slide scanning services that you choose should include a manual color rotation, cropping, red eye removal, rotation, and additional dust and scratch removal as points of service.

Additional photo scanning services, preferably 600 dpi photo scanning services for both priceless, antique photos, as well as newspaper clippings, postcards, and other medium.

Does it really make a difference what size memory card you use? If you take a lot of pictures, then choosing a memory card with more storage space will likely be a priority for you, so the short answer, simply put, is yes.

When choosing the most logical memory card size, you should first take into account how many pictures you usually take at a time. As stated in the previous paragraph, If you are a world traveler, your memory card needs will be different from those of a person who only uses a camera for holiday get togethers.

You will also need to decide how big the files are of the pictures that you take. Smaller files, such as those for online pictures will take up less space and enable you to fit more on a card. Larger files for printing will need more room.

If you have a 2 megapixel camera, 128MB is usually enough. For a 3 or 4megapixel camera, a 128MB or 256MB memory card is usually plenty. For a 5megapixel camera, start with a 256MB memory card.

Years ago, 35mm film cameras were the “latest and greatest,” and many people archived their favorite photographs on 35mm slides. This may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but viewing and storing these slides usually turned out to be more effort than expected. The problem many people ended up with was having hundreds, and possibly thousands, of slides and a broken slide projector. Even with a working projector, setting up a slide projector for a slide show can take a lot of time.

With today’s digital image technology, you can scan 35mm slides and conveniently store them on CD’s and DVD’s. There’s no slide projector to drag out of the closet and no slide carousels to fill with slides. Once you scan your 35mm slides and transfer the images to a CD or DVD, all you need is a computer or DVD player to view your pictures.

When you decide to scan 35mm slides, your first step should be determining which slides you want to preserve. Pick out the best shots to scan. It may be tempting to scan every slide you own, but this will probably result in your spending more time and money on the project than you intended. Eliminating near-duplicate slides and slides you don’t need to keep in your collection will save you time and money later on.

If you have a large number of slides to scan, you’ll want a dependable slide scanner. A high quality scanner can run in the thousands of dollars. There are some less expensive models, but remember that “you get what you pay for.” Lower end scanners only allow you to view the scanned images. You will not be able to make prints with these scanners. There are professional photography services that scan 35mm slides, and this may be your best option. Their work is guaranteed, and you won’t need to worry about what you’re going to do with an expensive slide scanner once your project is completed. Professional 35mm scanning services are able to remove dust, scratches, and other blemishes from the slides, giving you enhanced images.

Make sure your scanner’s software is user-friendly and can handle what you want it to do. Good scanner software will allow you to make color adjustments to your images before you scan your 35mm slides. A common customer complaint is that the scanner software is difficult to set up and even more difficult to use. If you’re unable to use the scanner software, you can use Adobe Photoshop or a similar image editing program.

About thirty-five to forty years ago, 35mm slides were quite popular. Families documented their vacations and special occasions with series of slides, businesses used slide shows for important presentations, and students learned about faraway places and science from slide shows. Each slide was placed, in order and in the correct orientation, into the slide carousel, and the show began.

Image technology has come a long way since the 60’s and 70’s. PowerPoint presentations, digital cameras, and photographs on CD’s and DVD’s are used for displaying pictures and presentations. Many people have boxes and cases full of old 35mm slides that sit gathering dust because viewing the slides is too cumbersome or the slide projector is broken. Fortunately, slides can now be converted to a digital format onto CD’s and DVD’s for easy storage and viewing with slide scanning.

You can use a flatbed scanner or a film scanner to scan your slides. Film scanners can range in price from $300 to over $1,000, but they produce a higher quality reproduction. Some of the scanner features you need to consider before making a purchase are resolution, DPI, PPI, dynamic range, and bit depth.

The resolution of a scanned image is the measurement of how sharp, or clear, the scanned image is. The DPI, or dots per inch, is the measurement of the number of image dots a printer is capable of printing into 2.54cm (one linear inch) of space. A higher DPI typically results in a higher resolution. Pixel, a combination of the words “picture” and “element,” is a term that refers to the smallest unit of an image. This is typically a color dot. The number of pixels a scanner supports (megapixels) and the size of the image produced determine the PPI, or pixels per inch. As the size of an image increases, the PPI decreases. Scanners with higher megapixels produce images with higher resolution. Dynamic range refers to the capability of distinguishing levels of brightness in an image. A low dynamic range results in a blurry, undefined image, and a high dynamic range produces a sharp, crisp image. Bit depth, or color depth, is the measurement of how many bits, or single units of information, are used to create each pixel in a digital image. Higher bit depths result in brighter and deeper image colors.

There are some drawbacks to do-it-yourself slide scanning. As mentioned previously, the cost of a quality scanner may be prohibitive. You may also end up with a scanner that is difficult to operate or does not perform as you expected. Common problems of scanning slides at home or at your business are damage from fingerprints, choosing the appropriate settings on the scanner, and difficulty producing pictures without scratches and other unsightly marks. Slide scanning can also be a very time-consuming.

For an easier approach to scanning slides, try a professional photography business that offers this service. Professional slide scanning services use top of the line scanners, and the scanned images are clear and blemish-free. You won’t need to bother with purchasing special equipment to scan your slides, and reputable scanning services guarantee their work. Your slide scanning project will be completed in no time!

If you are getting ready to scan photos, there are a few things you should know. The process will be much easier if you do a little prep work beforehand. These tips will help you get the desired result from your scanning project.

Choose the Pictures Carefully

Your pictures will scan exactly as they are. If there is a fold on the picture or a scratch on the surface, it will show up in the scan. Sometimes the scanner picks up specifically on these flaws, and they look even worse on the scanned image. For this reason, you need to choose the images carefully.

Find images that are in good condition, and clean any fingerprints with a lint-free cloth before you begin. Also, choose images that have bright colors and sharp contrasts, because sometimes quality is lost when you scan photos on a home flatbed scanner. While you can use enhancing software to brighten up images, you still want to start with the best possible original image.

Choose the Right Resolution

You will need to choose the resolution for your image, whether you are scanning it at home or choosing a scanning service. Remember that scanned images are measured in a unit called “dpi,” which stands for dots per inch. The higher the number, the clearer the image is.

A resolution of 300 dpi is a good choice when scanning at home. You will not get large prints from this size, but you will be able to print standard image sizes up to 5 x 7 and display the images online, without taking up too much of your computer’s memory. If you need a larger image, you may want to burn it onto a CD or hire a scanning service. If you only intend to display the image online, a smaller resolution will suffice.

Choose the Right Format

If you have the option to choose the file format, consider carefully which one you will use. On most scanners, TIFF and JPEG are both offered. TIFF is a better option for archiving an image. These are larger files, which means they give a good quality for printing. JPEG files are slightly compressed. They do print well, but not as well as TIFF files. These files work well for posting images online. Since TIFF files are larger than JPEG files, TIFF files can be converted to JPEG files, but not the other way around.

Those 35mm slides that you’ve been holding on to can now be digitally formatted with 35mm slide scanning. Most 35mm slides are in boxes stacked on shelves and closet floors. The owners don’t want to part with the slides, even though they haven’t brought them out to view in years. The slides hold memories and, in the case of businesses, important information. Improved techniques for 35mm slide scanning can help you preserve your photographs and illustrations on PC’s and DVD’s. You’ll be able to view them easily on any PC or television.

One of the best features of 35mm slide scanning is that now you’ll be able to print the slide images, email the images to friends or business associates, and include the images on digital videos or digital slide shows. Once your 35mm slides are converted to a digital format, you can download the images to your computer and organize, adjust, and transfer the images for any purpose. 35mm slide scanning allows you to quickly access your photographs, charts, and graphics for viewing or reference.

You can do your own 35mm slide scanning at your home or business. If you need certain slides to be scanned together, sort through the slides first and put them into groups. Some business presentations require slides to be scanned in a prescribed order. Keep in mind that you might have to work with different slide orientations (portrait or landscape), slide mount thickness, and film types when you group slides, and this could slow down your scanning process. While you are sorting through your slides, get rid of slides that you no longer need, are duplicates, or were never a good image to begin with. You don’t need to continue to keep slides that are of no value to you.

For good 35mm slide scanning, the slides need to be as clean as possible. Keeping slides clean is a never-ending process because they are dust magnets. It is also easy to scratch 35mm slides, and this can be a problem when you scan them. If your slides have a minimal amount of dust and scratches on them, your scanner may be able to take care of this. Many scanners have an infrared light used during 35mm slide scanning that passes through the film, but not the debris on the slide. The scanner software captures the dust and scratches and compensates for these by filling in the blank areas with colors that match the surrounding image.

Scanning negatives and slides can seem a bit tricky, but it can be done with the right equipment and know how. First of all, negatives and slides can be scanned with a scanner, but you cannot just put a negative on the glass and push the button to scan.

The scanner you use has to be one with built in negative scanning ability. Usually, a scanner designed for paper documents wont have this feature, but some do. A good scanner that is suitable for scanning negatives will produce excellent quality scans quickly, and there are different models to choose from that can allow you to scan numerous negatives and slides at once.

Scanning Negatives: DPI and Resolution

To begin, since the image on a negative is so small, you will want to keep a high resolution so that you can enlarge the picture and still maintain good picture quality. A good rule of thumb is that for every doubling in size for the picture, maintain that same increase for your resolution. For example, to get a 4X6in print from a 4X6in scan, the recommended dpi setting is 300. To get an 8X11 from that same scan, double the dpi to 600, and so on.

Scanning Negatives: Files and Output Type

There are several different file formats for images that computers use. These are TIFF, JPEG, and BMP files, just to name a few. The best files for scanning negatives are TIFF files. TIFFs can be edited and saved easily, and without compression loss. However, TIFFs can be large files that take up much memory. Besides choosing a file format, Output Type is another variable to consider when scanning. The default output type is usually Millions of Colors which is the best for photos with lots of color. Grayscale is for black and white pictures. It is recommended, though, that you maintain the default setting for color output, because this maintains the highest picture quality, and photo enhancement software can easily take the color photo and put it in black and white for you.

A word of caution about storage space: Many people have found that file sizes can mount quickly with scanning, saving, and editing photos. Pay special attention to file sizes and how much space is available on a CD or disk that you are saving the pictures to. Try to see about how much space a picture file uses, multiply that by the number of files you are saving, and make sure you dont run out of space in the middle of creating your masterpieces!

Keeping these tips and other important points in mind will help you decipher the puzzle of scanning negatives. These tips will get you started on your way to turning your tiny negatives into meaningful photographs that you will treasure for years to come.

Since digital cameras came into the market, most people use digital formats for new photos, and there are people keeping older film camera paper prints, slides and negatives. We will show how to convert them into digital formats.

Paper Prints

Sizes 4X6 and 5X7. If they are kept too long, tend to lose their quality, the paper might turn yellow, bend and colors faded.

Slides

Are similar to negatives but projecting photos on large screen.

Negatives

Are processed film usually 35mm roll which hardly used unless to develop new paper prints.

Want to know how to convert all those old photos from traditional paper and negatives to digital? This is easy to copy and a better way to keep the photos in the computer for long time. For amateurs try simple, easy and cheap methods. Professional photographers will spend time and money on this process scanning and requires different equipment.

Scan paper photos prints on a scanner yourself, is a cheaper way, unless you want to send to a professional scanning service that will scan and mail them back the originals and a DVD with the digital scans. Sometimes, it’s a risk to take, mailing the only hardcopy of your photos.

The Resolution is measured by the number of dots per inch, if you are going to scan it yourself. Usually the scanner can scan at 1200DPI or more. The higher the resolution the slower the scan and bigger photo file size. If the higher resolutions scan is at 300 to 600 DPI, you get better results.

When you buy a scanner check the scanning Speed, which is measured by number of scans per minute and check the speed at the DPI you’re going to use. Speed is important if you are using more than hundreds photos. For better results, scan at the lowest resolution possible, 300-600DPI is good enough.

Photo feeding is not an issue if only small number, but for more photos make sure that the scanner is fast and easy loading. A good scanner will automatically load stacks of photos, feed and scan them for you.

You can see how easy to photo paper prints by yourself rather than using professional scanning service. For a small investment, get an expensive automatic scanner which has all the functions to convert your original quality memories into digital format, for you and your children to enjoy.

Plus you can keep these photos stored safely on DVD hard drive or online where you can never loose them. And you can share your photos with the world faster then you can say cheese!