scanning to make contact sheets

Has anyone had any luck scanning negatives into contact sheets? Mine are not very sharp if i scan through the

sleeves...and I would like to have them very straight...I have a cheap Epson printer which is probably some of

the problem but if anyone has any tips that would be very nice!

 

Thanks!<div></div>

They are being degraded to some extent by the sleeve, they aren't at the correct suspension height and they are probably not flat if your films are like most films in archiving sleeves.

I've never seen a truly sharp contact sheet whether done in the darkroom or on a scanner. They are what they are - a means to see the contents of negatives for those not experienced in interpreting negatives directly.

 

Film sleeves are typically 7 strips of 6, and barely fit on most letter-sized scanner beds. You must use manual exposure, which is set using one of the images. Manual exposure is fairly easy using Silverfast, but often problematic using the software supplied with the scanner. It may be difficult or impossible to identify frame numbers.

 

I prefer to scan each frame of the film on a Nikon film scanner, then create contact sheets of the collection using Photoshop (Contact Sheet II script). Each image is clearly identified and as sharp as possible in a thumbnail. At times I've made low resolution scans specifically for proofing and contact sheets. I've come to the conclusion that it is a waste of time to do this, and scan at full resolution for all purposes. I get my film developed uncut and unmounted, and use a roll feeder (up to 40 frames in a batch) for unattended scans.

 

The printer is probably not the cause of your problems. I have several printers, but can get high quality results using an $80 Epson R260 printer if I choose. The trick is to start with well exposed and processed images, including whole-sheet scans.

Vuescan has a nice convenience: if you scan a series of images, it will auto-generate an index page, which proves a high

enough scan resolution to make a reasonably good proof sheet.

 

I've pretty much stopped using proof sheets now, however. ON the rare occasions when I scan film, I treat the images the

same as I do my digital captures: import to Lightroom for grading, sorting, etc. I just look at the negatives with a loupe on a

light table to determine what isn't worth scanning in the first place, that's really the only difference.

 

Godfrey

One trick is to get rid of all the black area on the contact sheet, so you're not wasting lots of ink when you print it. All the methods I've tried are clumsy. Maybe a Photoshop wizard in this forum can lend us some advice.

"One trick is to get rid of all the black area on the contact sheet"

 

Photoshop/Contact Sheet II

Thanks you guys! I should have been more clear - I want the contact sheets to look really great for possible portfolio type stuff- I just like the look of contact sheets and want to add a couple to my website. I meant to say I have a cheap Epson scanner- not printer :) no manual exposures, but I can make some adjustments. They probably aren't flat to the glass- I wonder if a tiny bit of tape in the corners would help?

> Photoshop/Contact Sheet II

 

That feature is available only with new versions of Photoshop.