Which side of film down scanning with Epson 4990 flatbed?

[richard_f]

<p>Epson manual says to put the film in the holder "...with the film's base side facing down". That means you have the lettering on the film edges "backwards" as you look down at it, and the curl of the film is toward the bottom/base of the scanner. Putting the film in the other way causes the scanned image to be reversed (which of course can be fixed in PS), so I gather I am reading this correctly.<br>

The difficulty is that it is far easier to accurately position the film in the holder (not the most robust item) with the curl facing up. If I am understanding this correctly, and the curl is supposed to be down, has anyone found any ways to make the job of positioning the film (in this case 6x12) accurately in the window of the holder any easier?<br>

Thanks!</p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>Putting the film in "film facing up" is what "betterscanning" recommends for their holders, when dealing with curl. Vuescan has an option to "mirror", but it can be done in any post processing software. </p>

[starvy]

<p>i have the 4950 model and place the film facing upwards.</p>

[tom_aellis1]

<p>Easy to remember, weather printing in a wet or dry (scanning) darkroom.<br>

It's always emulsion to emulsion.<br>

In scanning, the "light" scan source is the emulsion<br>

In wet DR, the shinny, glossy side of the paper is the emulsion.<br>

On the neg, the "dull" side is the emulsion side.<br>

Thus while scanning, dull side up facing the glass that houses the scanning light.<br>

Best of luck.</p>

[john_a5]

<p>It really depends on where your scanner is focussing. I have never heard of a scanner where you are supposed to put the emulsion side up, but possibly the company Peter refers to makes their holders a bit thinner so emulsion should be up allowing the lens to focus through the film base.</p>

<p>In reality, do what works and gives you good results. If you get sharper results emulsion down, then work a bit harder to get it that way. If you see no difference, do it the easiest way for you. But a true test will be at the maximum optical dpi of your scanner. Things can look sharp at lower dpi's that really aren't sharp when you do a larger scan. Sometimes a scanner can actually have better resolution than the film/lens combination, so be sure to make comparisons.</p>

[hclim]

<p>Using the Epson film holder for 120 film, curl down position will produce Newton rings in far more instances than curl up. That was my experience.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>So you won't have to reverse it, emulsion side is down. You should be able to read the edge markings while mounted. But I also scan with emulsion side up for various reasons.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>If you can keep the film from touching the glass bed, it doesn't matter which side is up. If it touches, which is generally the case for anything larger than 35mm, the emulsion side is less reflective, hence less likely to produce Newton's Rings in the down position.</p>

<p>Scanning software can easily invert the image as needed, or you can use Photoshop. It is a lossless operation.</p>