Scanning 35mm B&W Neg pages for proof sheets. HOW?

[bennett_richards]

<p>Hi,<br>

I have a few hundred rolls of 35mm B&W film sleeved in Negafile clear sheets. I was wondeing if there was any way one can use a flatbed scanner to create positive proof shhet image files so I can see what's on the film without having to place each page on the light tabe and interpret the negative. Has anyone done this? The quality does not need to be superb... just a positive and viewable.<br>

Thanks.</p>

[976photo]

<p>I don't think you can do the whole page at once. You'd have to do the negs a strip at a time, but yes there are scanners that will do that, you just have to find one that has a negative adapter or dedicated tray for negatives. The software that comes with the scanner does the converting usually.</p>

<p>Someone else may be able to point you to a specific model, I haven't used any myself.</p>

[jerry thirsty]

Sure. You just need a scanner with an 8x10 transparency adapter. If you have pages that are 7 strips of 5, you might have to position it so you cut off the sprocket holes on the first and last strip. If you have a regular flatbed already, you can try putting a white sheet on top to reflect the light back through, but don't expect much.

[bennett_richards]

<p>Is there a way to reverse the negative to a positve?</p>

[yuriy_romanenko]

"Invert" or "Inverse" in almost any image editing software will do that.

[bgelfand]

<p>If you mean can you scan each sheet, you can but you will run into many problems such as Newton Rings when you have the negative against the glass. If you want to try that, you would need a flatbed with a transparency unit that can handle a page the size of Negfile page. The Epson V700 can handle up to 8x10. <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=63056499&category=Products">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=63056499&category=Products</a> . Or it can do 24 negatives at a time in its film holder; then you do not need to worry about Newton Rings and the like.</p>

<p>If you can live with doing 12 negatives at a time, The Espon 4490, <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=53540925&category=Products">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=53540925&category=Products</a> the Epson V500, <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=63070478&category=Products">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=63070478&category=Products</a> , or Epson V600, <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=63084673&category=Products">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Specs&oid=63084673&category=Products</a> would be good choices.</p>

<p>The scanner software reverses the negative to positive image; you simply specify that you are scanning negatives. Before you select a scanner, be sure there arfe drivers for your operating system.</p>

<p>I do what you are trying to do. I use to use my Epson Perfection 1650 flatbed until I got a Nikon Coolscan V a few years ago. I scan the negatives at 600 ppi, save the files as JPEG files, label the files to relate to the negative sheet and frame, and catalog them in the Photoshop Elements Organizer. (The Epson flatbed scanners come with a copy of Photoshop Elements). I simply give each sheet an arbitraty number, starting at 1 for the first sheet in my negative file, and then append the frame number - e.g a digital picture with the name R003F22A (R means Roll F means Frame) would be frame 22A on the sheet numbered 003 R023F09 would be frame 9 on sheet 023. Once I know the name of the picture I want, it takes only a few seconds to find it in my negative book. The Photoshop Elements Organizer lets you set up arbitrary tags such as the names of people or places in your photos. You can quickly search by these tags.</p>

[jerry thirsty]

Here's an example of scanning a sheet with my Epson 4990:

 

http://thirsty.smugmug.com/Other-Stuff/Forum-Examples/9030118_WnwSB#902740787_dmD94

 

In this case, all seven strips fit in the transparency scanner area because the film was curled enough and didn't lay flat. But I know from experience that I can contact print a flat sheet of negs on an 8x10 sheet in the darkroom and seven strips will just fit (excluding the top and bottom sprocket holes).