This HOWTO is about scanning negatives using an Epson Perfection 2400 Photo, JASC Paint Shop Pro 8.10 and some LEGO bricks. If you have a different scanner, software or even the same as described here, your milage will definitely vary. Suggestions are welcome, but don’t blame me if this doesn’t work for you.
Scanning the Negatives (Digitizing)
The Epson Perfection 2400 Photo is a great flatbed scanner, with a maximum resolution of 2400 dpi. It takes about 9 minutes to scan a film strip of six frames at maximum optical resolution. One serious flaw though is the negative holder. It works, but not great. The problem is that the negative is not held tight in the holder and especially curly brands like Kodak bow so much that sometimes it just pops out.
I’ve tried various solutions, like placing a piece of matt glass on top of the negative to press it down. This works most of the time, but finding a piece thick enough to have sufficient weight to press (again mostly Kodak) negatives down is nigh impossible. It seems that when negatives become warm, like from the overhead lamp, they bow even more. Another problem with the glass method is that tiny defects show up in the scans.
I even tried making a film holder out of wood, so that I can use a larger piece of glass to flatten the negative.
Enter LEGO. Probably due to using the same base dimensions, it turns out that widthwise a negative fits exactly between the studs of two plates placed four studs apart. Place a plate on top and the negative is firmly held in place. Same goes lengthwise for strips of four and six exposures. The LEGO holder does raise the height of the negative above the scanner glass from 1mm to 3mm. Testing has shown that this is not a problem and the focus remains the same. In fact, it looks like the focus is better with the LEGO holder.
What is a problem is that the LEGO plates used to hold the negative tight does not cover the ratchet holes, which causes ghosting on the edges of the scanned frame. A better design is needed to cover these holes...
To do the actual scanning, I use the “acquire” function of Paint Shop Pro, which automatically opens the Epson scanning software. Again I have tried different software, like VueScan and SilverFast. In my opinion the Epson software works best, as all one basically wants to do is digitize the negatives; the actual manipulation and correcting being done in a graphics application.
Select the whole strip or just the frames you want and scan. Remember to turn off automatic correction. You can scan the negative either as a Color Negative Film or as a Positive Film, the end result is the same.
Removing the Colour Cast
First a word about VueScan and SilverFast. Yes, the automatic colour cast removal features work... if you select the correct film. Problem is that very few of the films I use are listed. (Perhaps they are, but under different names.)
Secondly, the Epson scanning software uses histogram adjustments to remove the colour cast. This works, provided the photograph contains enough colour variation. Often enough the results are not very good. Turn it off.
The method I use to remove the colour cast is to adjust the black or white points, depending on how you scanned the negative and at what point you want to invert it. I prefer to work with positive images from the beginning, so I scan as Color Negative Film and adjust the black point. If you scanned the negative as a Positive Film then invert it by choosing Adjust » Negative Image, either now (and adjust the black point) or after adjusting the white point.
- Select the Dropper Tool and adjust the sample size to 11x11 pixels;
- Open Adjust » Color Balance » Black and White Points;
- Make sure all values are at the default by clicking the reset button;
- Click the button to hide the previews. We won’t be using that, as it only samples one pixel at a time;
- Click the dropper button under Black;
- Sample an unexposed part of the negative (in the main image window);
- Click the button to save this preset and use the name of the film, e.g. Kodak Gold 200-6;
- And OK to apply.
The colour cast should now be pretty much gone, but not totally. If you scanned the negative as a Positive Film then invert it now by choosing Adjust » Negative Image.
- Crop the image to remove unexposed parts;
- Choose Adjust » Color Balance » Fade Correction;
- The default amount of correction is 45, but as little as 5 is often more than enough;
- And OK to apply.
There you have it, a pretty decent photograph.
Calibrating your Monitor
The short answer is not to bother.
The long answer is that it is definitely something that must be done regularly, if you are a professional or very seriously dedicated photographer. To accurately calibrate a monitor you need a calibrator and a very high-end (read expensive) monitor. Don’t bother calibrating an entry-level CRT monitor, as the component tolerances just aren’t fine enough. Get an LCD monitor, plug it in, set everything to default and enjoy.
Brands of Negative Film
Why, if I constantly gripe about Kodak films curling up, do I prefer to use it? It’s available almost everywhere in South Africa, even at the farm stall two hundred kilometres from nowhere in the Karoo; but mainly because I like the colours. I used to shoot primarily with AGFA HDC, but just couldn’t stand the over-saturated Vista that replaced it. I also can’t remember when last I saw any AGFA film for sale. The alternative is Fuji film, which is also too saturated for my taste and a tad too blue. (This blueness of Fuji film seems to be a design feature, because the photos from their digital camera range also show this colour shift.)