Scanning negatives

[caj]

Morning all,

Has anyone any experience of scanning negatives on a budget?

I have an epson flatbed scanner and have tried scanning with a piece of paper and then mobile on white light over the top, then inverting the colour on the pc. Its enough to see who the people are - but its not great to be honest.

Negative scanners look to be £150 plus which is out of budget at the moment ... so what are my best options, tricks or ideas to try please

Ta muchly

[shack69]

what epson are you using as many came with epson sacn software. That would allow you to just place the negative on the bed in the same way as you would a photo. The problem is then you need some software to convert the negative such as negative lab pro, but that has a cost. I'm not sure of alternatives.

[caj]

Originally Posted by shack69

what epson are you using as many came with epson sacn software. That would allow you to just place the negative on the bed in the same way as you would a photo. The problem is then you need some software to convert the negative such as negative lab pro, but that has a cost. I'm not sure of alternatives.

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Its an epson WF7525 and uses epson scan - it lights up from under but only a white layer on the 'lid'. When you say convert the negative, is that not inversing the image, which can be done in paint (albeit a cumbersome route)?

[Vanillapod]

You could use a light panel and fashion some kind of mask with your phone over the top.
I left the photo trade a while ago but we imported a good product and I cannot remember the name!
Presumably Plustek still exist but they’re more expensive.

Have a look at the Analogue Wonderland website. Lomography have a product and also Negative Supply

*Valoi is what I was thinking of

[caj]

Originally Posted by Vanillapod

You could use a light panel and fashion some kind of mask with your phone over the top.
I left the photo trade a while ago but we imported a good product and I cannot remember the name!
Presumably Plustek still exist but they’re more expensive.

Have a look at the Analogue Wonderland website. Lomography have a product and also Negative Supply

*Valoi is what I was thinking of

See more...

That analogue wonderland site looks very helpful. I need to do more research on Valoi ... but thank you and the poster above for your help (so far)!

[Peter H]

You can buy equipment for the job at a good price. We have one because my father in law liked to do slides