Photo Film Negatives - Preserving Your Old Photos For Future Use

When 35mm film is developed into prints, part of the process creates photo film negatives. These smaller strips of cellophane contain the precise images that were created when you snapped the photo and exposed the film. You can use photo film negatives to produce multiple prints of any size. Some developers will use the negatives to create special effects, such as colorization. Scanning photo film negatives is a powerful and easy way to preserve your old photos for future use.

Why Scanning Negatives is Better Than Scanning Prints

The film negative is the original photo from your camera. It holds all of the information that created the picture that was printed from the negative. If you have a chance to scan the film instead of the print, you will find that your scan contains far more detail and clarity. Scanning from a print creates a third generation of information. Each generation involves some data loss. The best way to create a high quality reproduction of the original picture from the camera is to use the photo film negatives that were produced when the film was originally developed.

Special Negative Scanning Attachments

Many flatbed scanners today are manufactured with attachments that allow you to scan 35mm negatives as well as film slides. These attachments are fairly simple to use, and they allow you to scan your negatives more precisely. The attachment is generally built into the lid of the scanner, and it allows the scanner's light to pass unimpeded through the negative image. However, not all scanners will give you the same quality. If you intend to scan several negatives, or believe you will need to scan negatives regularly, you may want to invest in a scanner that is specifically designed to capture images from film.

Does Scanning Harm the Negative?

Since light plays such a large part in the production of film, it would make sense that passing a strong scanner light through negatives repeatedly might wash the images out and eventually destroy them. The fact is, however, that your negatives are perfectly safe when you scan them in a normal scanner. The light passes over the image in a fraction of a second. Negatives can be harmed after they have been exposed to high level lights for long periods of time over many days or weeks, but the amount of light that passes through your negative during the scanning process will not harm the negatives at all.

Preparing Photo Film Negatives for Scanning

How well you prepare your negatives before you scan them will have a direct impact on the quality of your images in the end. Negatives are made from a material that attracts dust easily. Each dust particle will appear very large and obtrusive in your final scan, so it is important to clean the negatives thoroughly before you scan them. You can use a soft, lint-free cloth to remove any dust that may have collected on the negative surface. You will need to scan your negatives at a very high resolution to increase the size of the photo if you plan to print it out.

For more information on photo film negatives, visit http://pfe.com/p156093-processing-photo-film-negatives-yourself.cfm.