We use the Epson V750 flatbed scanners to scan negatives here in the lab. There are a variety of holders to use from 35mm to 8×10. You want choose the correct holder and make sure the glass is exposed both on the top of the scanner and the bottom. You will put the film in with the emulsion facing down. Be careful to handle the negative on the edges. Wearing cotton gloves is one solution to not getting finger prints on your film.
The more time you spend making sure you negative is clean, the less time you will have to spend in Photoshop cleaning up dust and scratches.
EPSON Scan is the software we use for scanning. When you launch the stand along application from the dock you will bring up a window that looks like this.
When scanning black and white negatives for prints, use 48-Bit Color.
This is what it looks like after a preview scan has been made. Only one negative is being scanned.
You want to scan with 48-bit color, even when using black and white film like in this example. You will adjust the marquee to crop the negative to the desired image. If there are parts of the negative you will not use, crop those out, it will save you time.
Knowing your final print size will help when it comes to scanning. If it is large, it is best to make a large file that will work at the size you want to print.
The smallest resolution to use is 300. The larger your print, the larger the resolution you will want to use.
Once you have selected this, you will want to adjust the image some. Creating scans that are a bit flatter, with more information will help you when you open the files in Photoshop.
The shadows were opened a bit to make a scan with more overall information in it.
Before you click scan, make sure that you do no have any sharpening selected. You may need to scroll down to see the following options.
You do not want to select any sharpening or use DIGITAL ICE.
When you are satisfied with your image, click scan and it will scan a tiff to your desktop that you can then take into Photoshop for further toning.
