# negatives look bad scanned, print well?



## grokglock (Dec 18, 2013)

I have a standard HP flatbed scanner and tried scanning some negatives inside a negative page, the kind that hold your negatives in a binder. 

I only wanted to see how they would look once inverted in photoshop as I am preparing a wet lab for printing. In any case, they look terrible no matter what I did in photoshop I could not get anything I would deem useable even for viewing on a screen. They all seem overexposed but the negative seems to have great tonal range. Do you think this negative will print well?


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## gsgary (Dec 18, 2013)

They will look bad scanned through a negative page' does the scanner have a negative holder ?


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## Derrel (Dec 18, 2013)

That neg will print just fine. On a desktop flatbed, you need to have a backlighted *top light source* to scan a negative or slide. Without it, the scans will be utter rubbish.


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## Josh66 (Dec 18, 2013)

They look like they should scan fine too, but like Gary and Derrel said - not the way you're trying it.

Scanning through the neg holder will be contact sheet quality, at best.  Was the lid on the scanner open or closed?  Results will probably be better with it open - but don't expect a huge improvement.


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## grokglock (Dec 19, 2013)

Thanks guys, I took that same picture and inverted it and it looks pretty decent. I think you are absolutely right about my scanner being the culprit, thankfully I plan on wet printing these.


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## vintagesnaps (Dec 19, 2013)

I agree, that negative should print fine. If you look at your negatives and they seem to have decent contrast that should be enough to know if they're worth putting in the enlarger. I've managed on occasion (and luckily have only had to try it a few times) to get a good print out of a really dark/dense neg but usually not if the neg is really thin. If you get a good exposure when you take the photo you'll probably get good negatives to print from. 

Probably a negative holder for your scanner would work better. Lomography makes/sells some but I don't know if they're designed to fit or work with all scanners or not. 

Or scan your prints, I've scanned some of my photos I did in the darkroom and they've scanned pretty well.


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## vimwiz (Dec 19, 2013)

Derrel said:


> That neg will print just fine. On a desktop flatbed, you need to have a backlighted *top light source* to scan a negative or slide. Without it, the scans will be utter rubbish.



This.


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## oceanbeast (Jan 30, 2014)

just wanted to update the thread for closure. The negatives did print well, fantastically even. It definitely WAS the SCANNER. this message is meant to resolve any similar concerns for posterity.


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## vimwiz (Jan 30, 2014)

Also, just inverting in photoshop isnt enough - You need to play with the levels or it will look terrible.


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