# How to - Scan Negatives using cheap scanner.



## xamblin (Jan 20, 2009)

So, not sure how often this gets posted but I thought I would make a how to anyway 

How to Scan Negatives with Cheap Scanners | eHow.com







First gather all materials. I am using a dell 810 all in one scanner, a old negative I found in the basement and my sidekick (menu + f) for light. The light will probably be the trickiest part. As long as its doing the same general thing it should be fine.






Here is an example of the kind of light you need for this. 				    






I put the sidekick on Flashlight mode (menu + f) and position the negative over the light. 				    






Place light and negative on scanner. 






This is what I got when I scanned. Your going to want to use a high dpi setting to get a quality scan. 				    






Finially, when you invert the image, you get the finished scan.


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## epp_b (Jan 20, 2009)

Ooh!  That's clever!

I'm going to try that with my Pocket PC.

EDIT: doesn't work, my PPC's screen is recessed into the body.


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## Mike_E (Jan 20, 2009)

Hmm, thanks.  

Did anyone ever try a sandwiching the neg between a mirror on top and a piece of glass on bottom and scanning that?


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## compur (Jan 20, 2009)

I have done the same with a small lightbox (the type used for viewing slides)


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## bhop (Jan 20, 2009)

Hmm.. I have a film scanner, but i'm going to try this when I get home with my iPhone (with flashlight app).  It could be useful for my negatives that have extreme curling that don't sit in the film tray properly.


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## bighilt (Feb 2, 2009)

That is very cool, thanks. Definitely going to try the glass/mirror thing. If that works it'll save me a round-trip of 50 miles when I need to get medium format negs scanned.


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## bhop (Feb 2, 2009)

I tried it with my iPhone, but it didn't work.  The scanner picked up each individual pixel from the screen.


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## xamblin (Feb 20, 2010)

I found that if you put a kind of translucent piece of plastic between the phone and the negative, it spreads the light out more evenly and gets rid of pixel/scratch marks.


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