Contact sheets as scans

SuzanneR · Nov 13, 2006

Is there a flatbed scanner out there that will let you scan a sheet of negatives, much as you would make a contact sheet?

I'm a portrait photographer, and have never really found a good way to make quick proofs. I have the Epson 3170, but find scanning negatives time consuming with mediocre results. More and more, I've gone back to making contact sheets and rc proof prints, but I figure there may well be a more efficient way to proof and edit film with a scanner, and perhaps a laser printer.

Any thoughts on scanners for this type of aplication would be appreciated.

TIA.

Greg_E · Nov 13, 2006

Some people put their film on a light box and take a picture with a digital camera to make a crude proof sheet.

donbga · Nov 13, 2006

Suzanne Revy said:
Is there a flatbed scanner out there that will let you scan a sheet of negatives, much as you would make a contact sheet?

I'm a portrait photographer, and have never really found a good way to make quick proofs. I have the Epson 3170, but find scanning negatives time consuming with mediocre results. More and more, I've gone back to making contact sheets and rc proof prints, but I figure there may well be a more efficient way to proof and edit film with a scanner, and perhaps a laser printer.

Any thoughts on scanners for this type of aplication would be appreciated.

TIA.

Suzanne,

From my experience the traditional darkroom is the most cost effective method to make contact sheets. You also have the best quality and least cost (considering the your time) with traditional contact sheets.

My 2 cents,

Don Bryant

Bob Carnie · Nov 14, 2006

Suzanne

I have an Epson 10000xl and we have masks for all different formats from 35mm to 4x5.
I do use this scanner for making contacts but I have found that I can go into the darkroom and make contacts under the enlarger faster .
The nice thing about the scanned contacts is that I can easily resize the contact sheet to get a better look at the film.
I also think the holders do not hold the film as flat as I would like, for example I am using a Noblex 6x12 now and the film is very floppy. I have found that I get sharper results the enlarger method.
Scanning the contact sheet made under the Enarger is a compromise that I have started, sharp contacts with the ability to resize.
Also once scanned it is easy to file the film away and organize the images in an easy to find method on a separate hard drive.

SuzanneR · Nov 14, 2006

Thank you, everyone, for the input.

Perhaps my inclination that wet printed contacts and proof prints are, in fact, still the most efficient way to edit and select images. After all, it really is just SO easy to make contact sheets in the darkroom. And RC proof prints for that matter!

But, I like the idea of using scans of contact sheets for filing purposes!

Great ideas, thanks!

ann · Nov 14, 2006

this may be off the track, or not; '

when i first started using a digital camera i found the task of keeping things organized a real issue.

i finally out of the blue discovered that photoshop can do a contact sheet. so wow, now i just take the images from a cd and make a contact sheet and print it out on plain office paper; nothing fancy.

it helped me get my act together , and feels like "home" when i can hold the images in hand.

altho, i use it for digital files, i don't know why it could work with your scanned negatives. scan, save to a folder and then make the contact sheet from that folder. i am not a computer person, so there may be a better way than that to do what will work for you.

sanking · Nov 15, 2006

ann said:
i finally out of the blue discovered that photoshop can do a contact sheet. so wow, now i just take the images from a cd and make a contact sheet and print it out on plain office paper; nothing fancy.

it helped me get my act together , and feels like "home" when i can hold the images in hand.

Ann,

I do this with all of my LF and ULF film. First, I scan the negatives and put the files on DVD. Then, I use Photoshop and print contact sheets. The size can vary by format, but for 12X20 negatives I print six proofs per sheet of 8.5 X 11" paper. I store the files in a folder and this allows me to retrive any negative quite easily. Plus, I have a visual indicator of the negative and how it may print.

Sandy

ann · Nov 15, 2006

it gives me great comfort to know i am on the same wave length with the "likes of sand king" lol.

my eyes glaze over signing in on a computer let alone using PS.

another tip that works for me, i assign a code number to the "contact sheet" with the same code used on the CD. .

rippo · Dec 29, 2006

old thread, i know.

i've got an epson 4990. loading negs into the carriers is a bit of a pain, but a quick and dirty way to make contact sheets is to first use the 8x10 'film area guide' instead of the carrier. lay your negs down on the glass, emulsion side DOWN. this will reduce the occurance of newtons from the bottom glass. get a piece of 8x10-ish frosted glass, place it frosted-side-down (i.e. in contact with the top of the negs) on top, then close the lid.

preview, select the area, scan at 300 dpi or whatever. works very quickly, and is faster than the darkroom.

this is also how i scan my odd-format negs, like 16mm, 828 and 127, but at higher resolution of course. more dust than if they were in a carrier, but it beats not scanning them at all.

Contact sheets as scans

SuzanneR

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ann

rippo

Contact sheets as scans

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