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Thread: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

  1. #1

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    Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    I really never thought about it and i'm not sure if it matters but when scanning negs, what side should be face down? Or does it even matter?
    Ryan Mills

  2. #2
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    I dry-mount (tape) the emulsion side on the mounting glass (on its etched underside), which sits above the scanner bed. My results are best this way, but it’s close to a negligible issue.

    I think the forum is evenly divided on this one; the Betterscanning site shows base side on glass in one of their illustrations.

    Pros & cons either way, depending on your equipment, methods, and belief system.

  3. #3
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    When I bought a Betterscanning holder, I asked Doug that very same question since he did not specify that in his instruction sheet.
    He said either/or, one was as good as the other, it comes down to personal preference.
    So, don't worry about it; you can do a brief test yourself and see if one or the other is more to your taste.

  4. #4

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    Re: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    I would not want the plastic base between the image and the scanner. So, I scan with the emulsion towards the scanner.

  5. #5

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    Re: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    I don't think it much matters, but if the emulsion side is up, you will reverse left and right. Of course you can correct for that in the scanner settings.

  6. #6

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    Re: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    When I digitize images with my DSLR, I do it so it matches the way I took the image, which is through the plastic. I've tried both ways and even at 100% magnification with a 1:1 macro lens, I don't see an image-quality difference.

  7. #7

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    Re: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    In the darkroom it was always emulsion:emulsion, and that seemed to make sense. If you keep the same logic on the scanner, its emulsion side down, so nothing between it and the scanner.

  8. #8
    Terry Christian's Avatar
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    Re: Stupid question, what side of neg to scan?

    My experience is that it doesn't matter, but I scan emulsion side up. If I'm scanning 35mm or 120 that has a tight curl so that I get Newton's rings, I flip it over to emulsion side down to scan and then fix the orientation in post.

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