scanning 4x5 negatives in printfile sleeves

[Terence Falk]

Has anyone tried scanning 4x5 negatives still in their printfile pages? I own an Epson V850 and it only scans one or two negs at a time. What i want to do is scan all 4 on a page at once, then make a digital print- contact sheet print from that. I was thinking of placing the negative page on the scanner bed, put down a heavier piece of glass, then a thin, lightweight light table used for graphics tracing as the light source. However, I think it wont work; I feel the plastic pages will scan with wavy lines, etc.

Any thoughts? I know this is crazy and simply making the contacts in the darkroom in the end would be easier, but i don't have access to one now and need the contacts. Thanks

[darr]

I make contact sheets with a digital camera and a light source.

Before I developed a more specific technique using a copy stand, I would create a white sheet in my graphics program (or maybe use a blank sheet in MS Word, etc) that acted as a light source on my computer screen and then use masking tape to hang the Print File sheet and photograph it. Worked great as a quick contact sheet.

I would then use Lightroom to invert the negative sheet to positive.

[Bob Salomon]

Since you have everything why not just try it?

Or call Printfile in Ocala and ask Gene.

[Pieter]

I do it all the time with an epson V600 and medium format negative pages. I don't bother with a sheet of glass, just use a small LED light panel/tracing box. Experiment with the scanner sharpening settings to see what gives you the best result. I find scanning at 600 dpi gives me the best compromise between file size and enough resolution to enlarge the frames on the computer screen if I want to see more. I can also play around with dodging and burning before I go into the darkroom.

[Jon Shiu]

Yes, you can do all 4 at once in the page on the glass with the film area guide.

[Terence Falk]

Bob, I dont have everything; i was looking for some ideas and thoughts before i bought all the parts to it only to find out it doesnt work.

[Jon Shiu]

Many people do scan proof sheets on their scanners. You just have to learn the Epsonscan software. I don't have mine set up but here's a few tips from memory: use professional mode, uncheck thumbnails, select the area you want to scan using the marquee tool, set the levels so that they don't clip the black and white points...

[Terence Falk]

that sounds great and i appreciate that info, but i dont have proofs to scan yet. I want to scan negs still in their printfile sleeves. I have labeled the printfile and the scan would contain that information.

[paulbarden]

that sounds great and i appreciate that info, but i dont have proofs to scan yet. I want to scan negs still in their printfile sleeves. I have labeled the printfile and the scan would contain that information.

I think John means that people make proof sheets (IE: "contact sheets") by scanning a page of negatives directly in their sleeves, exactly as you have suggested. I always scan my 35mm and 120 negatives while in the PrintFile sleeves, with a 1mm sheet of glass on top to hold the page down a bit. But do NOT expect to make finished prints from scans made this way - those should be done by scanning the negs removed from the sleeves.

[Jon Shiu]

that sounds great and i appreciate that info, but i dont have proofs to scan yet. I want to scan negs still in their printfile sleeves. I have labeled the printfile and the scan would contain that information.

Yes, sorry I meant I make digital proof sheets by scanning 4 4x5 negs in the printfile pages.

Jon

[Jon Shiu]

Note when you select Film (with Film Area Guide) it can only scan up to 8x10" max. So regarding notes written at the top of the page it may not be possible to scan the whole 11 inch length of the page at once. You could scan twice and stick together in photoshop.202188

[Peter Lewin]

I frequently make "contact sheets" of newly-developed 4x5 negatives in the PrintFile sleeves, with no extra equipment (on an old Epson 4990). As posted above, just lay the PrintFile sheet (upside down) centered in the Film Area Guide on the glass, close the lid, and you're set. The alignment of the negatives inside the Area Guide is a bit finicky, the edges of the PrintFile tend to hang up on the Area Guide. Be aware that the printed area on the PrintFile sheet falls outside the area guide, so the contact sheet will not show your printed information. For a contact sheet the only control I use is to adjust contrast.

But be aware that because the scanner automatically corrects for negative density, you do not get as much information from a contact sheet prepared on the scanner as you would from making the contact sheet made the "old fashioned way" and using constant exposure settings (enlarger head height, f-stop, time). The "wet" contact will tell you if you are over- or under-exposing and whether your metering is accurate, while the scanned contact sheet will look fairly good regardless due to the automation.

[Terence Falk]

thanks for all of the good ideas and direction to go in!