Scanning negatives

It is possible but the best results will be to use the scanner software to convert the negative into a positive.

Also note Aperture 2 is very rapidly approaching the end of its useful life. You should be making plans to convert to Aperture 3 now while you still have access to a working copy of Aperture 2.

Waiting to convert until you are in a position that you are forced to will make the conversion a lot more difficult. If you plan on staying with Aperture into the future then think about converting now.

regards

Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano

By mistake, I posted this response on a question about plug ins. Proving that I am an amateur not only with Aperture and PP, but on forums. :-)

Remarks from a Rank Amateur. Don't try this at home. For a half year or so I was rummaging around with my film negatives and slides and investigated how to render them in digital format. A nice gentleman in Washington DC offered to scan in 200+ rolls of 35 mm negatives and about an equal number of slides. That is a lot of work, but hey, we are both retired and looking for that 15 minutes of fame Andy Warhol promised.

My friend can accomplish this because he owns a Nikon Coolscan machine. No longer made, but very automated. Feed the film in, and push a button.

As for converting the Tiff scan from negative to positive, here is what I'll do next. In Aperture, you navigate to the Adjustment Inspector and select the Curve tool. When that appears, you simply move the highlight curve from far right to far left. And do the opposite with the shadow curve. Instantly, you have a positive image, which can be either 8bit or 16bit.

Flat bed scanners might be faster, and do come with software to go from neg to pos. But flatbed scanners don't have the resolution that the Nikon Coolscan offers. Now if I had a negative (and slide) library running into the thousands of images, I would go on eBay and buy a used Nikon Coolscan. It is a lot a of work, any way you look at it.

I agree with Frank. Just use the scanner software.

-Allen

That's interesting advice. Unfortunately the OP wrote that the negatives being scanned are 4x5 so that solution won't work.

regards