I am hoping someone in the photography forum may be able to help me.  My mother has just given me a box of old colour negatives, and is hoping I may be able to pull a few photos from them in photoshop.

the black and white negatives work quite well, by scanning in grey scale and then inverting, hey presto the image of the old picture emerges.  but with the coloured ones when one inverts they just turn blue.  If I make them grey scale before scanning I just end up with a black square with no detail.  very frustrating!

Would be grateful for any info on how to solve this, many thanks, aramina (fractal artist)

I know a few people have done this...usually the inverting trick works. It should not just turn blue under normal circumstances. Hopefully someone else will have a more complete answer.

I believe that every modern scan software should give you an automatic option for scanning color negatives. I use a normal Canon scanner software driver which has four options in the 'Film' menu: color positives, color negatives, black and white positives and black and white negatives. No need to convert afterwards...

I was gonna mention that, heh heh.

Thanks guys for your prompt replies.

 Two Pynts - I think the inverted images turn blue because the film neg is orange and the invert colour for orange is blue, and I don't know how to get the colour back into the image

girsempa - My scanner is quite a few years old  infact I think it may even by around 10 years old, out the arc in IT terms (HP Office Jet G55) and as far as I know doesnot have a film option.  This could mean I will not be able to solve this problem without a new scanner.  my other half  will be pleased!

Again thanks for the prompt answers, regards aramina

Maybe there's still a possibility if your scanner is still supported by the latest scanner software by HP. Have you looked at the HP scanner driver download site to see if you can download the latest software? (Try a google search with 'hp scanner driver', maybe add 'officejet')

girsempa - many thanks, will give it a go and see what I can find, regards aramina

Hello there...

In fact if your scanner is old it won't show you the right colours.. It will either show neon blue or neon green!!

And the solution is what my friend girsempa mentioned in his first post!!

I scan NEGATIVES as well.. but my scanner is about 3 or 4 months old.. and in the option menu of your scanning software.. It asks me what negative i am scanning and if it black and white or colours.. As well if i want to setup the option of auto colours or colours detection.. Please provide us with your scanner's model number and model.. And i will get back to you with an exact answer. Thank you.!!

Oh! NOTE: Have you tried to auto LEVEL and auto COLOUR your blue image under your photo editor! Like Photoshop! I know that only the CS2 has realy power to correct those bad scanned colours to the most accurate point and the rest you have to do it manually tho..

JOE

Attached Link: Scanner thread

If your scanner is that old, I would suggest it is not ideally suited for scanning negatives...because it's missing 3 key ingredients for successful negative scans;

1. Resolution...scans should be 2400 dpi and up for best quality

2)Light source...negatives require a light source from the top...usually built into the scanner lid or with the use of an adapter. 

1. Software...as you discovered, unless you have the software, simple color inversion is not that simple.

I have attached a link to a previous thread on scanning negatives for your info.

Hi guys,

nattarious - the old scanner is HP OfficeJet G55.  (Steam driven!).  Yes have tried auto levels, auto colours, and auto contrast in photoshop cs. 

Have come to the conclusion that the answer is to buy the Cannon 4200F, and have added it to my wish list! along with new computer, my old Dell is celebrating it's 6th birthday this year and doesnot support USB2, poor old thing. Old age creeps up so fast in the world of computers

thanks for all your help, regards aramina

WOW!

The HP site said:

  This product is no longer for sale. Listed below are links to supplies & accessories and support, troubleshooting & drivers. If you are interested in purchasing, a suggested alternative is listed below, or visit our HP Business Outlet at http://www.hp.com/sbso/buspurchase_refurbished.html

And about the Cannon 4200F this link: http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ps_12144147/115401.html gave it 3/10 i am not really familiar with the canon scanners tho..

I use:

Epson Expression 10000XL- Photo

And you can find more info about that scanner on this link: http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Overview&oid=46048262&category=Products 

It is a commercial one tho! And i don't recommend any one to buy it unless he can afford it and makes money!

Now about your poor old thing and the USB2.0 You can buy a cheap PCI adapter if you have an empty PCI slot in your PC tho..  And it will support the USB2.0 even tho if your motherboard uses only or supports USB1.0

But again.. As that Canon Scanner Model you provided me.. then your can better goto the HP ScanJET on this link: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do;jsessionid=EHfhrVYsI32TdER96L7P7cZTwFUhU8FI8TkC41X7uhX8Z9CJPkKu!1422672779?storeName=storefronts&landing=storefronts&category=scanners&orderflow=1&product_code=L1952A%23B1H&catLevel=1  that is affordable and it works fine..

Wish you the best my friend

JOE

@aramina... you will be happy with the 4200F....I've probably done over a thousand scans with mine so far...works great.  A few things to keep in mind though;

1. The scanner is USB and will only work with Win 98 or higher

2. Don't expect the whole scanning process to be very fast...it takes time to set up, scan and post-process each scan...so, be patient it's not suited for mass production.

3. Dust is your enemy....make sure the negs/slides are as dust free as possible...with high res scans even very small dust particles are picked up....resulting in lots of clone-out work.

Have fun!

BTW...time for a new Dell!

Many thanks my friends, kind regards and happy snapping, aramina

You are very welcome and wish you the best once again my friend :)

Have a nice day

JOE

Yes you have been given some good solutions for your problem why not try a local photographic printer who may be able to do some of them for you unless you are talking about a lot of scans I bought an Optic film Scanner by Plustek that can do amazing quality scans for the money it is hard to beat..let me know if you want details I am not sure if it is available worldwide