VueScan may be used to convert DSLR images of film negatives to positives

[pbriggs8]

An undocumented feature of VueScan is that it can convert digital camera images of film negatives to positives. I've found that it seems to work better for jpeg files than for RAW files or TIFFs, but you'll have to be the judge. One nice feature is that you can use VueScan's batch conversion feature to crop & convert all the jpegs in a folder at one time. You will still need to do some touch up after the conversion, but the resulting positives are fairly decent IMO.

ColorPerfect provides the best results for converting scanned film negatives, but ColorPerfect has a higher learning curve, is more time consuming to use, and does not have a batch conversion feature.

An Instructable that explains the process and includes some sample images is located here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Convert-Digitized-Film-Negatives-into-Quali/

 

[AndersG]

Is it really undocumented? I've been using VueScan for that for years - since 2006 to be precise.

I work from RAW files with input settings: Scan to file; Transparency; B/W negative; 16 bit Gray (etc. etc.). I have usually photographed an entire roll so I mark all 37ish RAW files in the input file selection dialog and then work through them using the frame selector. In my case I can't batch process them as the crop will be different for each frame (the magnification I get with my extension tube leaves a margin around the negative and putting the negative strip on the light table and advance it frame by frame is not very exact). Additionally, the accuracy of my exposures is often less than ideal so each frame may need some tweaking of the settings in the Color tab.