STEP BY STEP / From filmstrip to hard drive in six easy steps

1 Scanner setup

We’re using Plustek Opticfilm 8200i SE, which is especially designed for scanning negatives and slides. It’s bundled with Silverfast 8SE software, which also works with a wide range of other manufacturers’ scanners. You can download a 30 day trial of the software from www.silverfast.com (or apply the basics of this tutorial to your other scanner software).

3 Right-way up

You’ll need to ensure that the film is correctly oriented, otherwise the scanned images will appear upside down, flipped left-to-right, or both. To check, hold it to the light and make sure that any text – like the make and type of film – reads correctly, and note this down for Step 6. Only handle negatives by the edges and don’t touch the surface. If dirty, you can clean them with PEC-12.

5 The scan settings

The easiest way to get started is to click Silverfast’s ‘Workflow Pilot’ icon, top left. Change the Source drop-down to Negative. For the Task drop-down we selected Archive. Click the Start icon, then keep Multiexposure on to extend the dynamic range of the scanner. A prescan shows you an image preview. You can rearrange the image area by moving the red scan outline.

2 Be selective

Scanning can be a long process, so don’t scan out-offocus or poorly exposed shots. Be picky and find prints worth scanning. If your film was developed in a minilab, the frame number may be printed on the back of the shot, to help you identify the negative you want. If you’re scanning slides, hold them up to the light (or pop them on a lightbox) to see which make the grade.

4 Pop them in the scanner

Carefully place your negatives into the supplied caddy, lining up the individual film frames with the cut-out windows – our caddy allows strips of up to six frames (though minilabs typically cut them into strips of four). Insert the caddy into the scanner, and push it firmly until the first frame clicks into place. For each subsequent scan, simply push it in for another click.

6 Set the size

The default Scan Dimensions are set to 1/4 size, which scans the image at 1800dpi. Scanning at Full Resolution (7200dpi) gives best quality, but takes much longer and takes up more hard drive space. Select the film type under the Negfix option, in our case Kodak Gold ISO200. Tweak the Exposure and Tolerance sliders if needs be, then click Continue to scan and save your hi-res image.