Al Denelsbeck

Tom Watson <el_slide_kabongpants@shaw.ca> wrote in
news:3F34BB3F.4050206@shaw.ca:

> Hi
> I've been scanning black and white negatives (900 of them) of 1920's
> family pictures, and I ran across a few old color negatives as well. I
> have been trying to invert and adjust the levels on the pos color
> picture, but the colors come out all wrong! I know I'm doing something
> silly or missing something. I also tried in Graphic converter too, to
> no avail!


First off, are you sure your scanning software doesn't have this
built in? Most do anymore...

But if not, this is what I've done the few times I tried it, when my
scanner couldn't handle the color shift correctly. Pick a negative with a
good range of colors throughout, especially whites in shadow (clothes,
drapes, sides of house, whatever). Use 'Invert' as you have, which gives
you a positive image with a cyan cast. Go into Curves, and use the
eyedropper tools for white and grey on the corresponding areas of the
negative which *should* be pure white and middle-tone grey. Tweak to taste.

All types of film have a different color-cast to the film base, and
additionally may have faded or color-shifted throught time. So you can't
easily change this into an action. But, if you have a lot of the same type
of film, you can get good results with one prime example, then jot down the
Curves numbers before you close that window. On the next neg, change the
curves manually while recording the action (do not use the eyedroppers).
Won't be perfect for every pic, but should get you close enough to wiggle
on your own.

Good luck!


- Al.

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