The days of film are fast fading into history. Film was great in its time and there are still some photographers who prefer to work with negative film, but for most, the digital age has replaced the need for celluloid. But the question is, what to do with all those negatives stored away in boxes and binders. Negatives will deteriorate with time. How fast they fade will depend on how they are stored. So now is the time to save all those images onto CDs. The storage is simpler, smaller and easier to re-archive in the future when new technology gives us better storage options. Follow these simple steps and in no time all those images will be safely scanned onto CDs.
Here are the items to have on hand for scanning.
- Dust Off or any similar canned air
- Cotton gloves
- Scanner glass cleaner
- Lens cleaning cloth
- CDs and covers
- CD burner
- Scanner
Before the actual scanning process, there are some preparations to be done that will make the workflow simpler and therefore save some time.
- First thing is to decide file size. The average file size can be determined by what the image will be used for. If images are to be saved for print later, a TIFF file with a good resolution will be needed. A good resolution is 2400 dpi (dots per inch) for archiving negatives that may be enlarged later.
- After the size is determined, it is easy to calculate how much storage (CD-DVDs) will be needed. It is important to figure this now, before scanning, so as not to run out of CDs in the middle of scanning. To do this, take the size of an average scan and multiply that by the number scans to be made. This will give you the amount of storage needed.
- Label CDs with the image categories, i.e. years, family members, etc. By doing this now, when it is time to burn the CDs it will go faster. Labeling before scanning also helps to organize the images into groups for easy retrieval later. This is one of those things that will be appreciated later when an image is needed.
- Separate all the negatives into sizes, i.e. 35 mm strips, 4x5 sheets, etc.
- Dust off the negatives that are first to be scanned.
- Clean the scanner glass
Now that everything is prepared, it is time to scan negatives.