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How to Copy
Color Negatives with ShotCopy...
Do you have 35mm negatives with no photographs?
Now you can easily convert them to the digital age with your digital
camera and ShotCopy.
Step One - Pick a good negative
You should be able to hold the negative
above a white reflective background and see a lot of sharp detail in the
negative. The more detail you see the better photograph will result.
If it's under exposed you will see a lot of light areas with no detail.
If it's over exposed you will see a lot of areas with no detail.
The ideal negative is a negative where you can see a lot of detail.
Actual 35mm color
negative to be copied inserted into the ShotCopySlide/Negative Holder
Step Two -
Negative Orientation
Insert the 35mm negative
into the ShotCopy Slide/Negative holder so that the text and numbers
on the top and bottom edges of the negative read left to right (not
backwards). This insures that the negative is in the same orientation
as when it was shot with the emulsion side facing the lens.
Holder allows copying of
typical 35mm negative strip in 4 easy clicks of the shutter
Step Three -
Changing a Negative to a Positive
A lot of today's
digital cameras have the ability to change a negative to a positive
when shooting. You can also shot the negative as a negative and use
your PC's photo editing software to convert it to a positive. You
might want to experiment to see which gives you the best results. This
image was converted by photographing the negative as a negative with a
Sony Mavica
Digital camera then using PaintShop Pro 7.0 to convert it to a
positive image.
Actual negative in
ShotCopy Slide Negative Holder
What color negative
looks like after switching to the camera's "Neg Art" while
still in holder.
How to Deal with
Reflections while copying negatives...
With your photo
editing software rotate the image (in this case) to the portrait
position. Use your software features to adjust and balance brightness
and contrast; color, tint, saturation, remove dust spots; and crop
picture as desired. Then save it for posterity as a digital image. No
more fading or yellowing pictures. Now you can save and send it to
friends and family. Or how about a compellation of your photos
as a CD-ROM disk photo album? Way Cool...
Most photo editing software does a good job
converting b/w negatives to positives; while color negatives can cause
a lot of pain and suffering if you don't use the better photo editing
software packages that are out there. PaintShop Pro 7.0 happens to be
one of them.
If you have a photo editing software program
that's easy to use and gets great results, let us know at:
color_negs@shotcopy.com