Can i get the positive image if i invert colours after scanning old negatives?

Question

I have hundreds of very old negatives B/W.If i scan then on high resolution and then invert colours ,can i get the positives?
Not tried it as i do not have the scanner.

Answer 1

Yes, you can scan them in and get positives. The scanner will usually do this for you.

However, if I read your question correctly, your negatives are black and white. These never had color, so no, you cannot turn these into color positives.

You can tint them overall with a color, but that is all without some special colorization software.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Most all scanners, flatbed and especially film scanners have the option to scan a positive or a negative. It is a function of the scanning software whether the final image is a positive or negative. Regardless, inverting colors produces the same result. However, I would recommend saving as a .tiff, Adobe .psd or photoshop .raw if this is for archive purposes. jpegs are a compressed format and they recompress each time you open and resave them, Also, if you are archiving the image files, look for eFilm archival Gold DVD-R media. They are 100 year disks but they cost around $65 dollars or more for 25 of the disks. You can find them at B&H photo.

Answer 3

Hypothetically, it seems like this technique would work. Yet, it's only going to give you tiny image. They make an attachment for scanners specifically for scanning slides. But I don't know about negative's. It wouldn't hurt to try.

Answer 4

I have owned a number of scanners, and they all came with capability to hold negative strips. Software allowed you to adjust for film type. It should have a setting for b/w negatives. I don't like working with film strips, so i would put negatives in slide mounts for easier handling. most of my work is slides.

Answer 5

Yes you can, I do use film, then I Scan and get positive.