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How to Scan a 35 mm Film

Before digital photography, photographers used only film to record the pictures they were shooting. This film was then taken to a photo lab where it was process and printed. The advent of digital technology has not only given us digital cameras, it has also given us film scanners that will convert those old film negatives into digital files. Converting your 35 mm film negatives into digital files will allow you to edit and upload these pictures to an on-line gallery where friends and family can see them.

Things You'll Need

Anti-static cloth

Instructions

- 1
  Turn your home computer and film scanner on, and open the software for your scanner.
- 2
  Create a new folder where the scanned pictures will be saved to.
- 3
  Organize your 35 mm film negatives into a sequence you want them scanned in. You can arrange your film by date, event or subject.
- 4
  Prepare your 35 mm film negatives for scanning. Carefully clean the negatives using an anti-static cloth. This cloth will remove dust and debris from your negatives, and will help prevent dust from collecting on the negative during the scanning process.
- 5
  Place the 35 mm negative into the scanner's carrier tray and place the carrier tray into the scanner. Press the "Start" button on the scanner.
- 6
  View the image on the preview screen in your scanners software, from here you can make minor adjustments to the image, either lightening or darkening the exposure and cropping the picture if it is need. When you are finished previewing the picture click "OK" for the scanner to complete the scan and save the picture to the folder you created earlier in the process.

Photography