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How to Scan 3-Inch Glass Negatives

Long before photographers were loading film into their cameras, photos were recorded on glass negatives. The glass plates were treated with light sensitive chemicals and loaded into a camera, usually a large format field camera. The plates were exposed to the scene, then processed back in a darkroom. If you own glass plate negatives, you can scan them into digital files using a flatbed scanner.

Things You'll Need

Flatbed scanner capable of scanning negatives

Instructions

- 1
  Connect the flatbed scanner to your computer and install the software. Then open the scanning program.
- 2
  Set the software to scan a "negative" rather than a photo print. If your flatbed scanner does not have this setting, when the scan is complete rather than having a viewable image, you will have a digital version of your negative.
- 3
  Create a new folder where the scanned glass plate negative will be stored.
- 4
  Carefully place the glass plate negative on the flatbed scanner's platen and close the lid.
- 5
  Click the "Scan" button in the program. Some scanning software has a preview screen that allows you to view the image prior to being scanned. Once you are satisfied with the image, click "OK" so the scanner will begin scanning the negative.
- 6
  Save your scanned glass plate negative as a "TIFF" file. This file format retains more of the digital information that is collected during the scanning process.

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