What side of the film do I scan?

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IckyThump

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Aimee
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I have colour 35mm film, I'm just wondering what side do I scan? is it the shiny side or the duller side? Dumb question I know, but I am confused, I tested both and the shinier side made my pictures look over exposed.
 
Normally the film carrier shows you. Mine does it by showing you that the text on the film border should read back to front. Shiny side up I think but could vary between flatbeds and them Plustek type things.
 
i didnt think you scanned a side ,,,more like right through ,

shiny side down in an epson v500
 
Hmmm, I have epson v300 and shiny side down has given me over exposed pictures, I'm using lomography iso 400 film.
 
Shiny side down, you can always mirror it in Photoshop if you make a mistake.
 
Shiny side up on my Coolscan, so the numbers look right when you look at them.
 
Depends on the scanner, no? Scan from the top or the bottom? I'd say matt side *to the light* regardless.
 
Or just scan something with writing on it, if it's the right way round when you've scanned it it's the right way up!
 
not if you did/didn't set invert...
 
Hey, I'm not too bothered about things being in the wrong way, I'm just worried about the colour and contrast etc, not being right.

also would you guys suggest for or against using the auto fix (contrast, colour, etc) on the system or just leaving it to scan as they are and edit after?
 
As a general principle, it's best to get the tonal range and colour correct in the scanning process rather than doing it afterward in [insert your favourite image editor here].

That said, I am wary of auto anything as it will tend to ignore the specific character of your individual image. It may be useful as a starting point, though.
 
IckyThump said:
Hey, I'm not too bothered about things being in the wrong way, I'm just worried about the colour and contrast etc, not being right.
Click to expand...

Why not try both ways? I have an epson 4490 and it says shiny side down. I didn't like using the negative holders so used it without, and found shiny side down created newton rings. I flipped the neg over and there was no difference in contrast or colour so now I use that technique and flip it back in photoshop.

As for getting the levels right, if there is a setting in the scanner's software to edit the levels, do it there. There should be a histogram you can work with. If you edit the levels afterwards in photoshop, it can lessen the quality and create banding in the image.
 
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