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I was given a rare treasure over the holidays. My uncle photographed my wedding 20 years ago. He passed away 5 years later and this holiday his wife handed me a package with alllllllllllllllllllll the proofs and the negatives from the day.

I was wondering if I can have the negatives made into a cd/dvd? Can any place do it or do I need to go to a special place? Any ideas/tips?

I don't think you'll be able to have it done at the corner drug store and I am not aware of any standard program that can do it for you. You may have to have prints made first, then scanned or digitized some way to get them to a CD/DVD is my guess. I would start by talking to any pro photo lab. The ones that are left have embraced digital and know what can and can't be done easily. :shrug:

We have a true world class photographer in our ranks and I'm anxious to hear his reply. :nod:

Oh Coaster................................... :rolleyes:

Thanks. I am just trying to find a way to preserve them and share them with my family.

I can't think of any reason the negs couldn't be digitized, with the proper equipment, & if there are proof sheets in the packet, so much better. With that in mind, I'd go with the pro photo shop...do you have a Wolf Camera shop in your area?

Yep you definately can get that done....a specialty photo shop would be the go as i'm not sure what you have available over there

My Dad has put all his slides onto CD....he has a scanner that scans then onto the computer, from there onto disk

Teach me! Teach me, please.
I know slides can be copied with special adapters on scanners and with adapters that attach directly to your digital camera, but slides are 'positives' instead of negatives. Is there a way you can get negatives into a digital format without a print?

I also wonder if we are talking proofs or a contact sheet. I know that at one time 'proofs' were made with a process that was a type of print purposely very off color (including grey scale) and designed to fade out almost completely within months. They were a sales tool given to the customer (normally 5" x 7") from a shoot, to select high end prints to be made in any size. I know a 'contact sheet' to be a page of frames the same scale as the actual film which made it so small, selection was done with a loop.

I'm not sure what you have Lil, but I'm sure Coaster can tell you (and me) a lot more. Whatever it is, keep it covered from direct light. :shrug:

I'll be interested in what you find out. Keep us posted.

It all has been stored for 20 years. I have negatives and proof sheets. I have everything that was taken and made. Pure treasure.

Do you have the pics from the honeymoon for us too? :D

Found on a website

Quote:

For pictures taken with a camera that uses film

Take it to be developed. Your developing choices are:

1. Traditional film and print. The good thing about this choice is that you have a negative, from which you can make a print to any size you need. The bad aspect of this is that the print from the negative still is not in digital format, and if you scan the print, you are one generation in quality away from the original image.

2. Traditional film and print and have the images scanned and stored on a floppy (Picture Disk). This is a better choice because now you have a floppy disk that contains your images. Plunk the diskette into your PC and you're off. The only downside to Picture Disks is that the images are small in resolution (dimensions on screen), so if the images are large enough for your Web site, then peachy. If not, you need to scan the prints or have the negatives made into a PhotoCD.

3. PhotoCD. Very popular and very cheap, considering the quality of the images. Whites are whiter on a PhotoCD, and everything looks colorful and attractive because Kodak scans the negatives—bringing your image one generation closer to the source of the image. The downside to PhotoCDs are that they take a while to get processed (from three days to weeks), and you only have five choices of image size on the CD to use. And only the smallest size is appropriate for posting on the Web.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PantyFanatic

Negs would be scanned exactly the way a slide (positive) image would be...it would require a simple software modification to correct the colors (reds become greens, etc. etc.), something that even the most simple OEM software that you get with digicams can (usually) do (sometimes people like to turn the colors back to negative for graphic effects)...(Sharni/Noah/whatever the F she's calling herself at the moment)'s website post is dead on, the closer you get to the first generation is the best resolution...the downside of working from negs is that typical 35mm film is kinda small, but a pro shop with the right kind of scanner can scan at a higher res than most peeps' home scanners can do...

I learnt all this stuff not as a pro photog, but I backed into the 4-color printing industry just as the first digital scanners were coming online...they were HUGE monstrosities that cost more than my 1st house, had their own clean rooms to themselves, & the rooms had to be painted with a special non-reflective paint so the operator could be sure s/he got the colors balanced right...

Little did I know I was jumping onboard to an industry that would soon be replaced by any idiot who could afford a computer & the software...

If You Have A Ritz Or Wolf Camera Store Near You They Can Handle It For You. They Have The Equip and Specialize In Converting Photos And Negitives.

Lil,

Your first step is to get the negs developed into modern 8 X6 or better pics.

The bigger the print, the clearer and bigger the digital scan. Those scans can then be burned to several disks, held elsewhere so that a disaster in Tallahassee need not be total.

Thanks so much for all the good info. I'll go see the pros this weekend.

There are scanners available that will allow you to scan the negatives yourself. The Canon Canoscan 4400F is about $100 and will scan film negatives, as well as color prints.

Depending on how much the Pros are charging, it might be a cost effective alternative.

ooo, neat! i just recently watched a dvd that had all kinds of family photos on it, kind of a slide show, and it was such a tear-jerking treat to see all the old pictures ... what a treasure you've got, i hope you can preserve and share them