Do you have rolls and rolls of processed films waiting to be scanned, but you can't attend to it because your flatbed scanner doesn't support film? Well, PetaPixel says you can work with that scanner if you have a large-screen mobile phone or tablet! Find out how in this article!
If you have rolls and rolls of processed films that haven’t been scanned yet, it’s best not to keep them waiting. Get that flatbed scanner of yours and turn it on. What, it’s not film-compatible? PetaPixel says that’s not an excuse, as you can scan your film strips with it perfectly fine.
It’s simple: take your film strip and place it on the scanner mirror. Next, if you have a large-screen mobile phone or a tablet computer, you need to somehow make the screen go completely white (a “flashlight” app could do the trick). Once you’re done with that, place it facedown over the film strip, and scan as usual. All you have to do next is to invert the result if you’re scanning negative film.
Or, you can try the other nifty and more analogue way that PetaPixel found before this one.
So, what do you think? Show us your results if you decide to try this tip out!
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22 comments
pollyarts
You just had me get a flashlight app for my Android... neat!
110isnotdead
THis is amazing!!! Thanks :)
feelux
Now why didn't I think of that! Awesome! Thanks! :D
mrmaart
brilliant idea. I'm about to test it right now!
mmoya
Cool!
littlemisslove
genius!
soundfoodaround
nice!
carmengraphy
nice idea!
itsdebraanne
Soon, as I read this I grabbed my iPad and film! this is color slide 120 film (which is so much better than negative film) but... i think there's something wrong ): no matter how many times i tell my scanner to scan in color, it's black and white
help ---> http://www.lomograph(…)os/17104752
kokakoo
Good!
alexheffs
Great tip, thank you!
anamachado
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I've bought a Digitaliza but my scanner wasn't backlight!... I thought about buying some kind of lamp and never remembered I had the perfect lamp: an iphone or ePad with a white screen! Genious!! Thanks thanks thanks!
roxanneross
amazing idea, i wish i had thought if that! thanks!
olutek
Haha I had idea to did it year ago, it works but I had small mobile and bad scaner so photos was very small even big dpi :(
itsdebraanne
@plasticpopsicle Soon, as I read this I grabbed my iPad and film! this is color slide 120 film (which is so much better than negative film) but... i think there's something wrong ): no matter how many times i tell my scanner to scan in color, it's black and white
help ---> http://www.lomograph(…)os/17104752
gatorchick
Android phones have an app called lightbox, used to view negs or slides. Should do the trick here!
plasticpopsicle
@itsdebraanne Hey, sorry for the late reply! I'm not sure why it only appears as black and white...maybe you can try using your image editing software to import the image from your scanner, instead of using the scanner software. Just make sure your image editing software is in color mode! I'll try to look for more explanations/solutions for your scanning problem!
walasiteodito
i think it only works for black and white, but its a cool idea anyway, i tried it. :)
elgonz
bomberegn
110isnotdead
Awesome, I wonder if you can do this with a dumb-phone like mine? I bet if i take a picture of something completely white it just might do the trick. Thanks for the tip :)))
stwyford