Converting an archive of film negatives into a digital format for storage on a computer is actually very quick and easy. It is much safer to store negatives digitally on memory cards or hard drives, mainly because once they have been scanned, they do not lose any further quality. What's more, memory cards take up very little space. To get the negatives onto the computer with the best possible quality, you need a simple flat scanner, compressed air, a microfibre cloth and a film adapter.

 

1. remove dust and particles from the negatives using compressed air. The compressed air spray can should be about 15cm away from the negatives. This removes loose dust without scratching the films.

2. wipe both sides of the negative with the microfibre cloth by clamping the negative strip between the cloth and carefully pulling it through. The microfibre cloth removes fine dust particles from the surface of the film using electrostatics.

3 Switch on the scanner and open it. The scanner should be connected to the PC.

4. insert the film strips into the film adapter for the scanner and place them on the disc. Most film adapters have a cover that holds the film strip in place during scanning.

5. close and operate the scanner. Select the desired settings on the display: the highest resolution (in dpi), file type (jpeg, tiff, etc.) and the folder in which the files are to be saved.

 

Notes: A resolution of 72 dpi gives sufficient image quality for everything on the web, for printing the photos a resolution of at least 200 dpi is better.

Do not use water or chemicals to clean the negatives in order to avoid permanent damage.