Color negative conversion

veen34 · Post by **veen34** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 5:43 pm

I have negative color picture in my system. It is orange colored. How can I change the picture to real colors.
I use Irfanview to handle my pictures.

Post by **HaraldHeim** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 2:24 pm

You should scan the negative with 16bit per channel. But I'm not sure if IrfanView supports that, so you will probably have to scan with 8bit per channel or convert the image to 8bit.

After you opened the image in IrfanView you have to invert it with "Image > Negative".

That produces an image with a strong blue cast. To get natural colors you would need a Levels or Auto Levels tool for adjusting the levels of each color channel. Unfortunately IrfanView doesn't include such a tool. A Levels filter could be programmed with the Filter Factory plugin in IrfanView, but that requires some knowledge. Maybe there is a freeware Photoshop plugin that does something similar, but I can't think of one at the moment.

Anyway, such a Levels tool often still leaves a color cast in the image. So for the best results I recommend to use ColorWasher (http://www.thepluginsite.com/products/photowiz/) instead. ColorWasher is a Photoshop plugin that can be used in IrfanView.

veen34 · Post by **veen34** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:31 pm

Thanks for the reply. In the mean time I read the description of VueScan and I learned that after converting from negative to positive I had to apply corrections to the Blue and Green colors. I applied -110 for Blue and -55 for Green in IrfanView and discovered a solution for my problem.
I will go for ColorWash anyway to see what the effects will be.

Post by **HaraldHeim** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:49 pm

I think you mean the Enhance colors dialog in Irfanview. I just tried it with some color negatives and got only bad results.

veen34 · Post by **veen34** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:30 pm

ColorWash did not work for me so I have to do with the present results.
I am satisfied at this moment. It has possible to do with the reflected light I am using.
I do not use a scanner to read the negatives but I take a picture of the negatives with back-light using my new digital camera.
So I will not come back on this subject.

I do not know how to close this subject. I am satisfied for the moment.

Post by **HaraldHeim** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:58 pm

I took my negatives with the same method. You have to use the Extreme Cast Type in ColorWasher sometimes to get good results.

veen34 · Post by **veen34** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:20 pm

Thanks for the info. For the time beeing I need no more information.