Inside Photoshop® CS

Scanning Negatives and Slides

Scanning film produces superior results that can be achieved from scanning a print of the same image. There are several advantages to scanning negatives and slides:

• Film (a negative or slide) is the original image, whereas a print is a second-generation copy.

• Film provides a greater dynamic range (contrast) than is provided by prints.

• When the photograph is printed, some tonal range and color information are lost or modified. The original information can't be recovered from a print. However, the original film will still contain the information and yield more detail in a film scan.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't scan color photograph prints—just that scanning film produces noticeably better output than is possible ...