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What went wrong?

My scans look bad but I can't tell if the negatives are the problem

Scans

What you're seeing

Scans have wrong colours, odd contrast, marks or softness, and you do not know whether the film or the scanning is to blame.

Three questions that place most faults: on the film or only in the scan; inside the frame or across it; edge markings or none.

Check this first

Check this first

Look at the negatives or slides on a light box with a loupe before changing anything. What you can see on the film is a film fault; what you cannot see is probably the scan.

Likely causes, most common first

  1. 01

    Scan settings

    Common
    How to tell
    The film looks normal on a light box. The problem changes when you change the film type, crop, colour balance or exposure settings.
    Test it
    Reset the scanning software to its defaults, then change one setting at a time and rescan the same frame.
    The fix
    Set the film type, crop inside the image, and lock exposure and film base colour for the roll. See the scan colour and clipping entries.

    Sources Hamrick Software (VueScan), VueScan Manual: Hints and Tips; Epson America, Perfection V800 Photo/V850 Pro User's Guide: Negative Film Preview Image Looks Incorrect; Hamrick Software (VueScan), How and Why to Lock Exposure when Scanning Film

  2. 02

    Lab scan choices

    Common
    How to tell
    Your own scan, or a rescan, of the same negative looks quite different from the lab's file.
    Test it
    Rescan one frame yourself or ask the lab to rescan it flatter, and compare.
    The fix
    Ask the lab for flat scans, or scan important frames yourself.

    Source Hamrick Software (VueScan), How to Scan Negative Film

  3. 03

    A fault on the film itself

    Common
    How to tell
    You can see the fault on the light box: streaks, wrong density, a brownish base, fog in the edges, scratches. It stays when you rescan in any software.
    Test it
    Check the edges between frames and the edge printing: problems there point to processing or film storage, not exposure or scanning.
    The fix
    Use the negative and slide entries in this section to find the cause.

    Sources Eastman Kodak (archived copy at 125px.com), Visual Troubleshooting of Process E-6 (Using KODAK Chemicals, Process E-6, section 12); Kodak Alaris, Using KODAK FLEXICOLOR Chemicals (Process C-41)

  4. 04

    Scanner hardware: dirty glass, focus or flatness

    Occasional
    How to tell
    Marks stay in the same place on every scan, or every scan is soft whatever the film.
    Test it
    Rotate the film 90° and rescan. Marks that stay put are on the scanner. Scan one frame at each holder height to check focus.
    The fix
    Clean the glass and adjust holder height. See the lines, dust and soft scan entries.

    Sources Epson America, Perfection V800 Photo/V850 Pro User's Guide: Line of Dots Appears in All Scanned Images; Epson America, Perfection V800 Photo/V850 Pro User's Guide: Image is Distorted or Blurry

Avoiding it next time

  • Look at the film on a light box before blaming the scan.
  • Keep one well-exposed, well-processed reference negative to test your scanner and settings.

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