help me scan

May 30, 2009 6:48 AM

Scanning question: I have Epson Perfection v350 photo scanner. It can scan negatives. I would like to scan one long strip of negatives. Do I have to cut the film into 6 frames strips? Film is not mine and I would rather not have to. I have an option of Auto Film Loader and I can scan first 6 pictures, but I don't know how to tell the scanner to load the next six.
posted by leigh1 to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Some software can do a process called "stitching" that's normally used to make multiple overlapping photos into a panorama, which might let you scan separate parts of the film without cutting it and then assemble the different scans into one big image (if that's what you're looking for, I'm not totally sure I understand your question.) The free software I'm familiar with that can do stitching is Windows Live Photo Gallery but perhaps the software which came with your scanner can also do it.
posted by XMLicious at 7:10 AM on May 30, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks, XMLicious, but no, that's not what I am looking for. I have a long strip of negatives and I am looking for a way to scan them all but without having to cut the film into 6 frames strips.
posted by leigh1 at 7:34 AM on May 30, 2009

I don't think you can. Online websites say that the v350 can scan 'up to six frames per strip', and cutting negative strips is pretty standard, so you might just have to cut them with a steady hand and sharp scissors.
posted by suedehead at 8:05 AM on May 30, 2009

Looking at the manual, it appears that you cannot scan a strip of negatives with more than six frames using the auto loader. What you can try is putting the negatives in the plastic holder manually instead of using the auto loader. You may not be able to scan six slides at a time this way if the first and last frame in the holder does not lay flat. In that case, just scan the middle four frames and adjust the strip accordingly for each subsequent scan.
posted by roomwithaview at 8:09 AM on May 30, 2009