Scanning Oversized Negatives

[Slappy]

Do you have an old large light table from your stripping days? Lay negative on light table and turn on the light. Take a picture from above with your phone as close as possible. Invert color in Photoshop. Close enough.

We do, and that's crossed my mind. I'll probably try it.

[David]

I always put a 12 inch ruler next to what I'm taking a pic of so I can check the size when I get it on the screen.

[Tracy]

Is it possible there is someone with a vacuum frame in the area?
Not sure what you could do with that except a blueline

[Slappy]

Unfortunately we are not a commercial shop; we can only do work for CalTrans and its related entities, but we do have a large format scanner. I don't know if it can do transparencies or negatives, tho, but we use it to archive plans and documents that are 24x36. It can scan up to 42" wide. It's a ColorTrac LF Sci if you wanted to look into it for your shop.

Ooooooh, that's interesting! I'll reach out & see if it handles transparencies too. Thanks!

[born2print]

This whole time I thought the issue was separation film negatives, not color negatives, pay no attention to me.

[Tracy]

I think it's black and white line art

[born2print]

This issue is seeming less doomed the more I hear about it.

[David]

We run film on a Liberator here, 28 inch  roll, for silkscreen, and these would be seps. 
I have no idea what you would use film for other than that now-a-days. 


40 inch color negative?  never seen one

[born2print]

Biggest color transparency I ever saw was around 8.5x11-ish.
It was a Gabor sister... a LOT of retouching on the Prisma as it was used hard and all beat up...
the tranny that is.

[David]

The largest format is 8x10, normally a 4x5 is considered large format (that you can buy). There are custom cameras that can be larger, not usually on the open market.

When I was a shooting photographer (taking pics of Dinos) I used a 35mm with ton's of lenses.
I always wanted a 4.25 Hasselblad square format, never was able to afford one tho.

[born2print]

8x10 it must have been then.
I remember 4 anna quater!
Dunno if they originated from a Hasselblad or what though...

[Joe]

When I was in the Air Force the B52's had a giant camera in their belly that looked like a big trashcan. It made 11"x14" transparencies.

[born2print]

Wowie!

[Slappy]

We run film on a Liberator here, 28 inch  roll, for silkscreen, and these would be seps.
I have no idea what you would use film for other than that now-a-days.


40 inch color negative?  never seen one

They're monochrome, line work only. It's all targets - in a TON of different sizes & variations. The owner was so old school, he never converted any of them to digital files-didn't see the need. Now we have the need.

So, turns out there IS a place (within about 40 min of here) that specializes in maps & repro and can handle them! I believe we'll only do them as orders come in, who knows how many of the negs are even still needed. Maybe we can send a few for test scans at least & see how clean they come back.

[Tracy]

Nice Slappy! Goodjob!