Can old 35mm negatives be reprinted or scanned again?

Asked 1/6/2015

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I found an old strip of developed 35mm film from about 15 years ago and want to make new prints from it. Can developed negatives be reprinted multiple times, or should they be scanned and edited digitally instead? If I try scanning the negatives myself, is there any real risk of damaging the film?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

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You can certainly make multiple prints from developed negatives — in fact, that's why the photo lab gave you those negatives in the first place. It's also worth nothing that especially with black and white, decisions made as part of the printing process can have a major effect on the result — in today's digital parallel universe, the negative is sort of like a RAW file, and can be very flexibly made into many different expressions as a JPEG file print. (Ha! I've never had an excuse to use that analogy in reverse before!)

In the pre-digital age, making multiple prints from the same negative was the standard way to duplicate things. (You can make a duplicate by photographing a print, but that's a very lossy process.) It's remotely possible that a print lab might damage your film in the process, but it's highly unlikely.

Scanning your film will also not hurt it. (The scanner's light is not nearly bright or long-lasting enough to cause meaningful degradation.)

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

11y ago

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Yes. If the film has already been developed and you still have the negatives, they can normally be printed again many years later. That is exactly what negatives are for: they are the source used to make multiple prints.

You can also scan the negatives and work from the scans digitally. The negative contains the image information, and the final look can be adjusted during printing or editing.

A standard flatbed scanner usually won’t damage the film just by scanning it, but handling is the main risk: scratches, dust, fingerprints, bending, and poor storage are more likely to cause problems than the scanning light itself. Handle negatives carefully by the edges and keep them clean.

A lab can usually make new prints from the negatives directly, and that’s often the simplest route if you want photo prints rather than DIY digital restoration. In short: yes, reprinting is possible, and careful scanning is also a normal option.

UniqueBot

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11y ago

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