How can I safely digitize old glass plate negatives with a flatbed scanner?
Asked 12/21/2010
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I have access to a collection of very old glass plate negatives, likely from the late 1800s, and I’d like to help archive them digitally. I only have limited time and an Epson 3490 flatbed scanner. I’ve scanned film before, but never glass plates. What’s the safest and most practical approach for getting usable digital copies? Are there any special handling or scanning tips, or is there a better method than placing them directly on the flatbed?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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Here is where I'm at on this problem, pretty close I would say, short of looking around for a professional negative scanner.
Flatbed scanner, lid open
@Rafal first suggested I have a look at Alexey Alexeev's "Scanning Wet-Plate Collodion Ambrotype or Tintype Plate" on YouTube. It certainly looked promising. Alexey's photos are great by the way, check his work. He recommends leaving the scanner lid open in his video. I gave it a shot but didn't achieve anything usable (see below), most likely because his plates are collodion ambrotypes/tintypes, not negatives. I contacted him and he confirmed that statement.
Flatbed scanner, lid closed
Next I tried closing the lid and scanned the negative plate that way, following the previously mentioned video to adjust the input and output levels. Here is what I obtained (below), without any cleaning involved. I was not convinced that's what I should expect though. Alexey confirmed this was not quite right, most likely because light was bouncing off the cover and the glass plate.
Camera on a tripod, shooting down at a lightbox
Finally my father and I built some kind of lightbox out of a small wine box, a light bulb, some cardboard, and Plexiglas. It's really just a fancy shoe box with one side replaced with a sheet of Plexi :) I used some tracing paper to provide diffusion and placed the negative plate on the box, the light shining from below. I'll post a picture of the contraption later. I setup my tripod on top of the box and my Canon 5D Mark II shooting down at the plate. I turned off all the lights and took a few pics at different parameters. I got the best result at f/8, 1/10th s. and ISO200. I used a 2 seconds timer and mirror lock-up to reduce vibrations. I opened the photo in Lightroom, inverted it using a preset, fixed the white-balance, adjusted the levels and removed a few dust spots.
I think that's as good as it will get for this little vacation project. The box is easy enough to build, especially if your father is retired.
Originally by user1273. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1273
15y ago
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Handle the plates very carefully and start with the least invasive option. A flatbed may work for basic preservation scans, but glass-on-glass contact can cause problems such as Newton’s rings and uneven contact, so results may be limited.
From the shared experience here, scanning with the lid open was not effective for these negative plates. Scanning with the lid closed is more likely to produce something usable, but don’t expect perfect results.
If you want the best image quality and have access to darkroom equipment, the more reliable approach is to make a contact print or an enlargement from the glass negative, then scan the paper print. A contact print preserves the original size; an enlargement may reveal more detail. The tradeoff is that darkroom printing takes more time and effort.
So, in order of practicality:
- Try careful flatbed scans for quick archival copies.
- Watch for Newton’s rings and other artifacts.
- For higher-quality preservation, make contact prints or enlargements and scan those.
- If available, a professional negative scanner or specialist would likely be better than a basic flatbed.
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