Film Negative Scanning & Restoration
126 Format Negative Scanning
The 126 format is a type of film developed by Kodak for the low-end point and shoot instamatic line of cameras released in the early 60's. The number 126 comes from the fact that the size of the images on the film are about a 26mm square. Although 126 was once very popular, as of 2008 it is no longer manufactured, and few photofinishers will process it. If you have managed to get your film processed, and still have the negatives, Photo Creations can scan your images and provide you with detailed digital images that you can take anywhere!
110 Format Negatives
The 110 film format was introduced in 1972, and developed by Kodak. This format was primarily used in the popular Kodak Pocket Instamatic camera line. As a result of this, most of the cameras that use 110 format film are cheaply made, which often resulted in the image being blurry or grainy. A typical strip of 110 negatives would measure 111 x 16mm (4.4 x 0.63 in.)
The Process
110 Negatives are first cleaned with compressed air. This removes any extra dust and other particles without damaging the film. For this we use a special air compressor to allow just the right amount of air pressure.
We use the professional grade Nikon SuperCoolSCAN 5000 ED and 9000 ED negative scanners to digitize your negatives. These are dedicated units that produce amazing results when used properly. There are companies out there that will scan 110 negatives using flat-bed scanners. Those companies will not be able to attain the depth of color or clarity of a more high-end dedicated 110 format negative scanner such as the Nikon Coolscan 5000/9000 ED.
All 110 Negatives are previewed in the scanning software program where the cropping and other adjustments are set. Also, all 110 negatives are labeled numerically by box marking (ie: FarmHouse_001.jpg). Folders are also named according to the original organizational structure of the negatives.
After all the 110 negative scanning is finished we go through each image one-by-one and make sure that it is oriented properly (people are standing upright) and not flipped (words appearing mirrored). Once the image scanning technician has looked over all the images, a second technician will look over each image again and sign off on the "customer notes sheet" showing that each image has truly been double-checked.
Once all the 110 format negatives have been scanned and inspected, they will be burned to our special 100 year archival DVDs (unless otherwise specified by the customer). These disks are regarded as the best medium for long-term storage.
Manual Color Correction Service vs. Image Restoration Service
Manual color correction is described in the Pricing and Basic Info section and mainly is used to fix problems with color. For example if the negative has a yellow cast to it, in many cases we can neutralize that color and bring back the original colors. We will check for the whitest pixel in the important viewable area of the image and reset that to the 100% white value, and do the same for black. No software program can do this because we are evaluating the image based on the important data and disregarding things like back-lighting from windows and such. If your images has a color cast to them or are too dark, just ask our image scanning technician to employ the manual color correction service. We can even enhance one or two images so that you can see how beautiful your negatives can be.
The Image Restoration Service will digitally repair negatives. If your negatives have folds, scratches, color blots, fungus or any number of imperfections, ask our image scanning technician for a quote for your negative(s). Even if the image has a piece missing it may be possible to reproduce this missing section based on another negative or other data inside the same negative. It is amazing what can be done with Adobe Photoshop, some extra plug-ins, know-how and experience. And don't worry; all of the original data will be saved.