If you've already figured this out ages ago and know the answer, I'd love to hear it. This is just one simple test by one (simple) individual, so I'd really like to hear from others who have the gear and the time to try the same thing. After spending some time examining both images with and without loupe magnification I'm pretty sure that scanning with the emulsion down does provide a small advantage in resolution and contrast. The results were subtle, and I don't think there's any point in attempting to post the images here, so I will simply describe what I see. So, I did a quick first test in which I scanned the same negative both ways and then printed out equivalent crops of each image side-by-side on the same sheet of glossy photo paper.

This means you have to flip the image later in Photoshop or some other image editing program, which is not a big deal since you'll probably be going there anyway for spotting and other adjustments. But it is generally accepted that this is only because that results in proper orientation of the image.Īt least one manufacturer of after-market film holders recommends scanning with the emulsion down. The question was whether, when scanning on a flatbed scanner, it is preferable to scan with the emulsion side of the film facing upward, away from the scanner's sensor, or downward, facing the sensor.Įpson recommends scanning with the emulsion up. This subject came up on another thread a few days ago, but was slightly OT so I decided to give it a thread of it's own.

Vuescan slide scanning