Negative to positive

[roughcutter]

Can anyone recommend an online app that I could use with my editing suite for converting negative images to positives. I no longer use film scanners - which usually include the facility for negs. I found them too slow, opting instead to photograph images direct, via a camera extension tube/macro lens combination. Which I found much more convenient to use, and gives me satisfactory results. While using this method for copying is fine for slide films, I no longer have the facility for converting negatives.

[skippyscage]

if you use Photoshop it's literally one click

[Johnl]

I use Windows 10 and there is a free option to invert negatives on their," paint"...software...Also if you are lucky enough to have a Nikon D850, there is a method on their,
if you copy negatives from a lightpad using the D850, to invert the negative copy tp a postive one in seconds...

[Archer]

Have a look at the DigitaLiza Lab app/website (not sure), there is a tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYmA3s6gzO8

Looks like it does what you need to create a useful positive image including color cast removal and levels adjustment, but in a pretty simple interface format.

[g.lee.photos]

Out of curiousity, I've decided to try myself to look at comparisons as I thought it'd be a fun niche thing to geek out about!
(I would like to note I have not shot slide! Long gone are the days of accessible slide film! )

DigitaLiza Lab is certainly a convenient way to quickly convert negatives from what I have heard, it does only support JPEG... but as archer says, its certainly a great way to quickly and efficiently convert negatives (from what I have heard from friends) I haven't actually used it before, so I'm curious to see what turns out!

If youve still got the facilities to edit said photos more "precisely" Darktable's Negadoctor function might be worth a shout, however I found it less than adequate for colour and great for B&W, and darktable is a bit too finnicky for my liking.. too overwhelming with all the modules!

My main go to for both Colour and B&W is the Negative Lab Pro module for Lightroom, however for £100 (And Adobes questionable monthly subscription fees!) its certainly not viable for the average joe, It is certainly great and I'd describe it like Lightroom/Photoshop for film, however for that price its certainly a hard pill to swallow to convert some photos a bit better than other alternatives, its just another faff to install and get going. Plus this is like comparing your average family car to a very well tinkered racing car, would it truly be fair to compare? Maybe as a control for the results I reckon it'll be fair!


Anyways, after a bit of trial and error here are some example results from these 3:
(Info for refference)

Film: Kodak Ektar 100, Scanned through an Epson V500 Flatbed Scanner (Scanned as TIFF)

Darktable Negadoctor (https://www.darktable.org) :

Darktable Negadoctor - BW by George Lee, on Flickr

Darktable Negadoctor - Colour by George Lee, on Flickr

DigitalizaLab (Link https://lomography.tools/digitaliza) (JPEG only! ) :

Lomography Digitaliza Lab - BW by George Lee, on Flickr

Lomography Digitaliza Lab - Colour by George Lee, on Flickr

Microsoft Paint (N/A):

MS Paint - Colour by George Lee, on Flickr

MS Paint - BW by George Lee, on Flickr


Negative Lab Pro (N/A, control!!)

Negative Lab Pro - BW by George Lee, on Flickr

Negative Lab Pro - Colour by George Lee, on Flickr

My 2 Cents
I found that darktable made relatively "ok" results, however I did find it an absolute pain to sort and faf around with getting the "best" possible image without messing with other modules, darktable on its own already has the steepest learning curve conceivable for any editing app!
Microsoft Paint worked fine for Black and White, however i can imagine that it may run into issues with less than ideal exposed images, and it also is unusable with Colour Negatives as it lacks a white balancing option!
And Digitaliza, I am genuinely surprised at how well it performed and cannot suggest it enough now! I certainly feel compared to Negative Lab Pro (which is £100!!!) it gives it an absolute run for its money... And it doesnt have a bazillion menus to get lost in! Just a few simple sliders anyone can use! Also, how can it make such a beautiful photo out of a jpeg? Inconceivable!
Definitely going to be using it now!
- Also on a sidenote: if its black and white, they'll all basically perform the same out of the box with no editing!

I hope this helps you out a bit, I certainly enjoyed messing around with all the different apps!

[Archer]

That is a useful comparison! It is clear that Paint only inverts, but does not take the film carrier into account. The blue cast is clearly the orange film stock having been inverted. The Darktable one has a bit of a greenish cast to it while the Negative lab one appears to show a reddish cast. Impressive result from the Lomo software!

[Johnl]

Another option I used was a site called , "Pixlr". Which you can use for free but with limited use. Or you can pay to use...I just copied this negative today and made a colour copy...

DSC_0006 (8) by jetphoto2, on Flickr

15 by jetphoto2, on Flickr

[roughcutter]

Guys, thanks ever so much, there's plenty there to get my teeth into. Cheers MarkL

[roughcutter]

Just tried the LomoDigita LIZA Lab process, I'm delighted with the results and it is indeed a very simple tool to use 'Does what it says on the tin'. It inverts negatives to positives with a basic image adjustment, which can then be further refined via your preferred editing suite. I also downloaded the 'Darktable Negadoctor', which I haven't tried yet. It too looks to be a good site, but requires a little more in depth studying before I could proceed any further. Again many thanks for your input guys