HI All,
I know this doesn't address your question, but I chose a different approach when archiving my negative collection. Let me put it on the table and take you through my logic.
I decided that the vast majority of my negs were not special but not throw aways either. High resolution scans on my Canon FS4000 scanner produce files in excess of 100mB. That means about 10 images per gigabyte or about 1000 images per 100 gigs. This was especially painful when the number of really important images was small. Then I considered the time necessary to scan, transfer, and archive. I looked for another way. Here is what I came up with.
I put each rolls neg strips into clear plastic negative preservers; the kind that have pockets for the film. I kept each roll separate not mixing them in the organizers. I placed a light table on my copy stand and placed the organizers on the light table. Using my D70 tethered to my computer with Capture Camera Control, I took a picture of each preserver which transferred to the computer. At this point I had a positive image of the negatives that I could work in Photoshop.
In Photoshop, I created a form to contain the picture. I then converted the negative image to a positive, cropped out the black portions of the image around the edges of the film strips (if you don’t you will use a lot of black ink) and copied and pasted the converted image into the form. Then I entered the Roll ID, Roll title, date of the shoot, and film type and speed. Then I entered numbers below each image. Generally, I did not title individual images though you could.
Now I had an Index Print of a roll of negatives uniquely identified by the Roll ID. Then I printed the Index Print and placed them in loose leaf notebooks, inside a preserver along with the associated negative preservers in Roll ID order.
Now comes the most important part. I created two documents to help find any image in the archive. The Roll Index is a simple running list of the rolls contained in the archive. You can put as much information into it as you wish. I kept it pretty simple.
The last step is filling out the Keyword List. This is a simple alphabetical list with keywords that are associated with Roll ID’s and thus the images on the referenced Index Print and therefore the actual negatives. The list can be searched in Word. For example, the keyword Spanish Market might have the Roll ID’s of 15-99, 22-00, 12-01 associated with it. The references mean: Roll 15 of 1999, Roll 22 of 2000, and Roll 12 of 2001. All are images of Spanish Market for the respective year. Keywords can be as detailed and comprehensive as you wish. This list is the tool that allows you to find specific images and thus, it is important to do this well.
In the end only the Index Print images, the Roll Index and the Keyword List are on the computer. NO scanning was done. If I want to print a negative I use the Keyword List to locate the Index Print. Examining the Index Print allows me to find the specific negative. Then I high res scan the neg and process it as necessary. Once scanned, I enter the image file into my digital archive system which has a subdivision for scans.
I also cataloged the 4 x 6 prints that came with most rolls. While optional, I felt that I wanted to use them when showing others and when making decisions about printing. No sense in throwing them away.
Creating Index Prints for slides should be pretty easy. I did not process any slides. Negatives are harder and must color corrected, reversed and brightness and contrast enhanced in Photoshop. Once the process is understood it is not difficult. The whole process saved me an immense amount of time, disk space, and annoyance. The scheme works well and the Index Print quality is very high and quite usable for its purpose.
The Photoshop negative to positive conversion process required some work and experimentation to get it right. If any of you are REALLY interested in this archiving technique, email me and I will get you started by explaining the negative to positive conversion process.
That scanner has me very interested.
