# Scanning 110 film negatives on Epson 1660

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-110-film-negatives-on-epson-1660/216072>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 30, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-110-film-negatives-on-epson-1660/216072 "2003-11-30T16:58:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![blasphmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@blasphmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blasphmer)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-110-film-negatives-on-epson-1660/216072/1 "2003-11-30T16:58:18Z")

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Hello  
I’m trying to scan the negatives of some 110 film on an Epson 1660 scanner. They do not scan like normal paper. How do I rectify this?

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-110-film-negatives-on-epson-1660/216072/2 "2003-11-30T17:24:33Z")

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You can’t scan film on a flatbed scanner like you can scan paper. You will need to get a transparancy attachment for it, which will provide a light source above the film. I don’t know if such an attachment is available for that specific scanner, though.

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**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-110-film-negatives-on-epson-1660/216072/3 "2003-11-30T17:38:05Z")

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In case a transparency adapter isn’t available or perhaps wasn’t made for your model:

Long ago, when transparency adapters weren’t common, I used a flatbed film viewer (used for viewing x-rays or strip negatives) to reverse illuminate my negatives. I happened to have one lying around, but it was nothing fancy: just a thick translucent diffuser plate and a couple of fluorescent tubes. However, I did have to make quite a few adjustments to my settings [which are probably a one click change in current scanner drivers] If you can find a mount point for a transparency adapter, there may be a mechanical switch there to tell the scanner the transparency adapter is attached

I’ve often wondered if my results would have improved if I’d unplugged the built-in front side illumination to cut down glare.

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**Author:** ![blasphmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@blasphmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blasphmer)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-110-film-negatives-on-epson-1660/216072/4 "2004-01-04T05:39:59Z")

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What a maroon. I just realized (after my lid fell apart) I bought the 1660 PHOTO model because it includes a transparency adaptor and backlight. looked in the box, and yep, there the spare pieces were. Now it scans great.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-110-film-negatives-on-epson-1660/216072/5 "2004-01-04T06:22:41Z")

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Glad to hear it, **blasphmer**. 🙂 FWIW, I’ve made far stupider mistakes with scanners and film before.