Convert film negatives shot on a copy stand or scanner into positives. The conversion divides out the orange base of color negative film, inverts the result, and leaves exposure and color trims for the final look, the workflow lab software applies to raw scans.
The orange mask
Color negative stock carries an orange-brown base layer that corrects for dye impurities during optical printing. On a backlit scan that base tints every pixel, which is why inverting a negative in an ordinary editor yields a murky cyan image. The converter treats the film base color as the reference for pure white: each channel is divided by the base value, neutralizing the mask, and only then inverted.
The base defaults to a typical C-41 orange. For accurate color, sample the film’s unexposed border from your scan and enter that value; the border is developed but unexposed film, meaning it is the mask and nothing else.
Exposure and balance
Negatives digitized with a camera are rarely exposed perfectly for the film’s density, so the exposure slider shifts the converted positive by up to 2 stops in either direction after inversion. The red and blue balance trims correct the remaining cast: scans lit with warm LED panels usually need a small blue push, and expired film often wants red pulled back. Green needs no slider of its own because red and blue move relative to it.
Black and white mode
B&W negatives have no orange mask, so the mode toggle bypasses base removal and color trims entirely and performs a clean luminance inversion. Exposure still applies, which covers thin (underexposed) negatives that convert too dark.
Working order
Convert first, grade later. Get neutral grays and believable skin out of this tool, then treat the result like any positive image: the color grading and levels tools stack downstream, and inside the image workflow the negative conversion can sit as the first step of a chain.