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HP Scanjet XPA - what is it?

Hi all,
Just having a bit of a clearout in the office at work and discovered something attached to the scanner, tucked behind it, called a scanjet XPA. I can tell that it's used to scan negatives, but what's the use of that? Does it actually convert them into images, or just scan the negatives in the same colour...? Confused...
If you know, that'd be great!
Ta muchly!
I don't think I can hang on til Friday...

Comments

  • fwor
    fwor Posts: 6,846 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=bps05186&product=61930

    (which you may already have seen) suggests that it's just a light box/carrier to illuminate the negative from behind.

    The resulting scan will still be a negative, so you then need to use a program such as Photoshop or a free alternative like the GIMP to turn it into a positive image (in Gimp you just use the Invert tool).
  • We have this (or something similar) attached to our HP scanner, and it is indeed a lightbox. I have spent many happy hours scanning in slides, if you tell the hp scanning software you are scanning a negative then it converts it to a positive (all in the set up in the box that comes up). Very effective, would not know it had started life as a slide. I think I had to scan in several hundred slides, this was before the stand alone slide scanners came down a little in price!!
    What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare
  • We have this (or something similar) attached to our HP scanner, and it is indeed a lightbox. I have spent many happy hours scanning in slides, if you tell the hp scanning software you are scanning a negative then it converts it to a positive (all in the set up in the box that comes up). Very effective, would not know it had started life as a slide. I think I had to scan in several hundred slides, this was before the stand alone slide scanners came down a little in price!!
    Excellent - thank you! I'm now wondering if I would be able to convert old negatives into digital images that can be used for prints etc, or if the quality wouldn't be good enough - ie, how large can you blow them up without them becoming pixelated?
    I don't think I can hang on til Friday...
  • I have mine on a PMP with a 7 inch screen and they look like any other prints. I would imagine you could blow them up to at least A5 if not A4, but this would be guesswork as have not actually printed any!! That could be something to do with the fact I have a total of 7500 images on my PMP, about half of which I had to scan in from slides or prints, so the idea of picking the odd one to print is a little hard!! The quality seems to be good, but in the software go with the recommended definition, do not assume higher numbers means better quality because it does not!! Good luck, it is well worth doing.
    What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare
  • Ok, looks like I'll need to do some experimenting - thank you so much for the advice!
    I don't think I can hang on til Friday...
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