Photos to Computer??

[John Terefenko]

OK I am looking to transfer 35mm photos that were developed from roll film many years ago to my computer. I have a printer with scanner but it is not compatible with my Windows XP 64 system so that option is out. Is there a device that I could get to do this?? Maybe transfer to a flashdrive?? Thoughts and if you have used a device do you have a good one that works well?? A link would be nice.

[Yonak Hawkins]

John, short of getting a compatible scanner, if you still have the negatives, you could take them to the professionals (any photo processor) for good quality results. Otherwise, you could take the prints to, say, Kinkos.

[Larry Frank]

You might look at a program called VueScan. It may work with your computer and scanner. I have used it with a variety of scanners and Windows.

[roger wiegand]

Unless you have only a few pictures, using one of the services that do this is far more time efficient, and f you don't have a good high resolution scanner already, more cost efficient as well. I had DigMyPics do all my 35 mm slides a few years ago after fooling with the DIY route for quite a while. Their work was great (better than mine) and much faster. An advantage of that particular company is that they don't send your pictures to a far off country.

[Myk Rian]

You might look at a program called VueScan. It may work with your computer and scanner. I have used it with a variety of scanners and Windows.

Yep. Vuescan..

[Gary Ragatz]

John,

Seems like if you can use the printer with your computer, you ought to be able to use the scanner, too. I wonder if there's just some software, or maybe a driver, that you need from the printer/scanner manufacturer - maybe a little googling is in order?

[Grant Wilkinson]

I'm with the others who recommend going to a commercial service, but could you post the make and model of your printer/scanner?

[Frank Pratt]

First, I've got to say that you should not be using a Windows XP system anymore if you ever connect to the internet or any network. I have found that Windows 10 will run lots of old legacy hardware that previous OS's wouldn't. What scanner do you have?

[John Terefenko]

My printer scanner is a HP Office Jet pro 6978. I had to have a tech install some old drivers from an earlier model to fool it into operating with my computer. He told me and I tried to use the features of the unit with my computer but they do not work. So all I use it for is to print photos or papers from the computer. Or I use the Fax part to send fax. I can scan papers and photos to make copies but I do not want that. I want them on either a flash drive or direct to computer.

What I am trying to do is mostly when I started my scrollsawing business some 35 years ago I made albums of projects that I made and what I use to do is use the albums as means of advertising and having people select projects for sales. But we have all gone digital and things are nothing like they use to be. It is not practical to have these albums any more so would like to transfer the photos to digital. There are 100's of photos so it is not a small job but would like good quality. Back then I always took photos with my Minolta 35 mm camera. There were no SD cards and things like that. I could now use a IPad or some other device to store the photos is what I am thinking.

I know XP is not supported any more but my computer is not worth changinging systems on it. I would much rather buy a whole new computer and start fresh but that is not in the budget at this time. So I am trying to keep things together with tape and glue and find a cheap way of doing this transfer.

[Lee Schierer]

If you go to the site below you can change the version of windows and get the correct printer drivers for XP. The site detected the windows version I had automatically, but you can change it to windows XP if it doesn't automatically detect your system. There appear to be drivers for Windows XP 64 and 32 bit

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-officejet-pro-6970-all-in-one-printer-series/8289585/model/11161264

407713

[Bill Carey]

I just looked at a few services and they are anywhere fro 27 cents to 44 cents PER SCAN! Since I have about 100,000 negatives I've never even looked at - from my days of free lancing for the papers and mags - so that's only 27 grand. Guess I'll stick to the light table, loupe, and a scanner when I get started on that project. Or maybe I'll just leave them to my kids. Working in the shop is more fun.

[Mike Kreinhop]

One of the best film and slide scanners I've used is the Nikon Coolscan 9000. These pop up from time to time on photography websites, and a couple have made the rounds from user to user to bulk scan slides. If the SMC rules didn't forbid it, I would post links to two Nikon Coolscan scanner currently listed for sale at Fred Miranda.

[Frank Pratt]

And what is with the ban on posting those links? This is about the only forum I know of that does that & it just makes things difficult for everyone.

[Lee Schierer]

And what is with the ban on posting those links? This is about the only forum I know of that does that & it just makes things difficult for everyone.

You can post links to sites that are germain to the topic as long as they are not an auction site, another woodworking site or one where you have financial interests.

[Frank Pratt]

You can post links to sites that are germain to the topic as long as they are not an auction site, another woodworking site or one where you have financial interests.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. I was under the impression that the policy was far more Draconian.

[andy bessette]

...looking to transfer 35mm photos...Windows XP...

Look for a used Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 film scanner. They were compatible with XP and do quality work.

[Mike Kreinhop]

You can post links to sites that are germain to the topic as long as they are not an auction site, another woodworking site or one where you have financial interests.

Perhaps the Terms of Service should be modified to reflect this. As it reads now, all links to other fora are not allowed.

“Links to other public or private forums are not allowed.”

[Grant Wilkinson]

On the HP site, there is a driver listed for your a 6970 and windows xp 64-bit. Is this the one that your tech tried? If not, you may want to try it. I'm attaching a screen cap with the details.407753

[Michael Weber]

I got this from Amazon several months ago and transferred hundreds of my 35mm slides going back to the 1950's. It does them one at a time but works pretty fast (couple of seconds) once you get the hang of it. It scans to a SD card up to 32GB.

[John Terefenko]

On the HP site, there is a driver listed for your a 6970 and windows xp 64-bit. Is this the one that your tech tried? If not, you may want to try it. I'm attaching a screen cap with the details.407753


I am not sure. He did it when he took over the computer. I tried the disc that came with the unit and it did not allow the download. I tried some download drivers but was unable and had to call HP and that is what he did. As I said it does not allow all the extra functions to work especially scanning to computer. Any device I buy will have drivers needed to be installed so they need to be compatible.

[David L Morse]

...Is there a device that I could get to do this?? Maybe transfer to a flashdrive??


My printer scanner is a HP Office Jet pro 6978.

According to the HP website you should be able to do exactly that with the 6978. That's usually a standalone printer function, no computer needed. Have you tried it?

[Grant Wilkinson]

In the user manual, it describes what David is talking about. The benefit is that you don't need a computer or drivers at all. Here is an excerpt:

"Scan to a memory device
You can scan directly to a USB flash drive from the printer control panel without using a computer or the HP
printer software.
NOTE: This feature is available with some models of the printer.
CAUTION: Do not remove the flash drive from the printer USB port while it is being accessed by the printer.
This can damage the files on the USB flash drive.
NOTE: The printer does not support encrypted USB flash drives.
You can also use the HP printer software to scan documents into editable text. For more information, see
Scanning documents as editable text.
To scan an original to a memory device from the printer control panel
1. Load your original print-side down on the scanner glass or print-side up in the document feeder.
2. Insert a USB flash drive.
The Memory Device Options screen appears.
3. Make changes to scan options, if needed.
4. Touch Start Scan ."

Have you tried this?

[Chuck Wintle]

I'm with the others who recommend going to a commercial service, but could you post the make and model of your printer/scanner?

I would recommend a commercial service for best results also. They have better equipment and better software and can do a superior job. Even if it costs a few pennies you will be happier with the results. JMHO

[roger wiegand]

Most home scanners are made for scanning documents and as such have 300-600 dpi resolution with modest dynamic range. This will be fine for scanning prints, but you will lose much of the information captured in a 35mm slide or negative. Commercial film scanners start in the 6000-10000 dpi range, the better ones match or exceed the resolution of the film.

The other thing you get by paying a commercial service is cleaning of your media prior to scanning to get rid of dust and dirt, and often cleanup of the images post processing. This can include color correction of old faded slides.

For snapshot quality pictures or a quick look the home scanner will be OK, but to get images that you'd want to print, use in a publication, or on a web site a lot more work and significantly more expensive hardware and software is involved. It can absolutely be done, but half a buck a slide starts to look pretty attractive once you find out how much work it is to make high quality conversions.

[Lee DeRaud]

Look for a used Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 film scanner. They were compatible with XP and do quality work.And they will run also nicely under newer versions of Windows under VueScan.

[andy bessette]

Thanks Lee.

[Yonak Hawkins]

... not ... another woodworking site....

I wonder why this would be if the best answer to a question would happen to be at another site. Is it felt that this site has only the best right answers ?

[Curt Harms]

If I'm reading this right, the media involved is slides or negatives. I was involved with a small project like this and found a scanner with a lighted lid was required. The scanner portion of a Samsung MFD (no lighted lid) was fine for prints but not for slides or negatives.. We got a Canon 8800F dedicated scanner which worked well but wasn't all that fast, The other thing we found was that some older slides' color was off.

[Lee Schierer]

Any device I buy will have drivers needed to be installed so they need to be compatible.

When you buy a new device it comes with drivers for current operating systems. Your Windows XP is at least 4 versions out of date.

[John K Jordan]

OK I am looking to transfer 35mm photos that were developed from roll film many years ago to my computer. I have a printer with scanner but it is not compatible with my Windows XP 64 system so that option is out. Is there a device that I could get to do this?? Maybe transfer to a flashdrive?? Thoughts and if you have used a device do you have a good one that works well?? A link would be nice.

I just remembered I have a professional quality Nikon film scanner made for 35mm slides and film, Nikon "Super Coolscan 4000 ED":
https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/scanner/scoolscan_4000/index.htm
You can still find them for sale used, I see this: https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Super-Coolscan-4000-Scanner/dp/B000059Z3X

The last time I used it (maybe 15 years ago) was on a Win XP machine which I think was 64 bit but I'd have to check or look at the driver CD to be sure. The digital scans from it were outstanding. It's safely packed in the original box with everything it came with.

I'll probably never use it again (although I still have the workstation with XP). I don't like to sell things but if you are interested I might trade it for something like a good story.

But depending on how many you have to do it would be simpler to pay someone else to do the scans.

Oh, and there are cheap devices that let you point a camera into a box and transfer films and slides to digital versions. My very limited experience with these wasn't positive. A good macro lens on a digital camera could do the same thing if you mounted the film, provided even backlighting with good color temperature, shot with proper white balance, and processed with software such as Photoshop.

JKJ

[Lee DeRaud]

I just remembered I have a professional quality Nikon film scanner made for 35mm slides and film, Nikon "Super Coolscan 4000 ED":
…
But depending on how many you have to do it would be simpler to pay someone else to do the scans.I have a similar Minolta scanner of about the same vintage...as I recall, what with loading/unloading/renaming etc, it worked out to about 90 seconds per slide/neg at the high-quality settings. Since I was doing several thousand total, the best bet for maintaining my sanity was to set up a TV in the same room and limit each session to the length of a football/basketball game or NASCAR race, maybe 100-150 in a batch.

[andy bessette]

...I have a professional quality Nikon film scanner made for 35mm slides and film, Nikon "Super Coolscan 4000 ED":
https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/scanner/scoolscan_4000/index.htm...

These dedicated film scanners do a most excellent job. As Lee says, they're time intensive. But the results can be worth the effort. You really need the software that was bundled with it, especially for reducing dust and scratches.

[Larry Frank]

I used a Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED to scan a couple thousand 35 mm slides. I had the auto feeder which made things faster.

The problem was that the Nikon software would not work with newer computers but Vuescan worked perfectly.

[Myk Rian]

I just looked at a few services and they are anywhere fro 27 cents to 44 cents PER SCAN! Since I have about 100,000 negatives I've never even looked at - from my days of free lancing for the papers and mags - so that's only 27 grand. Guess I'll stick to the light table, loupe, and a scanner when I get started on that project. Or maybe I'll just leave them to my kids. Working in the shop is more fun.

We have an Epson Perfection 2480 Photo scanner that came with a photo/film scanner lid. It scans the photos/film and writes the files. It feeds them automatically.
https://www.epson.eu/products/scanners/consumer-scanners/epson-perfection-2480-photo

[John Terefenko]

Not sure how posts jump around so much on this site but I just read some that are interesting and I will look ionto. Thanks all for the suggestions. I need to get all the photos out that i want done and I will see if i have negatives too.

[John K Jordan]

Not sure how posts jump around so much on this site but ...

You might try different display settings. (Click on the "Display" pulldown in the menu near the top right of the message display)
I use "Hybrid" but some like "Linear" or "Threaded" mode.

This is in the normal browser style, I don't know what happens with the Mobile style.

JKJ

[Lee DeRaud]

One further comment. The Minolta Dualscan3 (and its various relations) I have is an excellent scanner, and used ones are available on Ebay in the $100-$150 range (last I checked).

But, and it's a big 'but', the film/slide magazines for it are fragile and apparently made out of unobtanium. Quite a few of the Ebay sales I've seen are "scanner only", so buyer beware. I have no idea if this also applies to the Nikon scanners, but you really need to make sure you have everything required to use the beast...otherwise it's just a paperweight.

[John K Jordan]

One further comment. The Minolta Dualscan3 (and its various relations) I have is an excellent scanner, and used ones are available on Ebay in the $100-$150 range (last I checked).
But, and it's a big 'but', the film/slide magazines for it are fragile and apparently made out of unobtanium. Quite a few of the Ebay sales I've seen are "scanner only", so buyer beware. I have no idea if this also applies to the Nikon scanners, but you really need to make sure you have everything required to use the beast...otherwise it's just a paperweight.

The Nikon film holder is extremely well made, maybe even from undestructablium. There are two in the box: one for mounted slides and one for film strips. The film strip holder connects to the scanner with a cable, if I remember it has a motor to automatically advance the strip. The resolution of the scanner might be important for something small as a 35mm or slide. I looked at some that were around 2000 dpi, no problem at all for snapshots or pictures for posting. The Nikon is 4000 dpi.

JKJ

[John Terefenko]

I just looked last night and whoever mentioned my scanner can scan to a flashdrive is right. I will play around with that and see what it looks like before I move onto the next suggestions. Thanks again. I did not even know this.

[John Terefenko]

You might try different display settings. (Click on the "Display" pulldown in the menu near the top right of the message display)
I use "Hybrid" but some like "Linear" or "Threaded" mode.

This is in the normal browser style, I don't know what happens with the Mobile style.

JKJ
Thanks that works better. I switched to linear and now all posts are right after one another and I can follow better. Learn something new every day.