Kodachrome and Black & White

For Maximum Quality

First the film has to be removed from the mount. This method is intended to preserve the original mount. The mounts contain significant information, such as processing date, frame number, and may have notes. Even old unmarked mounts can help date the image. When groups of slides need to be identified, it is recommended to re-sort them into their original order, as they came from the film lab. The details of the mount are essential to determine the order of slides when originally photographed. When entire rolls are re-assembled, improved identifications of individual frames may be obtained. Other shots on the same roll can be of great help in dating and identifying the important photographs.

Click here to see a Kodachrome slide mount dating guide.

Cut a slit above the film edge. The slit needs to be on the top edge of the mount, where the date, number, and "made in USA" is located. Use a steel rule to prevent the blade from slicing the film.

open the slit so the film can be removed

The film is tacked onto the cardboard along the top edge. The tacking is on the extreme edge of the film in the center. Very carefully put a tweezer or spatula inbetween the emulsion side of the film and the mount where it is tacked, to break the adhesion.

Once the film is detached from its tacking, it can be gently removed with tweezers. It is recommended that after the film scanning is finished, the original film be put in a Gepe glass mount, and the original mount preserved with it.

The film may need cleaning. Kodachrome processed before 1954 was covered with laquer to protect the soft emulsion.

Click here for Kodak's recommendations for cleaning Kodachrome.

The above film is a photograph of a Hawaiian brothel taken in 1949. This was scanned both with and without glass to demonstrate the softening of focus caused by curl and heat.

Comparison scans of the film made both with and without glass. On top is no glass, on the lower is glass.

The above two details compare glass or no glass scans of the center of the film. (Both scans were equally sharp along the edges.) No sharpening or alteration has been done, these are raw scans made using identical settings in the scanner driver and Photoshop. The grain of the original negative is clearly rendered by scanning with glass.

The above detail photo shows the out-of-focus scan after artificial sharpening in Photoshop. The major drawback of using sharpening to restore lost definition caused by focus problems is that whatever amount of sharpening would be right for the center of the image would be inappropriate for the edges. As the sharpening is increased to compensate for focus, the portions of the image that do not need the treatment become increasingly more over-sharpened. Even the properly sharpened areas have deteriorated somewhat compared to the true focus scan. Artifacts of sharpening would be more visible in a color scan, this is greyscale only.

Plain glass causes newton rings. This photo shows a Polaroid scanner film holder, with the original film taped on one edge. The glass is anti-newton ring glass removed from a Gepe slide mount. It is taped on the opposite edge. The slide glass has two surfaces, the plain glass side and the anti-newton side. It is essential to put the anti-newton side down.

This photo shows the texture of the anti-newton side of a Gepe mount glass. The anti-newton side can be distinguished by holding the glass to reflect a lamp or window. Focus your eyes on the reflection. The anti-newton side will diffuse the reflection. The plain glass side will reflect a lamp or window just like a mirror. The textured side of the glass should be facing down, in contact with the film. The plain glass side should be up.

The Polaroid holder containing the film and anti-newton ring glass over the first frame. The film is perfectly flat, and the scan is tack sharp from center to all corners. The grain appears identical throughout the entire image.