Base + fog scans for inversion profiles
A few people asked how I get consistent colour and tone out of my negative inversions. The short answer is that I scan a strip of unexposed but developed film at the start of every session and let the inversion software use it as the reference for the film base.
Here are the two reference scans I use, straight off the scanner with all corrections switched off, 16-bit TIFF at 3200 dpi:
- HP5 Plus, base + fog, developed in ID-11 1+1 (about 13 MB)
- Portra 400, unexposed leader, C-41 lab dev (about 20 MB)
They are mostly useful as an example of what a “flat” scan looks like. Your own film, developer and scanner will differ, so make your own if you can.