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Converting Black-and-White Negatives to Positive Images with ACDSee Ultimate

2015 © Thomas Gade

Index: From Negative to Positive



ACDSee Pro 8 / Ultimate 8. Viewing the negative in Develop mode.



Another view. The tonal inversion is performed using the Curves tool. The Histogram is used to monitor each adjustment step. For better illustration, both tools have been placed over the image.



The tonal inversion is performed by moving the black point from the lower left corner to the upper left corner. The white point on the right side is moved from the top down to the bottom. After this adjustment, the black point of the negative becomes the white point of the inverted image, and the original white point becomes the black point of the positive image.

The result is a pale gray image. The Histogram shows a graph that does not use the full width of the tonal range. There are gaps between the histogram and the endpoints of the lower axis. This indicates that the available tonal range is not being used efficiently.



The gap at the black point (right side) is closed by moving the white triangle on the lower axis inward. Initial contrast adjustments are made by gently bending the curve at two points.



The gap at the white point (left side) is closed by moving the black triangle on the lower axis inward.



Additional adjustments to the Curves tool are used to fine-tune the tonal values. These adjustments should be made carefully to avoid losing detail in parts of the tonal range.

ACDSee makes this process easy. The adjustments can be saved as a preset and recalled the next time a black-and-white negative needs to be converted. This saves several steps in the workflow.