🚀 How I scan film with Sprocket Holes and Borders

This image is from a page in the zine I recently picked up, called JAPAN AIR. It captures the skateboarding scene in Japan during the '80s.

These days, with the rising cost of film, I’m sure many people are switching to digital cameras. Everyone has their own take on this, but honestly, you can get a film-like finish even with a digital camera.
That said, if you’re going to spend the extra money on film, why not try out some expressions that only film can offer?

For example, like in JAPAN AIR, one of the fun aspects of film photography is that you can include not just the photos you took, but even the film negatives themselves in your zine.

A few months ago, I also created contact sheet prints, and that’s another thing that’s unique to film. Eventually, I’d love to make a zine that collects contact sheets in this style.

If you’re interested in exploring these kinds of film-only expressions, the scanning tips I’m sharing today might come in handy.

Table of Contents

• 📝 404 Zine Update: It’s Finally Done!

• 🚀 How I Scan Film with Sprocket Holes and Borders …

  • My Scanning Gear & Tools List

• 📟 Why I Chose the Epson GT-X980 as My Scanner

• 🍌 Must-Have Anti-Static Gloves & Brush for Dust-F …

• 🥑 Using Anti-Reflective Glass to Scan Film Negati …

• 🕺 See You Again Next Tuesday

📝 404 Zine Update: It’s Finally Done!

To everyone who pre-ordered, thank you for your patience. 404 not found Issue 02 is finally complete and will be shipped out starting this week!

Last Saturday, I even gave a talk about this zine at an event held at an art space in Shimokitazawa.
I spoke about the meaning behind the title 404 not found, the difference between photos and images, and why I keep taking photos. For those who purchased the zine, I’m including a separate sheet summarizing the talk as a little bonus. Look forward to its arrival!

🚀 How I Scan Film with Sprocket Holes and Borders: Gear and Tools

There are plenty of ways to scan film, but most methods don’t let you capture the sprocket holes and borders.
However, as I mentioned earlier, being able to scan the sprocket holes and borders opens up a lot more possibilities for how you can use the scanned images.

So, this time, I’m going to show you how I scan film with sprocket holes and borders, complete with images.

Here’s the gear and tools I use for my scanning process:

My Scanning Gear & Tools List

• Scanner: Epson GT-X980( V850 )

• Software: SilverFast SE

• Air Duster

• Anti-Static Brush

• Anti-Static Gloves

• Anti-Reflective Glass

Just a heads up, the method I’m sharing here is my personal approach, so if you know of a better way, please feel free to share it in the comments section at the bottom of the newsletter page.

📟 Why I Chose the Epson GT-X980 as My Scanner

First off, about the scanner—I’m using the Epson GT-X980. By the way, Epson has this habit of changing product names for the Japanese market versus the international market.

I just looked it up, and it seems the GT-X980 and V850 are basically the same except for the voltage. But when I checked Amazon, the GT-X980 was around $450 on Amazon.co.jp, while the V850 was listed at $1,785 on Amazon.com. That’s crazy, right?

And as many people on Reddit have pointed out, the GT-X980 actually supports 100-240V, so you can use it anywhere in the world. If you’re buying one, go for the GT-X980, not the V850.

Now, why did I choose the GT-X980 as my scanner? The main reason is that it’s a flatbed scanner. A flatbed is super convenient when you’re scanning film with sprocket holes and borders, which I’ll talk about later. Plus, since I also do darkroom printing, I wanted a flatbed scanner for scanning prints as well.

Another reason is the GT-X980’s dual lenses. That feature really caught my eye. Plus, the film holder on the GT-X980 allows you to adjust the height. With the dual lenses and adjustable film holder, you can achieve really sharp scans. The Epson V600, which is considered a mid-range model, doesn’t have dual lenses.

Also, the film holder can hold three strips of 35mm film at once, which makes scanning more efficient.

By the way, Epson’s scanner software is pretty terrible, so I wouldn’t recommend it. I use SilverFast SE, which speeds up scanning and lets you optimize settings for different film types. It’s a really handy piece of software that I highly recommend.

🍌 Must-Have Anti-Static Gloves & Brush for Dust-Free Scanning

With regular film gloves, the fibers on the fingertips can stick to the film negatives, making it easy for dust to get into your scans. That’s why I use Anti-Static Gloves with rubber-coated fingertips.

No matter how much you use a blower to get rid of dust, it doesn’t help if the fibers from your gloves stick to the film negatives. These gloves aren’t expensive, so if you don’t have a pair, I highly recommend getting them.

Also, it’s a good idea to have an Anti-Static Brush for removing dust from the acrylic surfaces of your scanner and film holder. I couldn’t find the exact one I use on Amazon, but as long as it’s a brush that can remove static and won’t scratch the acrylic, it should work just fine.

🥑 Using Anti-Reflective Glass to Scan Film Negatives with Sprocket Holes and Borders

Now, let’s get into the main topic of this edition—how to scan film with sprocket holes and borders.

My method is pretty straightforward: I use anti-reflective glass. Anti-reflective glass is designed with a fine-textured surface that diffuses reflected light, reducing glare and reflections.

I picked up my anti-reflective glass at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku, but if you’re not in Japan, you can order it from a framing shop or find it on Amazon as glass for framing.

Finding the right glass can be tricky, though, so after reading several blogs, I’ve learned that non-reflective acrylic can also work as a substitute. If anyone has tried using non-reflective acrylic, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the newsletter page.

Once you’ve got your hands on anti-reflective glass, scanning film with sprocket holes and borders is super simple. Just place your film on the scanner and press the anti-reflective glass firmly on top of it.

This is similar to how you create a contact sheet in a darkroom. In the darkroom, you press the photo paper and film together using anti-reflective glass, and for scanning, you do the same with the scanner and film.

Here’s a contact sheet I created with my scanner.

By the way, I mentioned 'film negatives' in the title, but of course, you can use the same method for slide film as well. Here’s an image scanned from slide film.

Ah, slide film is just beautiful, isn’t it?

One thing to note is that if the glass isn’t pressed firmly enough or if your film is curling, you might end up with circular patterns called Newton rings.

There seem to be various ways to solve the Newton rings issue, but honestly, I just focus on keeping my film flat because it’s the easiest way to avoid the hassle.

🕺 See You Again Next Tuesday

That’s it for this week’s newsletter.

Thanks so much for reading all the way to the end. If you found it helpful, please share it using the social buttons under the title. And feel free to capture any part that caught your eye and share it on Instagram—just make sure to link back to the newsletter page if you can❤️‍🔥

There’s also a comments section on the newsletter page, so I’d love to hear any feedback, like what you’d like to read about next or any questions you have.

And if you’re currently working on a zine or have already made one, reach out to me on Instagram! I’m thinking of starting a section in this newsletter to showcase zines made by subscribers.

Until then, see you next Tuesday!