Understanding Lab vs Flat Scanning Options

When you submit your film for developing and scanning at Rewind Photo Lab, you have two distinct scanning approaches to choose from: Lab Scans or Flat Scans. Understanding the difference between these options is crucial for achieving your desired aesthetic and workflow.

Flat Scans: Maximum Editing Flexibility

Flat scans are produced using a deliberately neutral curve that preserves as much image data as possible from your negatives. This approach ensures that shadow details remain visible and highlight information isn't clipped—essentially giving you the raw potential of your exposed film.

The resulting images typically appear low in contrast and saturation, which might initially seem underwhelming. However, this apparent deficiency is actually their greatest strength. By preserving the full tonal range captured on film, flat scans provide you with the maximum flexibility during post-processing.

Flat scans are ideal for photographers who:

• Prefer to develop their own editing style and aesthetic
• Work with advanced editing software like Lightroom, Photoshop or Capture One
• Want consistent control over contrast, saturation and colour grading
• Desire the greatest latitude when recovering shadow and highlight details
• Plan to create multiple versions of an image with different looks

Even with basic mobile editing applications, flat scans provide tremendous scope for customisation, allowing you to precisely dial in your preferred contrast, saturation, and colour balance.

Lab Scans: Professional Interpretation

With lab scans, our experienced technicians apply their expertise to interpret your film's characteristics, making careful adjustments to contrast, saturation and colour balance. This approach aims to honour the inherent qualities of your chosen film stock while ensuring the images look their best straight out of the scanner.

Our technicians evaluate each frame individually, making subtle adjustments to preserve highlight and shadow detail while maintaining the distinctive aesthetic that drew you to that particular film stock in the first place.

Lab scans are perfect for photographers who:

• Want finished, ready-to-share images
• Trust the lab's interpretation of how the film should look
• Lack the time, software or expertise to edit their images
• Appreciate the consistent look that comes from professional processing
• Wish to experience the authentic character of their chosen film stock

Technical Considerations

From a technical perspective, flat scans retain more data in the digital file. The histogram of a flat scan typically shows a more centralised distribution of tonal values, avoiding the extremes that might indicate clipped shadows or blown highlights.

Lab scans, on the other hand, will show a more distributed histogram with values that extend closer to pure black and white, creating that pleasing contrast that makes images "pop".

It's worth noting that while flat scans offer more editing flexibility, they require more work to achieve a pleasing final result. The time investment in editing should be factored into your decision.

Making Your Choice

Your choice between flat and lab scans ultimately depends on your workflow preferences and intended use of the images. Many seasoned film photographers prefer flat scans for their most important rolls, giving them complete control over the final look. For casual shooting or when quick turnaround is essential, lab scans provide beautiful, finished images with minimal fuss.

At Rewind Photo Lab, we're happy to discuss these options with you. Simply specify your preference when submitting your film, and we'll ensure your images are scanned according to your requirements.

Remember that either approach can yield stunning results—the key is choosing the option that best aligns with your creative vision and workflow.