I have many picture negatives left by my father who was big on photography. Many have to do with ancestors from before and after the turn of the century. A regular flat bed scanner will not do much for the image, as negatives require a light source above the item. I have had very good success by putting a light box (used for tracing etc) over the negative on the scanner and scanning normally. Most photo/image programs will allow you to invert (make a positive) and then you can adjust brightness/contrast etc to get the best results. I also purchased a scanner for 35mm slides and negatives, which does a good job. I am sure I am not the first person to come up with this but just thought it might help someone. Al White alwhite@comcast.net