Restore image with negative colors
Restore image with negative colors
Question
I have an image that was taken using a negative color filter long ago, but now I need the normal picture, is there a way to get a good quality of that picture with the actual colors? The current software I am using is GIMP.
Accepted Answer
GIMP has an invert command you can apply to RGB and Grayscale images:
to 
You can acces it through Colors → Invert.
Popular Answer
We may be talking about a scanned color negative film stock widely used way before the invention of digital cameras.
These images had a yellow and a red mask for color absorption. Hence negatives had an orange rather than a white tint:
Image source: Wikipedia cc
To obtain a positve color image from these sources we have to
Remove the orange mask
- Colors > Pick white point: choose an area outside the image
Invert the colors
- Colors > Invert
Adjust colors (many negatives will have a heavy blue tint):
- Colors > Pick gray point: choose a gray area from the image
Note: removing the orange mask will unfortunately lead to a reduced pixel information as compared to color scans.