Turn a negative photo into a positive in your browser
Photograph a negative with your phone or scan it, then turn it into a positive here. Tap the orange film edge, adjust the look and save the file.
How to convert a negative to a positive online
- Put the negative on an even light: a light table, a phone or monitor showing plain white, or a bright window.
- Photograph it close, with the frame filling the picture and a strip of the orange edge in view. Lock the white balance and exposure first.
- Drop the photo into the tool above and keep Colour negative selected. Press Tap the film base and touch the orange edge.
- Move Exposure and Temperature until skin and sky look right. Press Before and After to compare with the negative.
- Press Download positive. The JPG has the pixel size of your photo.
What each slider does to a pixel
People photograph a negative on a screen and then wonder why the sliders feel strange. I wanted to see the sliders as numbers, so I ran two pixels through them: one of value 100 and one of 200. I used slide mode with the levels off, which leaves the inversion out and shows only the slider.
Exposure is the strongest. Contrast pushes the two values apart, and temperature and tint move one or two channels only.
A pixel of 100 and one of 200 under each slider
| Slider setting | 100 becomes | 200 becomes |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure +1 EV | 138 | 255 |
| Exposure −1 EV | 71 | 146 |
| Contrast +50 | 89 | 230 |
| Contrast −50 | 108 | 179 |
| Temperature +50 | 107, 100, 94 | 213, 200, 188 |
| Tint +50 | 100, 94, 100 | 200, 188, 200 |
Three values are red, green and blue. Exposure +1 EV doubles the light, so 200 is already at the top. Positive temperature warms the picture and positive tint takes green out.
A phone photo against a scan
A scan is flat and even. A phone photo of a negative picks up the colour of whatever lights it, plus reflections and a soft edge. White balance and exposure locked before the shot help the most, and the tool then removes the rest with the base sample: whatever colour the light adds to the unexposed edge is divided out of the picture too.
If the light is uneven, one corner of the positive will look different from the other. That is the light, and a single base tap cannot fix it. Move the light or the phone, or use a second photo.
Free, with no upload
The page runs in your browser. The tool opens a JPG, PNG or WebP of up to 50 MB and 64 megapixels, converts a scaled copy while you move the sliders, and applies the same settings to every pixel when you save. Camera data and location are left out of the saved file.
When the picture still has a tint, drag Temperature or Tint a little. 50 on temperature takes 13 % off blue and adds 15 % to red, so small moves are enough.
Tips for photographing a negative
- A phone screen set to maximum brightness and plain white makes a quick light table; clean it first.
- Photograph from straight above so the frame is not skewed.
- Keep the exposure so that the orange edge is bright but not clipped to white.
- Take two or three shots and convert the sharpest.
Privacy
Your negative never leaves your device. It is opened, converted and saved in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
How can I convert a negative to a positive online for free?
Photograph or scan the negative, drop the file onto this page and tap the orange film edge. The conversion is free, runs in your browser and ends with a JPG or PNG download.
Can I convert a colour negative to a positive online?
Yes. Keep Colour negative selected and sample the orange base. Each channel is divided by its base value before it is inverted, which removes the blue cast that a plain invert leaves behind.
Can I convert a phone photo of a negative?
Yes, a phone photo works as well as a scan. Light the negative evenly, lock the white balance and include a strip of the unexposed edge so the tool has a base to sample.
What if my photo shows no orange edge?
Press Find it for me. With no orange block at the edge the tool uses the brightest value of each channel as the base. Then adjust Temperature and Tint by eye, because that guess is rougher.
Is my negative uploaded when I convert it?
No. The test for this page records every request while a file is converted and saved, and none carries image data. The photo stays in your browser tab.
Related tools and guides
- Film Negative to Positive: Fix the Orange Cast: Convert a film negative scan or phone photo to a positive, with the orange base removed.
- A converter for colour, black and white and slide film: One converter for three kinds of film. Pick the type, set the levels per channel and save the positive as a PNG or a JPG.
- Image Resizer: Resize images by pixels, percentage or longest side.
- Image Cropper: Crop images to exact ratios or popular preset sizes.
- Put your photos together in one image: Join photos side by side, stacked or in a grid, with adjustable gaps and borders.
- Add text to your photo and keep it readable: Put captions on a photo with a gradient, tint or box behind them and a live contrast check.
- I Built the Tools I Kept Looking for as a Photographer: The photo problems behind the tools on this site.