Negatives are not invert-only; mask order errors tint everything
Legacy color negatives carry orange-brown masking; scanning with slide presets then inverting yields magenta skies and greenish skin. `old-negative-color` stresses density and mask correction before invert and balance, otherwise models treat mask residue as scene illumination. Newton rings and curled film add rainbow fringes that colorize as fabric folds. Heavily underexposed areas explode into chroma noise after inversion—plastic skin if you force color. Early versus late C-41 stocks differ in mask density; one curve across a shoebox of rolls skews some warm and some cool. Faded magenta casts need edge-leader or gray-strip alignment before inference. Wide dynamic range negatives need 16-bit (or better) tone compression for print-ready highlights or paper blows out. Always retain raw scan, inverted-but-uncolorized, and final color tiers for future algorithms. Film-holder pressure lines can read as clothing pleats after paint—clone or frequency repair before inversion, not after. Uncurling geometry before color matters: stretched faces draw attention once saturated.
Negative inversion and color workflow
- On `old-negative-color`, use negative film scan settings or manual mask removal, then invert and set white balance.
- Check underexposed noise and Newton rings for fake texture after color.
- Tier saves: raw scan, inverted neutral, colorized output.