prints from film

[rocketjam]

I suspect there's not an easy solution for this but... I started working for a new print/direct mail company late last year. The new company has partnered with an older print shop and a large part of my work has been recreating old jobs in InDesign so we have digital files for them. The old print shop has a pretty good collection of film from old jobs filed away. Twenty-five years ago it was a simple deal and very common to put a piece of print paper in a vacuum frame and make a print from a negative. My question is, does anyone know if there's a simple, economical way to make prints from old film today? I'm dreaming of a daylight print paper that self-develops after being exposed. Is there such a thing? Is scanning old film the only solution to this problem?

 

[gordo]

Scanning old film will give you a digital file. Making a print of the film won’t. You’re no further ahead by printing the film. I’m assuming that the film is halftoned litho film? If so, a photo lab may be able to print the film onto paper.

 

[dabob]

If you can find a not so older Topaz scanner it can do copy dot scans of film, mine is 1 generation too old. Or heres a link to some more . . .

https://presscity.com/en/machines/h...-nexscan-f4200-copy-dot-high-end-scanner.html

 

[Repro_Pro]

Depending on the images you need to digitize there will be different optional methods.
Please describe the typical images namely: Solid Graphics (text, lines, logos) or Halftone (screened images).
Copy Dot scanning of old films will get you results with the highest quality but this method is comparatively complicated and costly and may well exceed the quality required for your typical use.
Concerning the "Daylight Print Paper" that don't need processing - there may still be available "Blue Proofing Papers" such as the venerable DuPont Dylux, these papers are exposed by UV in a vacuum frame. The Blue image contrast may not be enough for scanning for higher quality needs.

 

[rocketjam]

Thanks for the responses. Pretty much the answers I expected. Gordo, my thought was if I could get prints they would be easier to scan than negatives. Or even get a decent image with a photo from my phone (I've done that). Dabob, I used to work with a Topaz. We used it until it broke and we couldn't get it serviced anymore. Repro_Pro, it would mostly be line art/logos but some halftones involved occasionally. And yes, I don't think blue line paper would give enough contrast to scan.
Thanks everyone!

 

[Repro_Pro]

A flat-bed scanner with a transparency attachment, preferably A3 size, with an optical resolution of at least 1200 dpi should do.
If you'll need to scan 4 color separations you'll probably need to outsource it.

 

[minch]

Still using Heidelberg Linocolor Elite to scan films into CMYK then place into InDesign for masking out bits not wanted and adding new bits. Works fine at 150LPI.