Can you help me figure out why my scanns are bad?

[sofasurfer]

Using Epson 4990 scanner. Gimp with Xsane plugin. Scanning a 1940s 5x7 negative. Settings- transparancy unit, gray scale, full color range, 75 dpi (same effect with any dpi), either auto adjust or default settings (same effect). The image shown is an example of how my scans come out. What is my problem? This is simply a b&w negative showing a well dressed couple.
I have read that xsane is troublesome. Could Xsane be the whole problem?

[mips]

This is simply a b&w negative showing a well dressed couple.

Negatives are reversed, the image you are getting seems correct. Scanning them is pretty tricky. I suggest you scan them in colour and post process them afterwards in something like GIMP

Have a look at this http://robertdfeinman.com/tips/tip11.html as it has some really good tips.

[underquark]

That's not a normal scan. Is the transparency scanning light plugged in and does it come on when you scan?

[sofasurfer]

You are correct that my image was inverted. I have included a proper neg scan. I did find a post .. http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-P...80/td-p/174691 .. which seems to indicate that the black lines are from dirt on the scanner light which makes a little sense to me. Another good article is at .. http://www.scantips.com/faq1.html#lines
Also... http://www.martyndavis.com/?p=78
Tomorrow I will see if I can locate a dirt problem.

[sofasurfer]

I found that the problem was that I was placing the negative over the calibration area. The scanner was calibrating based on the shading in the image.