In 2000 Imacon, now Hasselblad, created a new proprietary format for the Imacon scanners, the Flexible File Format or fff. 3F has determined the biggest revolution in the field of original analog scanning since the introduction of the drum scanner.

3F is a proprietary file created by Hasselblad, which allows one to obtain a file similar to a raw file from analog original. This has changed my professional life, and more importantly my archive, and in this article I would like to tell you why.

Normally, when scanning an original photo to obtain a tiff or jpg file, it is necessary to establish a series of settings that are adjusted, as close as possible, to one’s requirements.
The quality of this scanning process, therefore, is directly proportional to the ability of the person operating the scanner, who often is not the photographer. The changes made during this scanning process are not reversible and all the information contained in the original that is, by choice or incompetence, left out, cannot be retrieved. Also, negative originals, either color or black and white, are reversed during the scanning process to the positive; this reversal process is the most crucial phase, during which most of the noise and grain are generated. Finally retouching of the scratches and remaining dust must be done on the saved file and must be done again if the file needs to be redone.

A traditional scanning is, therefore, irreversible and requires the photographer to be an expert in scanning techniques and to own an expensive scanner. The alternative is to entrust the scanning to a third party and to establish a direct connection with the scanner operator, not an easy task.

3F files are based on a concept both basic and revolutionary. The scanner’s software acquires all the information contained in the original without any intervention by the operator. The resulting file is a peculiar 16bit, flat, tiff file without any usharp mask and not inverted. The 3F from a negative remains a negative.

Reversibility is the essence of the FlexColor System, allowing you to revert to your original 3F scan to make necessary changes in new tiff outputs, while retaining the 3F digital negative’s retouching and any of the previous setting you wish to keep.

This is made possible by the unique Hasselblad 3F file format which retains the reversible settings in its meta data.
With the FlexColor software system you are able to make your new .tiff outputs independent of the availability of the scanner.
Thus having FlexColor software on your computer frees you from the outside source and allows you to output absolutely new .tiff images at home.

The 3F format is, from a functional point of view, the equivalent of a raw file created from analog; its structure, however, is different because it is a flat tiff with an incorporated file containing the preview, the metadata and the history of all your savings.

Above, an actual pixel detail of a 3F file, in its negative form. Please note that the incomparable tonal range of the original has been totally preserved. Below, the same detail saved as a tiff* from the 3F file with a custom setting that can be modified any time you nee

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