Slide facts for kids
A slide in photography is a special type of photograph. It's a thin, see-through picture, usually held in a paper or plastic frame. People often used slides with a slide projector to show pictures on a big screen during a slideshow. You might also hear slides called reversal film or a transparency.
Slides are different from negatives and prints. A negative shows colors and light reversed, and you need to print it to see the actual picture. A print is a picture on paper. But a slide is a positive image, meaning it looks just like the real scene, and you can see it clearly by holding it up to the light or projecting it.
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What Is a Photographic Slide?
A photographic slide is like a tiny, transparent window into a moment. It's a single picture captured on a special kind of film. This film is designed to show the colors and light exactly as they were when the picture was taken.
How Slides Are Made
Slides are made using a special type of film called reversal film. When this film is developed, it creates a positive image directly on the film itself. This is different from regular film, which creates a negative image that then needs to be printed onto paper.
The Purpose of Slides
The main reason people used slides was for sharing pictures with groups. Instead of passing around small paper prints, they could project the slides onto a large screen. This made it easy for everyone to see the images at the same time. Slides were popular for family gatherings, school presentations, and even professional lectures.
How Slides Were Used
Slides were a very popular way to view and share photos for many years, especially before digital cameras became common.
Slide Projectors
To see slides on a big screen, you needed a slide projector. This machine has a bright light that shines through the slide. Lenses in the projector then magnify the image and project it onto a screen or a wall. People would often load many slides into a tray, and the projector would show them one by one.
Slide Viewers
Sometimes, people just wanted to look at a single slide up close. For this, they used a slide viewer. A slide viewer is a small device with a light source and a magnifying lens. You place a slide into it, and the light shines through, making the picture clear and easy to see.
Types of Slide Frames
Slides are usually held in small frames. These frames protect the film and make it easier to handle and load into projectors.
- Cardboard Frames: Many slides came in simple cardboard frames. These were inexpensive and common.
- Plastic Frames: Over time, plastic frames became popular. They were more durable than cardboard and offered better protection for the film.
- Metal Frames: Some older or specialized slides might have been mounted in metal frames, which were very sturdy.
The size of the slide film itself could vary, but a common size was 35mm, which fit into standard projectors.
Related pages
- Slide projector
- Slide copier
Images for kids
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A single slide, showing a color transparency in a plastic frame
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Italian reversal film from the 1950s: Ferraniacolor
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Slide frames, 1940 (metal) to 1985 (plastic)
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Slide viewer
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Slide frame 6x6 cm
See also
In Spanish: Slide para niños
