There are five general groups of film, each defined by the characteristics of the emulsion used. In a more generalized categorization, there are only two groups of film - negative and positive films.
Negative films record a negative image of the scene thas is photographed.
The image is then transferred onto a photographic paper through contact or enlargement printing which results in a positive image. Positive films record a positive image of the scene. It must be noted that each of the following five film types may have some positive films included in their listings, and are so because of their emulsion's other characteristics. Otherwise, all categories except from Slide Film and Instant Film are predominantly negative film types.