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Scanning Slides

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Brooklands

Brooklands

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Since we have a number of photography buffs here, I thought I would try to get some help from this group...

I have been scanning old slides on my Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III, AF-2840, and have a major problem with dust spots. I can clean the slides using an airbrush with a soft modeling paint brush, but I still have some major problems with dust showing, especially in clear skies and such. I recently switched to an iMac from a PC, so I need to get new photo software to use.

I would appreciate suggestions of programs I could consider to help me clean up these prints after scanning.

Thanks gang...
 
Brooklands said:
Since we have a number of photography buffs here, I thought I would try to get some help from this group...

I have been scanning old slides on my Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III, AF-2840, and have a major problem with dust spots. I can clean the slides using an airbrush with a soft modeling paint brush, but I still have some major problems with dust showing, especially in clear skies and such. I recently switched to an iMac from a PC, so I need to get new photo software to use.

I would appreciate suggestions of programs I could consider to help me clean up these prints after scanning.

Thanks gang...
Click to expand...

Dave: I have been scanning the old family photos; prints, negatives and slides and they have turned out very nice.
Question: Are you using a scanner/software with "Digital ICE" or equivalent capabilities? I'm using a Microtec i800, a few years old, but with D-ICE engaged most of the dust and other artifacts are removed.
 
The software I was able to download did not include a Digital Ice component. Everything else works well, but when I acquired the Minolta I was on Windows 98, and cannot find appropriate software for the Mac that included that feature.
 
Brooklands said:
The software I was able to download did not include a Digital Ice component.
Click to expand...


That scanner doesn't (I'm 99% sure) have Digital Ice capability. Digital Ice and Silverfast's iSRD dust & scratch removal rely on an infrared scan to detect damage and flaws in and on the film - but the Scan Dual III doesn't have that capability.

By the way, "Digital Ice" isn't supposed to be used on B&W or Kodachrome film bases because it misinterprets the layers of emulsion (or silver with B&W films) as flaws and dust during the IR pass. iSRD, on the other hand, works differently and was designed for those film bases. It never seemed quite as "aggressive" to me, but in most cases it works really well.

Silverfast's software-based dust removal that <span style="font-style: italic">doesn't</span> use the IR scan will help, but the IR pass really makes a night-and-day difference. If you're doing a ton of scans you might consider getting another scanner that has that ability.

Here are some samples from an Epson 4990 using a demo version of Silverfast I was trying last year. My version of Silverfast doesn't have iSRD or iHDR capabilities, this version did:

Original HDR scan with no dust correction
Click to enlarge...


Using Silverfast's iSRD dust correction set on "auto"
Click to enlarge...


Straight scan using Digital ICE:
Click to enlarge...



Some things you can try: order a "static master" brush (I can't believe how expensive they've gotten!), and/or a couple of Anti Static cloths. There are also nylon brushes that you can supposedly "charge" using canned air so they will attract dust off of the film (google it).

Using a small brush to get the stubborn crud off the slide will work great, but little bits of dust will inevitably be attracted to the film and scanner. The static-master will clean the dust and kill any dust-attracting charge on the slide.

The anti-static cloths can be used on the slide/neg carriers and the scanner itself to kill any charge there, and canned air can blow away any residual dust. Used <span style="font-style: italic">gently</span> they can be used to clean negs and slides too - but any grit on them <span style="font-style: italic">will</span> scratch film (I ran photo labs for a long time - some really bad locations needed to run all their film through Ilford cloths to keep them dust-free).

Good luck!
 
Scott,
Thanks for sharing your slide show yesterday, and for your input. I did find that Silverfast did not give my scanner the help it needed...I am back to trying better dust removal. Thanks for all your suggestions.

I wish I understood some of the software better, but I am back to using the Dimage software and just spending more time on cleaning the originals first...
 
What scanner/software is recommended? I have a closet full of slides to scan. I am running a HP Envy 14 with a I5-520 processor and 8 gig of memory.
 
That style of "scanner" isn't exactly the best (there are several in that $100-$140 range) - and the maximum resolution it can do is around 1830dpi, anything higher is through resampling. It's essentially a cheap digital camera that takes pictures of a backlit slide that produces a 2592pixel x 1680pixel image.

Nothing wrong with that of course, but for anyone wanting to do archival work a good high-resolution scanner with digital-ice/IR and decent software would be a really good investment.
 
tomshobby said:
I completely agree. But it was plenty good for what I was doing.
Click to expand...

I knew that - just filling in the gaps for anyone shopping around :smile:
 
The funny part is that I have been wanting to scan those slides for at least 10 years. Even started a couple times with my flatbed. So I got this little scanner for Christmas from my kids. Then I started scanning one evening a couple days later and by the next evening I was finished. All done and no more use for my Christmas gift.
 
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