are 35mm negs with very fine scratches..

Hello All,

If you try all of the other methods and they all fail to produce the result you want, you may want to try this hybrid digital/analog method. Have a drum scan made, the fluid mounting will fill in most if not all of the base scratches, touch up in PS and then record the result back to film with a film recorder. Print normally on your enlarger. I had some extremely damged negs and this method worked out very well for me. It is naturally the most expensive way to go....but this is your best work in 10 years and reshooting may not have the same "magic" that your orignal shoot had. So, that is just another option. Best of luck.

Many years ago I processed two rolls of XP1 which had heavy scratch marks on the first 12 frames. As I had used two different cameras and two different developing tanks I more or less rules out any faults with the camera and processing ( which would of been my first thought had only one camera been uses).

I contacted Ilford who were aware of this problem and asked me to return the films with as much information as possible. It turned out that the problem was in the adhesive which glues the felt light trap to the cassette; it was too hard and was scratching the film as it pulled out of the cassette.

This does not help you with your scratched film but it may point towards the source of the scratches.

Ernie

If you could find some Edwal Permafilm - that would solve the problem. Permafilm was developed for the motion picture industry to clean and "repair" release prints at motion picture theaters. It is some amazing stuff and will absolutely eliminate problems with scratches on the backing side of film.

My second choice would be Edwal No Scratch or Hide-A-Scratch.

You've gotten the nose oil solution - works sometimes. You can also use Vaseline applied in a very thin coat.

In a pinch, I've made up a very thin solution of lacquer and lacquered the back side of the film. You used to be able to buy film lacquer for just that purpose - but, I haven't seen actual film lacquer available for at least 30 or more years.