Scanning negatives - Wash before scan?

[elekm]

I think removing dust spots from scans is a way of life if you scan film. A puff of compressed air and careful use of an anti-static brush will help.

 

[tron_]

Hmm, gotta try these PEC pads out for myself! Now that I think of it, I think I got some with my light seal kit that I never used.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I think removing dust spots from scans is a way of life if you scan film. A puff of compressed air and careful use of an anti-static brush will help.

And 2 hours with the despotting tool in Photochop before you send the file for printing. Nothing, nothing at all will ever replace this singularly critical point in the process: to de-spot the image at 400%.

 

[Worker 11811]

Dude! If you're spending two hours spotting a digital image you're either not doing it right or else you're OCD.
It shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to do a basic spotting job. An hour if you're being picky.

 

[clayne]

Dude! If you're spending two hours spotting a digital image you're either not doing it right or else you're OCD.
It shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to do a basic spotting job. An hour if you're being picky.

Yep, agreed. Also, 30 seconds of more ample cleaning would probably save an hour of time. Prep, prep, prep, nothing new there.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Dude! If you're spending two hours spotting a digital image you're either not doing it right or else you're OCD.
It shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to do a basic spotting job. An hour if you're being picky.

Not picky. Thorough, experienced and professional. Thanks.

 

[Diapositivo]

The back of the film, the side without the emulsion, can be cleaned with a simple film-clean liquid that one can find in specialised shops, such as Tetenal Graphic Arts Filmcleaner, or as an emergency with some denaturated alcohol.

The side with the emulsion is better left alone and cleaned only with compressed air if possible. Compressed air should come either from the manual pump that normally are sold with a brush to clean front lenses, or from some specific photographic can. Don't use generic canned air as that might "spit" extraneous substances to the emulsion.

Complicated cases on the emulsion side should be cleaned with PEC-12, a liquid, in conjunction with a suitable non-lint cloth such as the PEC-pads from the same producer.

These considerations apply, I do believe, identically for enlarging and scanning. A clean negative is a clean negative.

 

[clayne]

Just use lab-grade (99.5%) isopropanol or Naphtha (white gas, Ronsonol) and you won't have any issues. Both are completely compatible with silver, acetate and polyester bases.

 

[removed account4]

heroics are not needed to do this ..
just wipe the glass with glass cleaner and a clean
lintless rag and use an anti static brush to get dust off
both sides of your frame.

( just like you would if you were enlarging it )

 

[Noble]

heroics are not needed to do this ..
just wipe the glass with glass cleaner

I wouldn't use glass cleaner. I would use the stuff you use to clean flat panel monitors and TVs to clean your scanner glass. I think long term use of glass cleaners such as Windex is damaging. I think it is the ammonia.

Cleaning a TV screen seems easy. Windex, right? Wrong. Most modern HDTVs have special coatings on their surface that can be ruined by strong cleansers.

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57520824-285/how-to-clean-a-tv-screen/

I don't know if there are any special coatings on scanner glass but better safe than sorry. I don't clean the glass that much. A bottle of cleaner lasts years. You just need one small squirt.

 

[removed account4]

I wouldn't use glass cleaner. I would use the stuff you use to clean flat panel monitors and TVs to clean your scanner glass. I think long term use of glass cleaners such as Windex is damaging. I think it is the ammonia.



http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57520824-285/how-to-clean-a-tv-screen/

I don't know if there are any special coatings on scanner glass but better safe than sorry. I don't clean the glass that much. A bottle of cleaner lasts years. You just need one small squirt.

thanks noble

i was just saying glass cleaner as a generic sort of thing
i use plain old water
( clean-damp rag )

but i am no expert, just a putz for the most part

 

[GRHazelton]

I've had good luck - so far! - with swabbing the film with Edwal's Anti-Static Film Cleaner, applied with the little circular cotton pads my wife uses for makeup. They don't shed lint and haven't scratched, yet. I scored on fleabay a Kinetronics Static Vac ionizing film cleaner, this little marvel has a slot lined on top and bottom with soft bristles, little needles spray ions on the film discharging static, and a little fan with a filter sucks up the dislodged debris. WooHoo! The machine was made for a Fuji printer, I think, since it has a Fujifilm decal. It will handle both 35mm and 120 film.

The negatives go into a carrier for my Epson V700, either the stock for 35mm, or a Betterscanning.com carrier for 120, with anti Newton's Rings glass insert. This carrier has fully adjustable height, and with the ANG glass gives far better results than the stock Epson. I puff canned air on the carrier, and clean the glass with Windex or such, with a well-worn Tee shirt.

I scan ALL my film so it can be loaded into Lightroom 4 along with my digital stuff. Still working back to my teen shooting days. Then I can tackle film from my father dating into the '30s. And scan in some photos from my grandparents', I should live so long!

Film shots are numbered as they are scanned and kept in poly sleeves in plastic box ring binders. Lightroom thus furnishes a good way to find an image, film or digital, quickly with its tag system. Saves money on contact sheets, too!

 

[clayne]

I highly recommend avoiding cue tips of any sort for cleaning negatives. Cotton swabs often contain silicon from the soil and you don't want to be rubbing glass shards against the base side of the film. Only the synthetic ones do not contain silicon and its a crap shoot what you may find yourself using. Use pec pads.

 

[GRHazelton]

I highly recommend avoiding cue tips of any sort for cleaning negatives. Cotton swabs often contain silicon from the soil and you don't want to be rubbing glass shards against the base side of the film. Only the synthetic ones do not contain silicon and its a crap shoot what you may find yourself using. Use pec pads.

Thanks for the tip! While these are not Q tips they are cotton, as far as I know. I'll check the packaging.