White spots on prints

[wobsy]

I have recently moved home, lost my darkroom and am now only able to produce an inkjet print, so please bear with me - this is a film question.
When I scan a B&W neg I am finding the resulting image 'pitted' with a number of white spots. They are irregular and almost look as if very small areas of grain has been overdeveloped (ie making them black on the neg). I have only noticed them since scanning (I use either a V700 or Nikon 4000ED) and on checking my negs made prior to moving home see they are on them also.
I am not a highly skilled B&W-er although have been dabbling for a number of years.
I am still trying to tie myself down to a particular film and dev combo so have tried a number of alternatives. I would say its there on most films.
I have tried using de-ionied water for mixing/washing and today filtered all water using a household filter. Still no success. I never suffer with hairs on the negs so suspect it is not a drying problem.
Help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[edtbjon]

As you have already have a scan, go ahead and post it (or a part of it). "A picture says more..."

//Björn

 

[Blighty]

Maybe it's your neg files. During your move, they mave have 'ingested' some dust or similar. A few years back, I bought some neg files from Jessops (I couldn't get my usual Kenro files). After making a couple of prints, I noticed that there was a rash of small white marks on them. Any and every print that had been stored in these files produced the same result. A thorough rewash eliminated the problem completely. Obviously, they were contaminated with some crud or powder. I took the neg files back to Jessops, got a grovelling apology and got my money back. I stick with Kenro or Panodia files these days and have never had a repeat of the problem

 

[Blighty]

BTW, welcome to APUG. Always nice to meet a new member

 

[winger]

Negatives that are spotless seem to acquire dust the instant they're put on the scanner bed. I'm not familiar with either of your scanners, but the dust spots I get with the Epson 4870 look just like that. The negs will be spotless when I close the lid and will have visible dust on them when I open it after scanning. Unless you can see spots on the negs themselves with a loupe, I'd look at the scanner first (especially if it's dry where you do this).

 

[brian steinberger]

The is inevitable when scanning. Try to clean neg (canned air) the best you can. The spots you miss, you can just fix in photoshop with the clone or healing tool while zoomed in to atleast 100%.

 

[white.elephant]

Indeed, as the others have mentioned this is dust. It seems like it's a never-ending battle, believe me. I use distilled water and hang the negs in the shower. I run the shower first to let the steam filter the air a bit and I still get the dust. As Brian said, you end up using Photoshop to fix these spots. I zoom to 125%. It isn't a question of whether you have dust, but how much.

 

[wogster]

Indeed, as the others have mentioned this is dust. It seems like it's a never-ending battle, believe me. I use distilled water and hang the negs in the shower. I run the shower first to let the steam filter the air a bit and I still get the dust. As Brian said, you end up using Photoshop to fix these spots. I zoom to 125%. It isn't a question of whether you have dust, but how much.

What can help is to keep a humidifier in the room where your using your negatives, the darkroom for traditional processing and the computer room if scanning. Places that have central heating (probably NOT Phoenix) tend to get very dry air, dry air means a lot of static build up, and that means objects (likr negatives) attract any dust in the air. Places that are warm and dry, might also have this problem, but humidifiers might be harder to find.

You might also consider a film drying cabinet, this would consist of a small fan and a heating coil (from a hair dryer would probably be the right size) at the bottom and a vent opening space at the top, put a HEPA filter over each opening, and a small closet rail bear the top. Don't mount the heating coil and fan at the very bottom, but in one side about 5cm up the wall, so that any water that drips off the negs can pool at the bottom. All joints should be sealed with caulk, and the door should be fully weatherstripped.

 

[wobsy]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and help. I have found that scanning the negs on the Nikon 4000ED scanner is too unforgiving, whereas the V700, although giving a very good scan, is softer and loses most of the spots. It may be due to the type of illumination - condenser v diffuser enlarger? For colour, neg or trannie, the 4000ED is superior. many thanks again, progress has been achieved.

Colin