To compensate for this, SilverFast is offering the SRDx tool which is now available as a Photoshop plugin. Silver haloid in the emulsion reflects the infrared light and the information in the infrared channel gets useless. Unfortunately this method fails for most black and white film and Kodachrome slides. Infrared light passes through the film and will only be reflected by anything that is on the film, like dust, dirt or grease. It is a very effective method that depends both on the detection capabilities and the algorithms of the scanner software. An additional scan with an infrared light source will be applied and this additional IR channel can be used to digitally remove artifacts on the film. Digital ICE and Black & White negativesĪ lot of scanners offer infrared dust and scratch removal. This filter especially targets defects that cannot be detected by hardware based infrared dust and scratch removal. Everybody who is using their scanner software might have noticed a new filter which is called SRDx. LaserSoft Imaging, the company behind SilverFast has recently released a Photoshop plugin for this task. Of course you cannot expect magic and manual retouching with the afore-mentioned tools is always required especially for larger defects as the filters have a harder time to deal with them. Photoshop has its own "Dust & Scratch" filter which already works nicely. These filters target defects and blend these defects into the surrounding pixels. Among the clone and healing tools in Photoshop we can also work with filters. Canned air and dust blowers as well as small brushes are your best weapon if you want to avoid the elaborate manual retouching process. If you print in the darkroom you have no other choice than cleaning your negatives carefully before putting them into the enlarger. In the end there are always small dust particles on the film which we need to be cloned out during post-processing after scanning. But following the above guidelines should drastically reduce the amount of manual post-processing work needed.Everybody who is developing film at home knows that dust is your worst enemy and while it is surely the best practice to avoid getting dust on your negatives, it seems like a fight that we cannot win. No method is likely to get rid of 100% of the dust, so you'll still have to do some manual work if you want it perfect. SRDx on SilverFast will work on B&W films but basically does what you'd be doing manually in post with a cloning/healing brush. As an extra precaution, you can wear lint-free cotton gloves to handle the negatives (not necessary if you're already being somewhat cautious but can help).įor software, Digital ICE and/or Silverfast's iSRD work well for E-6 and C-41 processed films to help minimize dust in a more "automated" fashion. Try to handle the film by the edges only to avoid getting oils from your fingers onto the surfaces of the negatives which can cause dust to stick/be harder to remove. What are you doing to prepare for scanning? Use a rocket blower or anti-static dust brush to clean off the film and the scanner and any other surfaces before you place the negatives down to scan. How are you storing your film? Use archival sleeves and keep them in a binder or box to minimize dust. This will allow steam and humidity to build up and help get dust out of the air for a good drying environment. Where are you drying your film? You didn't specify your cleaning method to eliminate dust in this area, so I'll say that if you're drying in a bathroom, I would recommend running the shower water on the hottest setting and leaving the door closed for several minutes before you start developing.
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