Dusty Negatives

[Chris W]

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Any modern techniques tips, AI aids etc?

I have B&W negatives from 30+ years ago. They have all been stored together, and not been touched since they were developed. Many rolls are basically clean, easily scanned and processed.

About half a dozen are marred by a blizzard of dust, hairs and scratches. My scanning is done with Vuescan.

I've tried the blower (of course), I've tried PEC. I've tried washing them in soapy water. 

Most of my scans I spend a good while cleaning up with the healing tool and spot removal, but a few rolls don't even have a clean area to clone from.

Would be great if there was an AI software product that could identify spots of dust and remove them?

[ianman]

I’ve used Isopropyl alcohol (99% IIRC) to clean some sticky dust off negs.

For scratches, I just use the healing tool in Pixelmator which works very well. I’ve managed to save some negs that got stuck to the protective sheets after a flood here.

For those with no area to clone you could try this not really modern technique… 

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by ianman

[Chris W]

I think PEC is equivalent to alcohol for cleaning.

 

[ianman]

2 hours ago, Chris W said:

I think PEC is equivalent to alcohol for cleaning.

 

Ah yes, you’re right, sorry!

I had not heard of PEC before but a search just returned this, where you may find some help.

[Chris W]

Thanks. I think they got very dusty at the film processing lab back in 1992. I've even tried scrubbing them, nothing shifts it.

I'm going to try AI dust removal.