Hi one of the time consuming tasks i find is after scanning ,Spotting and cleaning dust marks etc off the scan seems to take forever, I know really fastidious cleaning of the original helps , But any body got a better technique than me , I just use a small brush and the healing tool . Cheers Gary
A Wacom tablet is less fatiguing for me. I hardly use it otherwise, but for spotting. . . .
Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear
I second the Wacom and the healing brush. Shortcut J. The content aware brush is much improved in CS6 and CC
I think the epson scanner attracts dust with it's plastic and air flow caused by open/closing the lid. If you can run an air cleaner nearby, it helps. If you can keep the scanner covered in some antistatic covering that helps too.
Aside from what everyone else has mentioned, I often use a curves adjustment layer to temporarily modify the brightness and contrast of an area to help see those darn dust spots. This is especially helpful in, say, an overcast sky, where the spots can be difficult to see on the monitor but where they'll stick out like a sore thumb in a print. So I'll darken and pump up the contrast. It makes spotting the sky much faster.
Also, my drum scans are much cleaner than epson or hasselblad/imacon scans. So perhaps even on an Epson, wet mounting might be worthwhile. I only use my epson for proofs so I don't spot them.
Ya got that right. I have detritus under the glass.Originally Posted by jp
Dunno what to say to the OP but healing brush and clone stamp with a diffuse edge. It takes however long it takes. I can spend a couple hours on an initial run if the scan is really dirty. I always give it a second pass if I use any sharpening or unmask tools.
Regards
Marty
agree with the other tips here, especially noah's temporary curves adjustment layer for skies. here's what i do for reducing dust issues:
1) wet mounting. my issues with dust and scratches were reduced by 90% versus dry flatbed scanning.
2) for manual editing, photoshop's content-aware healing brush is where it's at. if that doesn't work, time for clone stamp. with a wet mounted 4x5, i spend maybe 10 minutes or less on manual spot removal.
3) photoshop's "dust and scratches" filter can be used to automatically detect dust and remove it, however, it takes some skill to get it set up. it is great if you are scanning a bunch of low-importance stuff that you just need to archive, and you don't want to work on every file with individually spot healing. you can figure out what setting works for the type of film, then create a batch action and run it on all the files. good for archiving old 35mm film for example.
1) Another suggestion is to view the image at 100% size - or larger. It's easier to see what you're doing and do a good job.
2) If you work with a Mac you get this automatically, but on other operating systems you should use a mouse or track pad which supports easy vertical - and horizontal - scrolling. It's much faster than using the scroll-bar every time you want to move to the next part of the image.
That's not the only thing that helps. You have to declare war on dust and dirt. That means the entire process, from loading your film holders on. (Hint: never let your holders get dirty, as in never let them touch any surface other than your camera back, your hand, or the inside of a zip-lock bag. Never set a film holder down on anything in the field. Never carry them not inside a zip-lock bag.) It means mixing chems. with steam distilled water only. It means diluting developer, stop, fixer with steam distilled water only. It means using developer one shot. And stop. And fix. Yes, use fixer one shot only with film; you'll be amazed at the amount of tiny silver particles that come out with a single use of fixer, that then can deposit on the next run of film. It means giving a final rinse to your graduates, trays, tanks, with steam distilled water when you are finished cleaning them after a session. It means storing your graduates, trays, tanks, upside down so that dust can't fall into them between uses. All these things matter.
The biggie is your darkroom has to be spotless. Everything has to be cleaned regularly. That includes the ceiling, the walls, under the shelves (you'll be amazed how much dust accumulates on the underside of shelves). Keep an air cleaner running in the darkroom 24x7. You do this, and hanging LF film to dry will be much more dust free.
You do this, and you'll find out just how much your scanner matters to dust and dirt in your scans. Hint: no so much.
All this said, you'll never get rid of all the dust and dirt. But you can get rid of 90%. But it takes a serious effort through your entire workflow, not just cleaning the film before you scan it. Just sayin'.
Bruce Watson
I do some of what Bruce recommends and it has worked.
Pink antistatic bags for film holders unless they are in the camera or being loaded/unloaded in the darkroom.
I don't distilled rinse darkroom containers or store them upside down, but I do run an air cleaner in the darkroom which is the biggest means of keeping things dust free in there. My developer is one-shot by design and I use distilled to mix up fix, but do re-use it. Fixer can be filtered if it gets floaties and still has plenty of strength left. As an experiment, filtering results would support Bruce's choice, but I don't mind re-using it.
As such, I can make optical prints with rare dust issues. But the scanner is where the dust is for me as it's outside the darkroom. I only spend a couple minutes cleaning dust with the healing tool.
Don't EVER carry a wet negative from the darkroom, through the house, to the scanner. I have learned this.
It will pick up stuff like crazy especially if you have pets. File or protect the negatives in the darkroom before transporting them to the scanner, even if it's a short walk.
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