OT:Whatto use to clean photos before scanning?

plasmavideo wrote on 8/1/2004, 6:30 AM

I'm really into photo montages these days, and it seems like I'm spending a lot of extra time retouching for dust, particles of whatever and finger marks. I scan at a fairly hi-rez so I can do zooms with detail, and the smallest particles really stand out.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for pre-cleaning the photos before scanning? I keep the scanner surface as clean as possible - it's just the stuff on, especially older, photos that shows up so much.

Thanks!

Tom

Comments

rextilleon wrote on 8/1/2004, 6:37 AM

The old fashioned way---elbow grease and Photoshop.

Chienworks wrote on 8/1/2004, 6:40 AM

If it's resin-coated paper (feels like plastic) the best thing is water. Soak the pictures and gently blot them with a lint-free cloth, or squeegee them. Set them out to dry on a flat porous surface like a towel. Drying time is probably 15 to 45 minutes depending on conditions. A hair dryer can be used to speed up the process. Color photos will have a blue cast while wet; it will disappear when they are dry.

Fiber-based papers can also be washed in water, but they'll have to be dried between sheets of blotter paper with lots of weight on top to keep them from curling. Drying time can be a full day.

JJKizak wrote on 8/1/2004, 7:43 AM

Some of the dirt on old photos gets permantly attached (You can rub it extremely hard with your fingers and it will not dislodge) and its easier to smudge or paint it out with a 3rd party application.

JJK

plasmavideo wrote on 8/2/2004, 9:15 AM

Thanks. I appreciate the info. The scratch and dust filters in PhotoImpact and Photoshop Elements do a decent job, it's just time consuming. I tried a can of compressed air last night that help a lot, but that could get to be an expensive way to go. I'll try thr water method on a couple of throaway photos.

Thank you so much!