Scanning Slides

[GlennT Dulmage]

Two Questions:

1. What can I use to clean 35 year-old slides to take the dust off and
to minimize the amount of work done by my scanner (Epson 4870)?

2. What is the best resolution to use? My intention is to show the
slides on my computer and also using a digital slide projector. I currently
use the following settings:

Film
Positive File
48 bit color
Best scanning quality
2400 dpi resolution
Unsharp mask - Medium
Grain reduction - Medium
Dust removal - High

I don't use Digital Ice because all my slides a Kodachrome and the
documentation says that DI won't work with this scanner. In addition, I
have Vuescan but don't use it. Should I?

 

[RSD99]

Q1 What can I use to clean 35 year-old slides to take the
dust off and
to minimize the amount of work done by my scanner (Epson
4870)?

A1: First, blow off as much as possible with a gentle
application of "Canned Air," Dust Off." or a similar
product. Second: If that's not sufficient, try PEC-12
cleaner. Most photo stores will have it.

Q2: What is the best resolution to use? My intention is to
show the
slides on my computer and also using a digital slide
projector. I currently
use the following settings:

Film
Positive File
48 bit color
Best scanning quality
2400 dpi resolution
Unsharp mask - Medium
Grain reduction - Medium
Dust removal - High

I don't use Digital Ice because all my slides a Kodachrome
and the
documentation says that DI won't work with this scanner.

A2: Sounds reasonable. I don't see any areas that need
changing, except that using "48 bit color" is probably
over-kill for your intended usage.

Q3: In addition, I have Vuescan but don't use it. Should I?
A3: IMHO: The SilverFast and Epson Scan programs provided
with the Epson 4870 are both adequate. If you got the
Perfection 4870 PRO package that includes SilverFast AI,
it's quite possibly the best option.

 

[Gordon Moat]

Two Questions:

1. What can I use to clean 35 year-old slides to take the dust off and
to minimize the amount of work done by my scanner (Epson 4870)?

2. What is the best resolution to use? My intention is to show the
slides on my computer and also using a digital slide projector. I currently
use the following settings:

Film
Positive File
48 bit color
Best scanning quality
2400 dpi resolution
Unsharp mask - Medium
Grain reduction - Medium
Dust removal - High

I don't use Digital Ice because all my slides a Kodachrome and the
documentation says that DI won't work with this scanner. In addition, I
have Vuescan but don't use it. Should I?

--

Polaroid have a free download available of a dust and scratch removal software.
There is little documentation, and the settings might take a few guesses to get
a good combination at first usage. However, it really does a great job on older
images, and is much faster than using the cloning tool. It will work best
within PhotoShop, where you could set a Batch Action to clean many images in
one step.

You can find it under the Scanner Listings at:

<http://www.polaroid.com/service/software/> Dust And Scratch Removal Utility

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
<http://www.allgstudio.com/gallery.html> Updated!

 

[Matthew Dranchak]

Two Questions:
snip..................................................
Dust removal - High

I don't use Digital Ice because all my slides a Kodachrome and the
documentation says that DI won't work with this scanner. In addition, I
have Vuescan but don't use it. Should I?

I have a Minolta ER 5400 scanner.
The information I read also said that DI would not work on my scanner.
I tried DI when I made my first scan of my Kodachrome (50 years old) slides.
The results were excellent. Very little or no touch up required on completed
scans.
Try it. If it doesn't work then nothing is lost. It sure saves a lot of
touch up time.

 

[bmoag]

48 bit scanning should not be used unless you can give specific reasons you
to need to scan a range of colors that is beyond what your monitor,
projector and printer can produce and don't mind that various drivers will
truncate the color range arbitrarily anyway.

Stick with the Epson/Silverfast software: it is better than Vuescan.

You can try the Polaroid plug-in but it does not really work all that well.

Use compressed air, antistatic brushes and cotton film gloves when you
handle your slides.

If you want high quality you will have to learn to retouch in Photoshop or
whatever program you use. This can be time consuming and tedious but is not
all that difficult.

 

[Hecate]

I have a Minolta ER 5400 scanner.
The information I read also said that DI would not work on my scanner.
I tried DI when I made my first scan of my Kodachrome (50 years old) slides.
The results were excellent. Very little or no touch up required on completed
scans.
Try it. If it doesn't work then nothing is lost. It sure saves a lot of
touch up time.

Hi Glenn,

Yes, it does work sometimes but it depends on the density of the
image. Kodachromes are naturally dense to start with and so...

Anyway, I've found it works about 40% of the time., The rest of the
time... Anyway, that's why I've switched to Velvia.