Dodge & Burn/Scratched Negatives

[bigdog]

Two seperate questions:

1. I always adjust the contrast and brightness of my negatives after a scan and sometimes doge and burn. Which set of adjustments should I do first (adjust contrast/brightness first or dodge/burn) and does it matter?

2. Does anyone have a good technique for removing a long scratch that runs across the full fram of a black and white negative? Ice won't work here obviously!

 

[Peter]

Hi bigdog,

This the workflow that works for me and I acquired it by trial and error (too lazy to read the whole PS 7 manual):

1. Crop the edges
2. Adjust contrast and brightness
3. Remove dust spots and scratches with healing tool
4. Minimal unsharp mask
5. Dodge and Burn

I hope this works for you as well. 🙂

Regards,
Peter

 

[bigdog]

Peter,

Thanks so much. My old version of Photoshop didn't have the healing tool and I got used to using the eyedropper and paint brush tools to deal with spotting and it really didn't work well for scratches. I can't believe how well the healing tool works...thanks again!

 

[Peter]

My pleasure! You really should upgrade to at least PS 7 as the healing tool is indispensable for film user IMHO! 🙂

 

[Patman]

Their was an old trick used with scratched negs when printing on the enlarger, not sure if it will work on a ned scanner but it might be worth a try. We used to lay down a light coat of vasoline & lightly wipe it off, it would fill in the scratches, sounds crazy but it worked.

 

[oftheherd]

Their was an old trick used with scratched negs when printing on the enlarger, not sure if it will work on a ned scanner but it might be worth a try. We used to lay down a light coat of vasoline & lightly wipe it off, it would fill in the scratches, sounds crazy but it worked.

As did nose grease according to the old books and magazine articles of the subject. I admit I never tried it myself.

 

[foon]

As did nose grease according to the old books and magazine articles of the subject. I admit I never tried it myself.

that's pretty gross 😱

 

[back alley]

that's pretty gross 😱

but it worked most of the time.