Eliminating dust in the scanning environment

[Ara Ghajanian]

Hello all,
I just wanted to gain some insight on how to reduce the amount of dust in your scanning area. I used to have a rug in my scan area and I removed it. This helped. I now have just bare hardwood floors. Does anyone think a humidifier might help the situation also?

What do you do?
Ara

 

[jon_flanders]

I cover my scanner with a plastic sheeting. Since we are doing bathroom renovations at the moment, it's a scary time for scanning.

 

[DougK]

I usually keep a can of compressed air handy along with a microfiber cloth and optical glass cleaner and use both on my flatbed before I start a scanning session. Haven't had any major issues with dust yet <knocks wood>.

 

[dmr]

What do you do?

First, I keep the scanner door closed when not using it. 🙂

I don't really have too much trouble with the negatives that are freshly lab processed. I just blow them off carefully with canned air just before putting them in the scanner.

I do have problems with my older negatives and slides, and I admit {blush} that I have not cared for them properly over the years. I use a soft dust brush on both sides and then a good dose (but gently) of the canned air. That doesn't seem to get all of it, but I would rather spend some time in Photoshop than risk damaging the emulsion with more rigorous cleaning. I've been told there are film cleaners out there but I haven't tried them. On some that had some kind of crud on them I did use a q-tip and filtered H2O.

 

[Ara Ghajanian]

At a pro lab I worked at years and years ago, we used to use PEC-12 which is a solution that removes gunk from negs. Not sure if it's available anymore.

I'm having problems with monochome negs. Obviously, I just use Digital ICE with color and chromes and I have no problems at all. I've been taking the Photoshop touch up route, but I want to be more careful and spend less time in PS.
Ara

 

[Nick R.]

For starters, nothing beats canned air. If your negatives are dry, you should be able to blow any dust off them. I usually don't bother blowing on them until they're in the holder; it's the last thing I do before closing the scanner lid. If you clean them beforehand they will pick up more dust anyway while your getting them set in the scanner. Keep your scanner surfaces clean. Dust needs something to stick to, usually the oils in your hands or airborne grease from cooking that settles on things. If it's clean, canned air will work fine. If your negs are damaged from storage, that's a different issue.

 

[Ara Ghajanian]

I should have specified that I only use a Nikon Coolscan V. Thus, the film is fed into the scanner without a holder. I should really start covering the scanner when not using it. Duh. :bang:

 

[x-ray]

I use a combination of things. I use a clean 100% cotton cloth that's sprayed with zeiss lens cleaner to clean the platen and anti newton glass in the scanner. I clean my negs wit Kami film cleaner and blow the glass of with canned air. This gets most but not all. Even freshly developed film will have some crud on it. Next I use my wacom tablet and photoshop to spot the dickens out of the image.

 

[djon]

I've used Tiger Cloth recently...works well on oils and dirt that's a little resistant to air can..www.kinetronics.com ... I wouldn't use it on lightly dusty film, but it seems harmless on film that's accumulated a little too much from years of storage and handling...

I got mine from www.lightimpressionsdirect.com ...which seems the ultimate source for archiving, framing, storage, albums, portfolios, matte board, related tools etc etc etc.