Cleaning negatives and slides

[Maureen]

Hi everyone,
I've bought a little scanner to scan slides and negatives.The slides(mine) scanned rather well but the negatives(not mine)scan with like a smoky look over them. Some are not too bad but others are really bad.

Question???????
Is there a way to clean negatives and slides? What to use?

Thanks in advance.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Maureen,

Is it possible to show us an example of each please?

Thanks,

[shreds]

Maureen,

I agree with Dave, if we could see an example, it would be easier and better than guessing.

Have you looked at the negatives against the light or on a light box to see if they appear smokey there too? Have you seen any prints produced from them?

When you place them on the scanner, I presume you are using a carrier. Is this seated correctly and are the negatives curved in any way? (they often can become curved in storage).

Or perhaps you are just a better photographer than your friend!

I would be wary of cleaning them at this stage though, you might exacerbate the problems.

[Maureen]

Hi all,
This is one of the negatives,about 20 yers old.They all have that browny sort of look but not always in the same area.



This is one of the slides,about 40 yrs old.



From what I can gather,the negatives have just been shoved in a box for years.
I tried cleaning a couple with a slightly damp soft cloth and scratched them a bit.
They are curved and not in their packets,just a paper bag.

The scanner is a tiny stand alone EU3C.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Maureen,

I have no experience of this, so as soon as someone else replies who has, ignore this post as it's just hypothetical.

I'm wondering if the mask removal of the scanning software is correct, what I am calling "the mask" is that all-over orange cast that colour negatives have. i say this becaus ethe blacks look blue and the highlights yellowy/orange. Are there alternative film name settings you could scan with?

Or have you tried an auto white balance in whatever post processing software you have?
That might be a quick fix.

Regards,

[shreds]

Maureen, the dyes in different film are known to degrade. Some are better than others and of course the conditions in which they are stored will have an effect. The one you have posted looks typical of the way this occurs and is more of a 'cast' than a smokey effect, though I see why you call it that.

It is possible to compensate for this degradation, not by washing or cleaning the slide, but by scanning it as is and doing a little work in Photoshop to readjust the balance of the colours and introduce that long lost vibrancy.

At least once you have a scanned copy you can just keep adjusting copies by trial and error until you get the desired result, without damaging the original.

[shreds]

A very very quick attempt at reviving it, (using in this case the easy sliders in Nikon NX2 which also feature in Nik Efex Software).

(I am not a professional retoucher as the picture shows!)

A bit more time and patience will restore the picture still further. Is this the effect you were trying to achieve, or at least something in that direction?

[Maureen]

Dave and shreds,
Thanks for answering,but I'm not going to all that trouble with the Paintshop stuff for a Boofhead who I don't particully like,get no thanks for trying and dosn't look after anything.
I'll stick them on a disk and he can do what he likes with them.
He called this morning and almost demanded I fix them all for him AND print them.
I'm just soooo angry with him now.

I'll keep all this info for some negatives my brother has from WW11 that were my Dads.That will be a much more pleasant project to work on.

I'm happy with how the slides came out and that was my reason for buying the scanner.

Thank-you all again for looking.

[shreds]

Maureen,

Don't let it get to you. If he leaves his negatives on the radiator or similar, what does he expect?

At least you know the answer for the future and you obviously look after your slides better than he does his negatives.

[Dave Humphries]

Yes, indeedy

Your slide results are good aren't they? Just goes to show what a difference being careful makes, good for you!

Good luck with the WWII project,

[Maureen]

Thank-you both.
I've calmed down now.