CORRECTING DEFECTS IN SCANS

35mm slides and negatives are very small and have to be magnified considerably to produce prints. This also magnifies any dust or hairs on the negative and this can easily spoil the image. You can use a blower brush or compressed air to try to dislodge any debris from the film before you scan it, but while this can help, it seldom eliminates dust entirely.

However, scanner makers have found a solution. Some scanners can identify dust particles, which stand proud of the film surface, using a special infra-red scan. Once the scanner knows the location of these particles it can ‘fill in’ the defects during the main scan to produce ‘spotless’ images. ‘Digital ICE’ technology is the best-known example of this.