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In my younger days, I shot 35mm film and slides, and I still have the majority of those today. I have been slowly but surely digitally scanning them. Fortunately, I stored them properly so my digital copies require very little touch-up work.
Digitally scanning negatives, slides, and prints is a lot like painting a car or the interior of a house. You get better results if you take the time to do the necessary preparation work. This is especially true when it comes to properly cleaning a slide or negative. When scanning a tiny slide, and generating a 600% enlargement of it, every dust particle, scratch, piece of lint, and hair will be huge in the scanned image.
When I started digitally scanning, I found many websites on how to correct color, digitally remove dust specks, and fix cracks — but there was little information on how to properly clean before you scan.
In the post, I will describe the technique and tools I used to restore a slide. Recently, I was helping my friend Zak move out of his house, and we found some slides sitting on a shelf in the basement. They were dirty and greasy, and we weren’t sure what was on them.
Zak’s grandfather was a retired U.S. Marine Corps Warrant Officer who traveled from base to base in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. The best we can determine is that he took this slide in Hawaii during this time frame. Was there hope for this 60-year-old slide? Sure!
First and foremost, when it comes to slides, keep moisture away from them! Water will ruin them! So, keep your beer or iced tea away while you are working on this. You need a clean dry area.
The slide was a Kodak Kodachrome, which was introduced in 1935, and was discontinued in 2009. Fortunately for us, Kodachrome is appreciated by the archival and professional market for its dark-storage longevity. When scanning it, you should know that since Kodachrome is generally used for direct projection using bright white light — it possesses a relatively high contrast.
It should also be noted that scanning Kodachrome slides can be problematic because of their tendency to produce a blue color cast. This is because many scanners use an infrared channel to detect defects — the long wave infrared radiation passes through the slide but not through dust particles. Kodachrome’s interaction with the infrared channel can cause a slight loss of sharpness, and the absorption of the cyan dye extends into the near infrared region, making this layer opaque.
If your scanner software has a check box to optimize for Kodachrome, use it. Also, when processing the photo, take in account for blue cast.
Okay, now let’s get busy. First of all, use compressed air to clean your entire work area to include the slide and the scanner. If the slide is really nasty, remove it from the its holder by cutting it open very, very carefully along the edges, then peel open the cardboard (or plastic) frame. Brush all of the cardboard (or plastic) cuttings away to keep your area clean. Pick the slide up by the edge with the holes, and use the loupe to examine the slide. Identify any particularly nasty areas which might need special attention. Once it is cleaned, place the slide on a new PEC pad.
Set the slide down on the new PEC pad, and place one drop of Photographic Emulsion Cleaner (PEC-12) on another PEC pad. Don’t use alcohol pads, or some other homemade concoction — just spend a few dollars and get a bottle of PEC-12. Why ruin this precious artifact because you got cheap and lazy? This stuff will work on negatives, slides, and will even remove ink pen from a print.
With one finger press the slide flat on the table (on the PEC pad), and clean it with the PEC pad with the fluid on it. Be careful not to catch the edge of the slide causing it to buckle. If the slide is old, you could create tiny crack lines, or worse, if it is brittle, you could break it. So, just take your time! Pick the slide up by the edge again, and flip the pad the slide is resting on over. Finally, get a fresh PEC pad with another drop of cleaning fluid, and clean the other side.
Use the PEC fluid sparingly. I repeat, use the PEC fluid sparingly.
Make sure the scanner is free of dust and the scanner’s glass is clean. Put on a fresh white glove, and place the slide in the scanner. Keep the glove on whenever handling the slide, or whenever you are near the scanner’s glass. Fingerprints will distort your final image.
Lastly, scan your image and place your cleaned slide in a proper archival sleeve.
MysteryCoach said:
Your new page looks terrific!
Jamie Adams said:
Thank you so much! I had to do a little reorganizing to make room for Amanda! 😉
MysteryCoach said:
You’re very welcome! 🙂
Kip Light said:
My friend, I am so glad that our digital paths crossed 🙂 On Father’s day, I searched through what photos I had remaining looking for one of my Dad. Sadly, there wasn’t one, but looking at the boxes of 35MM slides in the sealed tubs with the photos made me think, once again, about digitizing them. Most of them are concert shots from some of the great shows I’d been to in the past, but I’m sure that there are other unrecalled people and places in there, too. I thank you, kindly, shipmate (though the only ship I ever sailed on was the “USS Adak”), for this excellent guide to cleaning slides. I hope I don’t have to do much cleaning since they have all stayed in their packages in sealed containers over the years, but I know how to do it, should the need arise. Another hearty “Bravo Zulu”.
Jamie Adams said:
Outstanding! Thank you! When you do a post like this, you hope that it helps somebody… And bang! It did! So happy you found info helpful! I am anxious to see some of these photos!
Kip Light said:
I am, too! I just have to hope my little scanner is going to be good enough.
Kip Light said:
Sadly, there is no such thing as a transparent materials adapter for my all in one printer/scanner/fax. On a brighter note, even though I can’t afford to buy a dedicated scanner for the job, I did find a reasonably priced 9 megapixel camera type device designed just for the job of digitizing negatives and slides. As soon as I can save up enough, I’m going to order one and get busy. 🙂
Jamie Adams said:
Excellent! Just take your time. And don’t get caught in the DPI or Megapixel hype. Think about the final output you will use… in other words, if you are just going to make a digital DVD slide show or print a few 8×10 or 5×7… you don’t need to scan those things in at 600dpi!!
Kip Light said:
I hear ya. I basically just want to have them in digital form. If there are any real winners in there, I might want to get some prints done, maybe use some of the digipics (yeah, I just made that word up 🙂 ) in a music video or something. That reminded me, I’ve got some prints I need to scan, too, before the ex decides to abscond with all of them, lol.
Cheryl said:
I just went through my Dad’s old Minolta mini-slides from Vietnam and many have slid inside the cardboard sleeve. I’ve opened up the sleeve to retrieve the slide/negative and am wondering how to remount them in some kind of holder so I can have them scanned (or even view them again on a slide projector). Can I scan them without being in the cardboard holder? Don’t I need to put the teeny negative/slide into something to hold it for future use? I don’t know what to look for to put them in and at least half of the slides need to be repaired because of their slippage in the cardboard sleeve!
Jamie Adams said:
Sorry it took me so long to respond! That’s awesome you still have those slides! You could scan them without the mounts but it gets kind of dicey because they will be moving around. And then long term storage will be challenging because you run the risk of losing one of those precious slides. I would strongly recommend you remount them. The easiest thing I have found is to use these plastic slide mount mounts that just “snap” closed. Check out “Gepe 457001 2×2 Four Opening 35mm Slide Mounts” on Amazon.com. (http://www.amazon.com/Gepe-457001-Opening-Slide-Mounts/dp/B0000BZLJR/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347296226&sr=8-3&keywords=35mm+slide+mounts) I just like the plastic ones because they are easy to remount, they aren’t cardboard (which can retain moisture)… Let me know how it works out! Send a link to the scanned image!
Cheryl said:
Hi Jamie,
I looked at the Gepe 2X2 slide mount, but it’s too big for the 110 slide negative. The 110 slide negative is teeny compared to the standard 35mm slide negative. Do you know anyone that sells slide mounts for the 110 little negative? Here’s an example of the size of the 110 slides I’m dealing with: http://slidescanning.com/110-slide-110-negative-scanning.htm
I’ve looked and looked on line, and I can’t find any.
Cheryl
Jamie Adams said:
Cheryl… I am sorry… not sure where you can get those! Amazon.com or BP&H Photo might be able to help. Get us informed if you find anything. Others might find your research helpful! Good luck!
Jamie Adams said:
Actually, here is a pack of 100 mounts for under $10 … http://www.amazon.com/PAKO-PAKON-STANDARD-PLASTIC-SLIDE-MOUNTS/dp/B007XVCN5Y/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_4
Jamie Adams said:
Actually, here is a pack of 100 mounts for under $10 … http://www.amazon.com/PAKO-PAKON-STANDARD-PLASTIC-SLIDE-MOUNTS/dp/B007XVCN5Y/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_4
Mark Gatanas said:
Jamie – This page is just what I needed. Currently cleaning and digitizing my father’s 5,000 slides from 1958-1980 or so. Already have the PEC-12 cleaner and the cleaning pads. I use the Braun Multimag SlideScan 4000 and love this scanner (up to 100 at a time with no problem).
Jamie Adams said:
Excellent! I’d love to see anything you’ve scanned!
Jamie Adams said:
Glad I could help! Wow that scanner sounds awesome!
Jennifer Kennedy said:
Found this and was surprised you have the exact same scanner, the hp scanjet G4010. I lost the negative holder insert and cannot find another. HP was no help. Any ideas where I can buy it the negative holder insert?
Jamie Adams said:
I am so sorry to hear that! Besides buying a newer scanner, maybe you can find a used version of our scanner on eBay cheap. Good luck!
Dee said:
Jamie – I found your page when I’d started to have old family slides digitized. Very helpful advice. Thanks so much.
I need to remount some of the 35mm slides that have come unglued, but most of mine (Ektachrome from the 1960s) have a square opening (1 1/2″), so the mounts you refer to above don’t work (opening 1 3/8 x 7/8″). Do you have any suggestions where I can find plastic mounts with the larger opening? My web searching hasn’t yielded anything thus far. None of the sellers address the opening for the slide.
Jamie Adams said:
Wow! Interesting size. I would recommend Amazon.com…. They seem to have everything! Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
Dee said:
After more searching, I found out that this size (actual slide size is 40x40mm) is called a super-slide. The companies (Gepe, Pakon) that made super-slide mounts don’t make them anymore. Amazon wasn’t helpful, BUT, I found two different sellers on eBay (a recommendation from a salesman at Calumet (which I still call Penn Camera).
Jamie Adams said:
Awesome! Thanks for sharing ths information! Others will find it useful…
Dee said:
Shucks, I’ve just created competition for myself on eBay, and I already lost the first auction. Here’s useful info on super-slides from a company that will make them for you: https://www.gammatech.com/html/super.shtml
Ron Prondzinski said:
Hello Jamie,
I just found two very precious slides I took 33 years ago in your favorite city. They had fallen back into the casing of an old cardboard file drawer and each time I opened and closed it the slides took a beating. One had been badly bent into a soft Z shape. I was really stupid in trying to flatten it by bending it back, then pressing under glass, slowly heating with a blow dryer, followed by a weight. It sort of worked. Then I went on line and found advice against heat, and the possibility of emulsion cracking, and to keep your fingers off. I felt really stupid. I didn’t find anything about dealing with folded slides. Do you have some advise on how I should have handled this.
I found your advice on cleaning and scanning slides very informative. It concurs with some of the other advice I’d found out there. I wanted to get your advice on another method I’d read about. Quoted as follows:
Photo.net: Sep 19, 2009; 12:27 p.m.Greg Miller – Film Rescue International
I’ve listed parts of his answer__
“Get yourself a e-6 stablizer. Mix about 3 litres of the solution using distilled water (very important) and divide that equaly into three baths. Remove the slides from their mounts. Submerge the film in bath one and gently wipe the slide with a something like a Kimwipe. … Rinse in bath 2 and then again in bath 3. Hang to dry. I have a tight wire stretched between two wall and use bent paper clips hanging from the wire to hang each piece of film. After the film has hung for about 5 minutes touch a dry kimwipe to the drip on the lower corner to wick away the excess solution. As you move through your slides keep you eye on the cleanliness of bath one. Once it begins to show some obvious signs of not being too clean anymore, dump it, move bath 2 to bath 1 position, bath 3 to bath 2 position and pour a fresh bath 3….”
Jamie, Have you heard of this? Is this the same stabilizer that is used in the final phase of initial film developing? We’re talking distilled water here.
Thanks,
Ron
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