Film cleanup: do not polish away the grain
`remove-dust-scratches-photo` digitizes film where dust, scratches, and chemistry stains balloon on screen. Silver halide grain is period texture—mistaking it for noise yields waxskin. Long dark lines read as damage. Color negatives punish global spot removal with muddy skin and green shadows. Split structural dust removal from skin passes; denoise by channel when needed. Family and publishing workflows should archive unretouched scans and treat retouches as derivatives only.
Recommended steps for film and negative cleanup
- In `remove-dust-scratches-photo`, upload a high-res scan and classify white dust, scratches, and grain before touching pixels.
- Repair large dust and scratches first, then refine skin and mids; zoom until hair and fabric still read as fiber, not plastic.
- Use paired filenames for retouched and untouched masters, noting roll ID and scan settings for future rescans.
Film dust and scratch cleanup Q&A
Old film in `remove-dust-scratches-photo`—where is the line between scratches and silver halide grain?
Film grain is character—keep it; continuous dark lines behave like physical scratches and deserve repair—do not global-spot the frame into plastic.
Color negative cleanup leaves muddy skin—what should you check first?
Denoise gently per channel and lift skin mids separately—global dust busting turns skin into gray fog.
Batch-fixing a family album—how do you avoid the more-you-fix-the-faker-it-looks trap?
Keep an unretouched scan folder per roll; ship retouched versions only for print or exhibition so grain is never lost irreversibly.
On film, where is the line between scratches and grain for `remove-dust-scratches-photo`?
Grain is character—keep it; continuous dark scratches read as physical damage and are fair to repair—do not spot-remove all grain as dust.
Skin looks muddy after dust cleanup on color negative?
Denoise per channel and fix mids separately; global dust busting turns skin into flat gray fog.