Digital BW, The Print

Frank,

I'm surprised nobody mentioned it until Todd did, but the developer can have 
quite a lot to do with the appearance of the grain.  If you want softer grain, use 
a developer with silver solvent in it, such as D76, or D76 1 to 1 for even softer 
grain.  HC has no such solvent, which gives it higher acutance, and is why I 
like it.  But if you're concerned about grain, that's the first thing you can do, 
and it doesn't involve buying a new scanner.

Or what about using the newer flat-grain technology films, such as TMax or 
Delta? There is less presence of grain in them, but of course they have 
different characteristics than Tri-X.  Or maybe move to a slower film, which 
inherently has smaller grain.

Phil
http://philbard.com
http://laphotoworkshops.com