Digital BW, The Print

Ian Lind wrote:

> Is there a technique in Photoshop that might help with this? I'm trying to salvage 25-year 
> old B&W negatives that have been damaged by poor storage. It's a long story, but the 
> images have historic value, hence the salvage effort.
> 
> In any case, there is extensive crazing in the emulsion of the 35mm Tri-X negatives, 
> leaving a visible pattern of random cracks in the image and leaving an overall gray tone.
> 
> Here's a link to a sample image:
> 
> http://ilind.net/gallery_old/ritte1976/image/ritte7.jpg
> 
> Any ideas for how to approach a problem of this kind? All suggestions appreciated.

Wetmounting the negatives while scanning is worth a try. Use the 
least valuable for a first attempt. I can't guarantee that it 
doesn't harm them but where is the historic value, in the 
negative or in the image ?

I have maybe a thousand 35 mm B&W negatives, FP4, HP4 and Tri-X 
that are from 1968 - 1982 and none show that crazing, what has 
been the cause of it ?  I wasn't very careful either since then.

Ernst