You have to try this software. Potentially, it could save you a ton of time in post processing your analog images. Polaroid put out, in 2002, an amazing little Photoshop Plug-In/Application, called Polaroid Dust & Scratch Removal. While the application is no longer available through the “New” Polaroid website, I was able to locate it, and download it from the “Old” Polaroid, via the following Internet Archive Wayback Machine link-http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.polaroid.com/service/software/poladsr/pdsr1_0.exe
Mac users can find it here-http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.polaroid.com/service/software/poladsr/pdsrmac1_0.sit
After installing it, I went to work. I hate “workflows”. This is supposed to be fun, not work. That said, I am not a big fan of post processing, and Photoshop, at all. It is a necessary evil of the digital age. But in scanning black and white Polaroids, one can end up with tons of little “white dots”, or dust, especially in the darker areas of the scan. So, after making a levels adjustment, grayscale conversion, and light sharpening in Elements to my scanned *tif, I saved it, and opened it in the Polaroid DSR application. The results are fast, and astounding. Here is a “before”-
No DSR - Note The White Dust Specks
And, here is an after, pretty much of the same scene, after dust removal. This only took a few seconds after applying the mask, and telling the software which parts not to clone out. This saved me minutes, and in some cases, hours. And, I think, works better than the Dust And Scratches filter in Elements, with less loss of detail. I tried to “zoom in” here. White specks gone-
Polaroid DSR Applied
Of note, this software will work on positive AND negative scans. You can tell it if the dust is white (positives), or black (negatives). I plan on using it on the 35mm and 120 negatives that I scan in. A huge time saver. and, a lot of fun. Here is the final result. I took this shot near my college, at Coggshall Park, Fitchburg, MA, on 2/17-
2/17/11 Coggshall Park, Fitchburg, MA Polaroid 230, Cloud Filter, Fuji FP-3000B, Polaroid DSR Applied
Give this little Polaroid application a shot. It is free, and, a lot of fun.
arthurpolaroid 
Very cool, it seems to work than the tool in my scanner as well which doesn’t seem to do much. Thanks!
Welcome! Agreed. I think you get better performance out of this free app than any Photoshop filter, or scanner utility, I have used. I might try it on some negatives this week.
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Nice little find! Unfortunately, I can’t get it to work on the curvy little hair-like bits of dust that always end up ruining my scans.
Dan- I hear you. It is a pain, but a necessary evil us analog folks will always wrestle with. But this little application really does work out nicely. And it’s free!
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Beautiful photos. I can’t get the link to work though. It brought up a exe file and when I clicked on “save it” nothing downloaded. I need this. I am tired of cloning out the little white specks. And where do the fibers come from? I once took my scanner apart and was amazed at the dirt inside (Epson 500). I cleaned everything including the mirrors and it worked really nicely for a while but now I’m getting the fibers again and a lot of white specks.
Thank you!
I also use the Epson V500. I do wipe the bed down before every scan. But yes, clone stamping dust is the only real pain with scanning prints and negatives.
Regarding the Polaroid Dust And Scratch software, try right clicking on the link, and seeing what your options are (Save, Save As, etc). I hate Windows, but heck, this is a Polaroid blog! HA HA. Keep trying- it really does work nicely.
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