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Tools I Use

6Favorite

BY Curtis Bisel

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M y T o p 6 F a v o r i t e T o o l s I U s e

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# 1 Epson Photo Scanner Epson Perfection V600 Photo

PRIC

E QUALITY

The V600 model is the “sweet spot” in the Perfection Photo line of Epson scanners between price and quality.

V370 V600 V800 V850

• Paper Prints• Slides• Negatives• Medium Format

TIP: If you also have a lot of slides or negatives in your collection, and you’re seeking the best quality without also buying a stand-alone dedicated film scanner, I would suggest either the V800 or the V850 with a second lens to achieve higher quality while scanning film. It also has a larger transparency area to hold more slides and negatives during each scanning pass.

You Can S c a n

CLICK EACH MODEL FOR MORE INFO

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CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

“ D O N ’ T N E G L E C T Y O U R G L A S S . Y o u r P h o t o s D e s e r v e C l e a n . ”

No matter how careful a careful person is, it’s inevitable your scanner bed is going to get dirty, oily and just plain smudged. (Oh, and the fanciest of people refer to them as platens.)

I’ve yet to find anything I like better for this task than this little Kinetronics Digital Scanner Glass Cleaning Kit. It comes with an inexpensive plastic snapper box, a thin anti-static microfiber Tiger Cloth, and a 2 oz. bottle of Precision Cleaning Solution that will seriously probably last you twelve, maybe thirteen lifetimes.

* Current versions of the kit may ship with their dark colored “Panther Cloth.”

It’s actually called... a Tiger Cloth. “GRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!”

# 2 Kinetronics Scanner Glass Cleaning Kit

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# 3 Kinetronics StaticWisk Brush

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Kinetronics offers an entire line of hand-held anti-static brushes in all different sizes for all your different “wisking” needs.

In addition to cleaning dust from the outermost edge of the scanner glass, I mostly use this particular Kinetronics StaticWisk Brush to dust the film area of my 35mm slides before placing them in the scanner bed.

The brush in this photo looks exhausted doesn’t it? That’s because it has already dusted thousands of my 35mm slides.

The company reports their brushes are also good for cleaning lenses, cameras, plastics, acrylics, jewelry, glass, monitors, instruments and technical equipment.

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# 4 Kinetronics Anti-Static Gloves

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I guess it’s fairly obvious at this point that I kind of have a “boy-girl thing” with this Kinetronics company right? And honestly, we’ve never even met.

I don’t wear my Kinetronics Anti-Static Gloves so much to protect my film or prints from me, as much as it’s to keep additional finger oils from getting on the scanner bed when placing and recovering my prints, slides and negatives.

I tend to only wear the one for my left hand, leaving my other hand free to write with a pen or separate prints that are stuck together etc. In fact, I couldn’t even find my right glove for this photo! Hey, if anyone reading this finds it, please email it back to me.

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# 5 Ilford Anti-static Cloth

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I know, another little orange towel right! ? The Ilford Antistaticum is actually a bit different from the thinner and smoother “microfiber” cleaning cloth that comes in the glass cleaning kit. This one is noticeably thicker and “warmer” if you will. It’s like a winter blanket for a Barbie Doll.

I love using this anti-static cloth to carefully wipe free any dust or dirt that still remains on my paper prints before placing them in the scanner bed.

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# 6 Giottos Rocket Blaster

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This is the black Giottos Rocket Blaster. I went for the large edition — I mean, why go small when we’re buying rockets here!

It’s hard to tell from the image, but the large actually doesn’t feel that big in your hands. It’s only 7.5 inches tall, with the tip making up a solid 2 inches of that.

And if it suits you better, they also make the large in blue and a dashing red model with a white tip. (Kind of reminds me of an old fashioned hot water bottle. Right?)

Quick controlled bursts of air from the Giottos are great for safely removing any last-second lingering dust from the scanner bed, and in hard to dislodge areas of slides like the outer edges.

Giottos has several models now including the Q.ball and the Coco-air with adjustable angled tips.

I have fairly small hands, but you can see the large size still fits them nicely.

Alright, surely I am fully redeemed now after recommending this!

This isn’t another towel, this is just plain cool right!?

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Thank you so much for reading my guide!

More ResourcesWHAT I USE Where I first write

about new things I’m up to

Where I post free Q&A and tutorial videos

A resource page on my website where I list additional tools I use and recommend.

START HEREInstructions for people new to my website how to get started with “Scan Your Entire Life” and their photo project journey.

All of the underlined links in this guide are clickable and will take you to a web page with more information, and often to Amazon or B&H Photo where you can buy these products at the cheapest cost I’ve found.

Disclosure: some of them are also affiliate links at no additional cost to you. I will earn a small commission if you decide to click through any of these links right before adding a product to your shopping cart. If you choose to, thank you kindly for helping to support me and all of the efforts of my website!

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