An alternative to Digital ICE

[pioneer]

I'm getting one or two starnae effects with Digital ICE. When blown up the slide exhibits artefacts. ICE also produces a less sharp scan.

Has anyone tried 'cleaning' the slides with a compressed air cannister? if so, is it effective?

[RAG]

I have not tried compressed air, but cleaning the slides is always a good idea. Digital Ice does not always produce the best possible scans. If you haven't already, take one of the slide and turn it to different angles (this has proven effective with reflective images). Beyond that give SilverFast iSRD a try. When all else fails you will need to clean it up in post processing. :-(

[adrianr]

My advice would be:-

BE VERY CAREFUL!!!

Due to decompression effects, the air comes out of the can nozzle at an extremely low temperature. It could be that you would freeze dust to the slide, or worse still cause the film to become brittle and crack!

If you decide to try it, i think it would be best to test to destruction on a dud slide to see how close, and for how long, it is safe to spray.