lol Many of us are doing huge job to get reselts like this. So sell your scanner for some fanatic Photoshopper. ...seriously, that looks like what Alpha said. Though, that pattern is symmetrical and have horizopntal lines as well, so its kind of hard to believe that dirt does this alone. Is this scanner old and does it give you .jpg or .tiff pics? Because jpg-compression seems to be kind of bad quality too. -N