  Aims: I have analyzed a sample of seven nearby edge-on galaxies observed in
the V and K'-band, in order to infer the properties of the dust distribution.
  Methods: A radiative transfer model, including scattering, have been used to
decompose each image into a stellar disk, a bulge, and a dust disk. The
parameters describing the distributions have been obtained through standard X^2
minimization techniques.
  Results: The dust disks fitted to the V-band images are consistent with
previous work in literature: the radial scalelength of dust is larger than that
for stars (h_d/h_s ~ 1.5); the dust disk has a smaller vertical scalelength
than the stellar (z_d/z_s ~ 1/3); the dust disk is almost transparent when seen
face-on (central, face-on, optical depth tau_0 =0.5-1.5). Faster radiative
transfer models which neglect scattering can produce equivalent fits, with
changes in the derived parameters within the accuracy of full fits including
scattering. In the K'-band, no trace is found of a second, massive, dust disk
which has been invoked to explain observations of dust emission in the
submillimeter. I discuss the model degeneracies and the effect of complex
structures on the fitted distributions. In particular, most bulges in the
sample show a box/peanuts morphology with large residuals; two
lower-inclination galaxies show a dust ring distribution, which could be the
cause for the large fitted dust scalelengths.
