[LargeFormat] Removing black spots from prints
Paul Butzi
largeformat@f32.net
Wed Oct 15 18:08:36 2003
> Does anyone have experience in dealing with this sort of
problem? I don't
> want to retouch the neg itself -- it's fairly important to
me -- so I'm
> thinking the route to follow will likely be bleaching and
(probably)
> subsequent spotting. At the moment, I'm using Ilford MG
RC, and I have
> little idea how it reacts to bleaching (nor spotting, for
that matter --
> it's never been my forte). If it comes to it, I'd
consider switching over
> to fiber-based paper, I guess, but hope that isn't
necessary.
In situations like this, I spot the negative - the smallest
possible dot directly on top of the 'white spot'. The film
I use has a retouching base on the non-emulsion side and I
retouch on that side.
The net result is that your small black speck on the print
has been turned into a slightly larger white spot on the
print. Then it's a matter of spotting the white spot down
to match the surrounding region.
It doesn't save having to spot each print but it does save
having to bleach every print.
-Paul