Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1950-08-13

is present on the surface OF the
sensitized paper. Use camels
hair brush on the paper and wipe
off the glass surfaces with lens
tissue. In spite of all these pre-
cautions you may miss a few par
ticIes of dust or a speck or dust
"whisker" may intrude itself some
where along the line to leave a
telltale spot. Or a scratch or
gouge on the emulsion of the neg
alive may result in black line
or spot. In either case we leave
the field of preventive action and
take positive measures to salvage
the print.
The process we will use is known
to the trade as "Spotting." This
can be done in one or a combina-
of several ways. The quickest
way TO get rid of white spots on a
print is with a spotting pencil,
equipped with a special lead that
does not reveal its presence ex-
cept on the closest inspection. Or
binary lead pencils will not do a
good job and their effect is easily
discernible. A better, but some
what more difficult method Of
Spotting is accomplished with inks
or dyes that either come on pre-
pared pads or in liquid form in
bottles.
Water colors can also be used
as a spotting medium and intens-
ifiers and reducerS may also be
added to the list but are usually
reserved for experienced workers
and are seldom practical for Or
binary spotting.
Clean the Print First.
Before going to work on print,
make sure that it is perfectly
clean. 1t may very we'll have it's
full quota of dirt Smudges, finger
marks etc, all of which will make
the job harder. Here again, car
bon tetrachloride can be safely
used. Swab off the print with the
solution and in minute or so the
process of evaporation will leave
your print dry and ready to work
on.
Spotting, with either pencil or
brush, requires a fairly steady
hand. In most instances, spots to
be filled in will be rather small
and you will have to take pains
to insure against the pencil lead
or liquid piling up around the
edges of the spot and becoming
noticeable. With either brush or
pencil you should work from the
edges of the spot to its center,
using a series of tiny dots whose
cumulative effect will be to finally
combine into a solid mass of color
of the same shade and a density
of the surrounding area. A pencil
should be sharpened to a very fine
point and wiped free of excess lead
particles. The brush should be
finely pointed so that minute
quantities of pigment can be
placed on the print with each
motion.
Glossy Prints Take Liquid.
Too much lead or pigment will
only result in the white spot be-
looming a black spot that is just
as obvious as the first. Avoid
pressing too firmly with either
tool. If your first attempts are
lnot too successful, you can always
remove the lead OF pigment and
IStart again. If you have trouble
with the lead taking on matte
Isurface, a small Wad of cotton on
the end of a matchstick which
ihas been dipped in pumice can be
rubbed gently on the spot to pro-
vide better surface. Incidental
ly. never attempt to spot a glossy
print with a pencil.
Dyes, either in pad form or
bottled liquid, are apt to be much
darker than the required strength.
Dilution with water is the answer.
| porcelain saucer with a few
drops of water in strategic posi-
tons, each drop impregnated with
"a different dye strength will al
low you to match almost any
shade with ease 1t is quite i'm
'portant that you have good light
so that your matching job will
be accurate.
Black spots can be treated in
either of two ways. You can either
cover up the spot with a lighter
colored dye or. as is most COM
monty done, the black spot is en-
tirely removed, giving way, Of
course, to white spot which in
turn is treated in the manner
described above. Black spots are
removed with an etching knife or
razor blade. This is painstaking
work. The blade must be used with
an extremely light touch to avoid
removing the emulsion from the
surface of the paper.
Additional cropping is an easier
task. If you are not satisfied with
the composition of your print and
feel that you can make a better
picture by trimming, make your
self a pair of L-shaped cardboard
masks and use them as a guide.
Placed on the print, they can be
opened and closed until you find
just the composition you want.
Then use pencil to lightly mark
the desired composition.