Spotting prints

[Wade D]

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Spotone and spit.

That's what I was taught years ago and it works well.

[Monophoto]

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Spotone and spit.

I was taught that some of the components in spotone are not good for the liver. I'm not always that thoughtful of my liver, but there are other ways to damage it that are more enjoyable that licking spotone - like Scotch.

[rcoda]

I also read a trick somewhere that you can use a piece of clear acetate (over the print) for matching colors and densities by stippling on that first.

[RalphLambrecht]

I haven't done much spotting, but when I have I've used India ink. I read that Weston used this (as mentioned above by Ralph). Disguising rather than correcting is the approach to use...

I'll have to look into the gum arabic, though...come to think of it there might be something in Ansel's book, The Print, if I recall...

I checked, and fortunately, there is no gum arabic or any other powder in any of my Ansel Adams books.

However, he discusses the use of it in this book 'The Print' and shares Edward Weston's recipe. I tried it, and it works. The gum arabic supports the adhesion of dye to print, and can be used to adjust and match the gloss level. If you can't get your hands on Spotone, and don't wont to use SpotAll (don't see why, by the way), it the way to go.