Removing Spotone ink from print

[Marco B]

Hi all,

Spotting prints is not really my fortitude, and I generally try to keep my negatives as clean as possible, but recently I had a roll that I somehow managed to damage (still haven't figured out exactly where it went wrong), and that required spotting for a couple of prints.

Now I did manage to get some acceptable results, but also ditched two prints as I accidentally added to much Spotone ink (some old stock I still had) on the paper, which proved difficult to remove. I did notice the ink was slightly water soluble again by using a wet brush, but was unable to remove the ink properly using some absorbent paper, so I ditched the prints.

After that, a bit late, I started wondering if there is a good way to remove retouches of Spotone ink or comparable products and inks from fibre based papers

I found one link suggesting a dilute solution of simple plain ammonia:

http://photo.net/black-and-white-pho...g-forum/006PyU

Have others ever used such method for removing Spotone retouches gone wrong? Any success or other suggestions for successfully rescuing a (fibre based) print with to much retouching ink?

Please: no suggestions for spotting itself: there are enough sources on APUG and the tips in the above link for that, I am interested in the removal part of the question...

Marco

[Ian Grant]

My Spotone's a few thousand miles away but don't hthe instructions suggest Sodium Bicarbonate solution ?

Ian

[Marco B]

My Spotone's a few thousand miles away but don't hthe instructions suggest Sodium Bicarbonate solution ?

Ian

My Spotone came without instructions, I just have to little bottles in black and sepia. The sodium bicarbonate seems to make some sense though in the light of the other ammonia suggestion. Both are mild alkalines, and used for cleaning purposes...

[fschifano]

I don't know about the sodium bicarbonate, but I've removed Spotone by soaking the print in slightly warm water for about 10 minutes.

[rthomas]

I don't know about the sodium bicarbonate, but I've removed Spotone by soaking the print in slightly warm water for about 10 minutes.

What he said.

[Marco B]

I don't know about the sodium bicarbonate, but I've removed Spotone by soaking the print in slightly warm water for about 10 minutes.

Thanks guys, this is a clear answer.

Next time, I will definitely keep the print and send it through a good wash to restore it. A waste to throw out a good print just because I screwed up the spotting the first time.

Marco

[RalphLambrecht]

Thanks guys, this is a clear answer.

Next time, I will definitely keep the print and send it through a good wash to restore it. A waste to throw out a good print just because I screwed up the spotting the first time.

Marco

I like to hear about your results. In my experience, nothing removes Spotone sufficiently once it has dried. I found this somewhere a while back, but have not tried it:

Go to a drugstore or place where they sell ladies make-up. Buy some small make-up sponges. Anytime you get too much Spotone on a print, let it dry. Then, put pure ammonia on the sponge, squeeze it to get most out, and GENTLY wipe the offending dark spot. Ammonia will remove Spotone. After it is dry, try spotting again.
In case you don't know, never use Spotone right from the bottle. Too easy to put on too much. Pour some in a white saucer, and let it sit overnight to evaporate. Then, moisten a brush and work with the dry Spotone. Much more control over density.

Frank Rome, NY


The Spotone instructions recommend to add a drop of water, to let it soak and blot it off. I have done that with modest success.

I'm happy to email the instructions to subscribers of APUG if they send me a note to:

info@darkroomagic.com

because the company does not exist anymore. It's a file of 1.8 MB, and consequently, too much for APUG.

[fschifano]

I've done it Ralph, and it works. From the looks of it, Spotone is nothing more than a water soluble dye. Leave the print in water and it will dissolve and diffuse out of the gelatin, just like fixer or anything else that's water soluble. If enough Spotone was applied and it got down into the paper's fibers, well that's another story.

[jeffreyg]

In addition to the other suggestions I would add that before spotting the print have a piece of processed paper or the border of your print (if it will be cut off anyways) and spot it until you get the tone you want then apply to the print. It can be time consuming but better than messing up a print.

[RalphLambrecht]

In addition to the other suggestions I would add that before spotting the print have a piece of processed paper or the border of your print (if it will be cut off anyways) and spot it until you get the tone you want then apply to the print. It can be time consuming but better than messing up a print.

I vote against that method for several reasons.

The appearance of tone very much depends on the surrounding tones (see 1st attachment). Testing for an appropriate tone on a white border will always leave you with too little ink, because the test patch will look darker than what you actually need. This in itself is not a bad thing, because it is better to err on the side of lightness rather than ending up with too dark of a spot.

However, the method also implies that the right tonality has to be applied in one go. That is not the case. Once should apply numerous applications of light ink, slowly moving up to the right tonality. This is hard to do on the white border away from the actual application area. It's better to apply very light ink several times (five or more) until the surrounding tones are not quite matched. At that point, spotting can be stopped before it becomes detectable (see 2nd attachment).