Retouching X-ray negs?

[Craig Tuffin]

I've been playing with X-ray film lately for salt printing. I cut down large sheets to shoot 11x14. I've read the many posts giving truth to the difficulty in cutting down this film without scratching the delicate emulsion/s but went ahead anyway

I've done pretty well, but I've got a few sheets with either a small scratch or pinhole in the emulsion (usually in the sky) and was wondering if anyone has had experience retouching an x-ray neg?

[Light Guru]

I've been playing with X-ray film lately for salt printing. I cut down large sheets to shoot 11x14. I've read the many posts giving truth to the difficulty in cutting down this film without scratching the delicate emulsion/s but went ahead anyway

I've done pretty well, but I've got a few sheets with either a small scratch or pinhole in the emulsion (usually in the sky) and was wondering if anyone has had experience retouching an x-ray neg?

If your gonna cut it I would sandwich the film between two peaces of paper the same size as the original film to protect from scratches. Putting several sheets of film between the peaces of paper would probably be ok. The scratches probably come from the cutting board and from holding the film while cutting so having it sandwiched between paper should help.

Or better yet why not just buy 11x14 xray film.
http://www.zzmedical.com/11x14-in-fuji-x-ray-film.html

[Craig Tuffin]

Yep, the scratches definitely came from the cutting process. Your suggestion is well-timed as I just followed that process of sandwiching the film for cutting today.

Thank you for the link to the 11x14 green film. I tried to order but unfortunately the company down't ship to Australia. For some reason I can't find a supplier in Australia that stocks 11"x14" x-ray film, only metric sizes that are too small or require trimming.

[SMBooth]

Never seem to get marks from cutting the film, from processing yes but not cutting. What are you using?

[Craig Tuffin]

Never seem to get marks from cutting the film, from processing yes but not cutting. What are you using?

A standard large guillotine (not the roller type). What size sheets are you cutting?

[SMBooth]

Just something like 24cm x 30cm into 8x10 ATM . I use a Fiskars paper cutter from Officeworks which just put pressure along the edge of the film.

[Ian Gordon Bilson]

For scratches or pinholes , the traditional remedy was called "Photo-Opaque " - a water based red goo which was applied directly to the film.
You may find some for sale on the usual auction sites..

[Craig Tuffin]

For scratches or pinholes , the traditional remedy was called "Photo-Opaque " - a water based red goo which was applied directly to the film.
You may find some for sale on the usual auction sites..

Thanks Ian! Just did a search on fleabay but couldn't see anything...I'll keep my eyes out for it though...thanks!

[Jac@stafford.net]

For scratches or pinholes , the traditional remedy was called "Photo-Opaque "

That's good to know.

I have a LF retouching platform (similar to the Adams) in which one uses soft pencils to add density, and fine razor tips to remove density. Perhaps a pencil would be good unless you want to totally block transparency.
.

[Harold_4074]

Just recently, I tried retouching some Kodak CSG using crocein scarlet dye. My respect for the retouchers of the past immediately went up dramatically (and it wasn't low to begin with).

I was taking out a distinct highlight/shadow line from an artifact on what was supposed to emulate a sphere, but ended up just opaquing the clear areas on the negative and then retouching the print to eliminate both the extraneous highlights and the now-messy former shadows. I found it very difficult to gauge how much red would produce a given gray tone on the print, even with the help of a scanner and the green/blue channels in Photoshop.

It worked out okay, but I can't imagine doing this on any significant number of fine scratches. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to read of folks stripping the backside emulsion from x-ray film in order to remove scratches from handling during development.

A fair amount of effort to find film stock of the requisite size would seem to be a good investment