Matching print color with Spotone

[Rob Gertler]

I am having a heck of a time matching the color of Spotone to the color of prints on Ilford MG4 and Illford MGW (both lightly treated in selenium for archival purposes). #0 is too greenish-blue; #1&3 are too blue; and # 2 is too red. When I add small amounts of #2 to #0 or #3 the results are inconsistent and usually too purple or red. All of these tests have been done using a full spectrum incadescent Varilux light. I would appreciate any pearls of you wisdom that you have to share that help solve this frustrating problem. Thanks !

[Gene M]

Contribute a large sum of money to my anti-dust charity. I'm working to rid the world of all airborne dust and lint. It's a big project but certainly worthwhile.

Minimum contribution is $1500. Camera equipment can do donated in lieu of cash.

Wipe out dust in 2004 with The Human Fund.

[John D Gerndt]

Rob,

Unless you are spotting a section of clear sky getting pretty close is going to be good enough. I have been making images and cabinets for 20 years; I see all the mistakes I make and very, very few other people notice any of them. Next time you go to a museum show take a very close look and you will see that the masters had their problems too. No one is without dust.

As to doing a better job of hiding those dust spots, free yourself to use any materials at all that work, pencils, ink, paint, whatever. After all, the museums are filled with these traditional materials. They can be applied to a photograph.

Cheers

[Gem Singer]

Hi Rob,

The frustrating problem of spots on a print caused by dust particles, especially on large scale prints, has been around from the beginning . The best solution is to do whatever it takes to minimize, or eliminate, the problem. This means keeping the negative, the film carrier in the enlarger, the film holders, the inside of the bellows, etc. scrupiously clean and free from dust and dirt. That's obvious. The solution that I am now following is the use of Quickload/Readyload films and, the use of a diffusion-type enlarger. The condenser-type enlarger seemed to accentuate the glitches on the negative. No need to do much spotting on my 16X20 prints anymore.

[N Dhananjay]

Try a simple enough experiment. Spot a photograph as well as you can and put it away for a few days till you have forgotten where you spotted it. Then pull it out and try spotting the spot - it is genuinely hard to see it if you don't know/remember where it is.

The biggest problem in spotting is one's own mind. It knows where the spot is and searches it out like a ferret. I've ruined more prints by over-spotting than I care to remember. The point of spotting is not to eliminate the spot (that is achieved by contributing to Gene's Wipe Out Dust (WOD) campaign). It is to eliminate a distraction in viewing the photograph. And, in my 'ideological' opinion, there is a under-appreciated virtue in doing the least necessary to achieve that end.

Cheers, DJ

[David Karp]

Rob,

Although we strive to avoid dust, sometimes dust (and therefore a spot) happens. We either reprint or spot. The best, and I mean the very best, photographers/printers all spot their prints. Sometimes, for artistic reasons, they even use them to spot out details in the photo that cannot be burned out. So as far as I can tell, spotting is part of every printer's bag of tricks.

I had the same problems as you with the Spotone, so I gave it up. I tried Spotpens when they came out, and have not looked back. They come in both neutral and warm tone kits. In my experience the neutral tone works very well with Ilford MGIV FB, Kodak Polymax Fine Art, and Oriental VCFB after light selenium toning. The Warmtone works well with Agfa Multicontrast Classic lightly toned in selenium. I have not tried the Warmton pens with other papers.

Each set has 10 pens ranging from very light gray to black. Sometimes a pen matches exactly, other times I combine pens to make an intermediate color.

To help blend in your spotting, you can hold the print over a teakettle full of boiling water. The steam will cause the emulsion to swell. When the print cools and dries, you will be amazed at how well the spotting will blend in to the surrounding area. This is a trick that John Sexton taught us at a workshop. The steaming also helps to create a beautiful lustre to the surface of a FB print.

You might also try Marshall's dyes for spotting. This is what Sexton uses. He uses combinations of Marshall's Basic Black, Basic Gray, and Bright Orange, and dilutes them with distilled water. Working with these dyes and Spotone is an art and very difficult, requiring a lot of practice.

By the way, another trick that Sexton gave us was to use an Opti Visor (a visor with magnifiers on it) for close up work. This is very handy and relieves the strain on your eyes from the close up work.

Try the Spotpens. Nobody has ever critiqued one of my prints by saying I should have used Spotone or Marshall's dyes instead of the Spotpens.

If you ever have a chance to take Sexton's printing workshop don't miss it. A great experience that will help you every time you step into the darkroom. Lot's of fun too. Anne Larsen's demonstration of spotting techniques was awesome and humbling. I had never thought of spotting for artistic purposes, and watching her spot out some floating leaves that had intruded on some water was a very eye opening experience.

Hope this helps.

[David du Busc]

I purchased a print by the Man [AA] in the 70's. At some point I examined the print very carefully... hoping that I might find the holy grail or the true meaning of Zone II. No, I didn't find either, but I did see that the print was "poorly" spotted... I was shocked and outraged!!! I'm older and wiser now... the truth* from my current vantage point is ... just as long as your eye doesn't go to the offending spot you've done your job. Obsess elsewhere. I was recently doing some finish carpentry in my home and needed to match paint from 1998. Found some in the basement that was well stored and used it sucessfully. While I had it out I went around the house and touched up some scratches and abrasions... the same strategy was employed and worked well using Benjamin Moore, not Spotone. * when you find it, let me know.

[Scott Walton]

I first make a "pallette" on the back of an RC sheet of 11x14 paper. Using the back of an RC print is better because it won't seep into the print surface. I take each color of Spotone and drop a few drops (straight) of each on the sheet. I then take equal amounts of Spotone, there again, each color, and mix with equal amounts of water and make a spot of each color next to the original. The third set of drops are a dilution of 1 drop of Spotone to 4 drops of water and the 4th set is like a 1:8 dilution. I then dry it by leaving it set overnight. Using a slightly moistened 000 brush (trimmed with a razor blade), I pick up what I need for the spot I need. It works ALOT better than triing to use the Spotone out of the bottle! Make a pallette for yourself and it will be MUCH easier... and think of getting into a cold light head too. Using a cold light head will help elleviate more spots too... that and being meticulously clean from the start...

[Henry Ambrose]

I get a color match through dilution as Scott writes above but through a different method. I put a drop or two of water on a piece of plastic sheet. Next, I touch my spotting tool into the closest matching bottle of Spotone and transfer that to the drop of water thats on the sheet. Then I touch the tip to the plastic to see whats left on the tool. If there's too much Spotone mix on the tip I touch it again to remove some. When it seems right (the tinest fly speck is what I want) I take that to the print. Don't push, don't rub, just barely touch the tool to the surface enough that the tiny micro-drop transfers to the paper. Stop now! Let it sit a bit to see the result. If its not enough repeat the above process. My spotting tool is a sharpened bamboo skewer made for cooking. I sharpen it with an Exacto knife so that it has only a tiny whisker of fiber on the tip. I resharpen as needed to keep the super fine tip.

[Rob Gertler]

Thanks to one and all for your great suggestions and emotional support with this flushugginer (sp?) problem. Rob