"Masterpiece" Blemishes--what to do?

Occasionally, when dry mounting large prints, I occasionally find very small san d grain "imprint/s" on the surface of my prints(cleaning prior to dry mounting d oes take place)--What is the best method (if possible & if desired)to lessen thi s imperfection other than totally discarding one's own work, a lot of time & mon ey spend on matt board & printing paper, etc.. I'm sure Weston & Adam's et al h ad similar situations/blemishes in their works--Other blemishes may be water mar ks.

What do forum members do with their "blemish/es" that they know may exist on the ir prints but the unsuspecting viewer may not? Thank you for your honesty------- Raymond

I Chuck it.

If my 59 year old eyes can see a defect, this means there is a big demographic group of people who should have no problem at all of seeing it.

It is not a total loss, however, you can cut out the print and use the rest of the board for a window matt.

The trick is to not let it happen in the first place. And the best way I have found of preventing defects is to carefully go over all the mating surfaces immediately before bringing them together with a cotton glove. This does two things: It pulls off dirt that a brush might be unable to dislodge and the moisture in your hand will help discharge static in the material. The platen of the dry mount press is especially problematic. Bits of wax from the dry mount material will stick to it to the extent that no brushing or wiping will be able to dislodge them. For this I keep a Plexiglas ice scraper handy.

Raymond, put a small drop of water on the little imprint, sometimes this helps as it swells the paper again.

Raymond,

I don't let the face of the print come in contact with the platten. I use a sheet of thin hot press matte board on top of the print. Dry mounting takes a little longer but I don't experience pressure blemishes. When I don't have one I keep it and mount another.

I use smooth mat boards on both sides of the sandwich, plus release paper on the face of the print. I clean both the top mat board and the release paper using cotton gloves before each press. Even then, little indentations appear on the print surface ocassionally. I'll give the drop of water idea a try.

A drop of distilled water will swell the emulsion and you won't have an indentation. The bad ones are when a piece of grit gets under the print. Then it is impossible, although if it is a very tiny protruberance you can sometimes press it flat with a burnisher.

Michael A. Smith