Scratch on negative, how to remove defect from print?

[Jim Noel]

If in the emulsion , retouch with india ink, spotone, pencil or whatever you prefer. It will print white, then you can spot back to correct density on print.

[Paul Ron]

another good reason to take a couple photos of the same scene.

[Fred L]

If it's a base scratch, I'd just use nose grease and make prints. if it's emulsion, I'd probably adopt a hybrid approach. Hi rez scan, touch up in PS and make a killer print. Scan that, or output the digital file onto film and make a clean negative.

[JMO]

I had one good TXP 4x5in film of a composition from Joshua Tree NP on one of my road trips that I really liked, but the film had a tiny clear white spot (which prints black) in an important place in an otherwise clear sky. I carefully tried the soft pencil technique, but was not satisfied with the outcome (and never tried to reverse course on the pencil mark). There is a good photo and film restoration service near me in Milwaukee, that probably could have fixed the issue in the film, but I thought I would try having the film scanned at high resolution by a good lab so I could (easily) Photoshop out the defect. Since I hoped to make a silver gelatin print of this repaired image, I considered having the lab make a digital negative that I could use in my darkroom to make a silver gelatin contact print. However, I ended up having a really nice 28x35in B&W Piezography print made by Cone Editions Press that I am very satisfied with. CEP could also have worked with me to make a digital negative(s), but that would have taken added time, back-and-forth and more expense. Net/net, there are a couple of other paths to a good B&W print if its worth the effort and cost to you.

[Jim Michael]

Edwal No Scratch is great stuff. A diffusion enlarger also helps.

[Rod Klukas]

B&H seems to still have Edwal No scratch available, though it is special order. It is quite good, though you have to wash the negative after using it to print. So if you get the print you want after applying it, make several prints of your image.

Depends, for the future, but the old guys for a small scratch, actually used nose grease from the side of their nose, and it did a credible job if the scratch was not too huge. The old watch repair guys used this same grease to lube small gears in a watch, as well. This grease was only available from your human nose, and from sharks liver, I believe. Its big plus was it did not migrate and it did not dry out like petroleum based lubricants.

Hope this helps.