What fluid will not damage a color print?
Wayne Smith
lot of unknown "crud" on it, so I'm wondering if I could use some kind
of cleaning fluid on it. I've got enough room on it to test a couple,
and I've already made the best digital copy I can, so no great loss if
I mess it up, but I want to try to improve on my digital copy. Any
suggestions as to what might clean it best? water, lighter fluid,
rubbing alcohol? Thanks.
--
Wayne Smith
Paul Rubin
Water, hypo clearing agent, photoflo, etc. should all be ok. I
wouldn't try solvents like lighter fluid. Is it a color print, or
B&W? If B&W you might shoot through a filter that's the same color as
the crud, then use an image editing program to adjust the contrast
of the resulting scan.
Of course if you still have the 35mm slide, just scan it directly.
Wayne Smith
wrote:
Yep, color. Crud is probably many colors, since it's been collecting
on it for 37 years. I think I tossed the slide a few days ago (during
a mental lapse), because it was faded and streaked, and I knew I had
the print to scan; it was film of some unknown brand in 1960's Japan.
I'll try the water, first. Thanks.
--
Wayne Smith
dave
having it scanned if you don't have a scanner.) Next best would be to
scan the print. In any case, I'd work on a copy of the original to do
your restoration work. This may be a "traditional" retouching job on
the copy or something you do with a product like Photoshop, but I
would advise against doing anything to the original to avoid the
likelihood of causing irreparable damage to it. If, on the other
hand, the original is covered with so much crud that you'd be drawing
just about the whole image from scratch, forget what I just advised!
Sometimes it's necessary to work on an original. (I shudder when I
think about it, though.) Rather than doing this yourself, you might
want to seek out a professional restoration expert. It all depends, I
suppose, on the value to you of the original. -Dave
On Wed, 06 Feb 2002 01:54:37 GMT, Wayne Smith <JUST...@hot.rr.com>
wrote:
Joseph Meehan
water based chemistry. Water, within reason will not hurt it. I can't say
the same for chemical solvents.
It is best to start with water. The addition of a little (like a drop in
a quart) liquid dish detergent may help both with the cleaning and spot free
drying. An even better choice would be a little photo wetting agent like
Photoflow.
There are some special photographic cleaners, generally recommend for
negatives or slides, but they also work with prints. You can get these at
photo supply sources.
Alcohol is not likely to damage it with a quick dip, but I don't think
it would be a good choice and I don't know what it would do with more than a
few seconds use.
A couple of things to look out for are these. Water may soften the
emulsion, especially warm water. It is possible to actual remove it if you
keep a print wet too long. Generally a few minutes with water below 90 F
will be fine. Newer print materials can stand the heat and water better and
longer.
Older print materials also may change their appearance after cleaning.
That is they may loose their gloss. If this happens you can live with it
the way it is, you may like it better, or you can find a photographer with
experience with older photo processing and ask them to handle it.
Experience counts here, lack of experience can seriously damage a print.
Good Luck
--
Dia 's Muire duit
Joseph E. Meehan
"Wayne Smith" <JUST...@hot.rr.com> wrote in message
news:jq216u8me7ker8caq...@4ax.com...
David Littlewood
<JUST...@hot.rr.com> writes
Most of my experience in cleaning prints has been on Ilfochromes, so
please read the following with the caveat that the position may be
different for your print.
Ilfochromes show fingerprints like crazy; several times I have had the m
returned by potential clients or users so covered that they were
unusable as they were. However, after some experimentation I found that
re-washing in warm water gives very good results. I just hold the print
under a warm (30-40 deg C) tap, wet the entire print, then gently stroke
the surface with the fingers until the grot is gone. I then dry in a
film drying cabinet; if you do not have access to one of those, use a
hair dryer (careful not to overheat) to avoid getting dust on the print
while drying.
Ilfochrome is a notoriously tender emulsion when wet, so if it survives
this than I guess most others would too. However, the backing of
Ilfochrome (a polyester plastic sheet) is very robust, and paper will be
more vulnerable, so be sure not to buckle it. As Joe said, be sure also
to keep the wet time fairly short for paper-based material.
The other type of marks I have successfully removed is overspray from
Photomount adhesive. This is a spirit-based spray, and I have found that
a gentle wiping with a soft paper towel soaked with white spirit worked
fine; I have not noticed any long-term ill effects after some years.
As I say, you should not assume these facts will apply to your print,
but should test a corner first. If you have another, less valuable,
print from the same batch, test on this first.
And DO follow the advice to get the best possible scan before starting,
then at least you will have something if the cleaning goes horribly
wrong.
--
David Littlewood