How to repair pin-prick dent in print?

A couple of recent prints on Ilford MGWT fiber-base have very tiny dents in the emulsion, like pin pricks. They're only visible in just the right lighting, and are in different places on each print. I didn't notice them until the prints were dry. My drying screens are clean. All the prints from this session were from the same box of paper show the problem and used the same chemistry. It never occurred to me to check the paper surface under the safelight prior to exposure as this has never happened to me before.

One thought I had was to put a drop of distilled water on each defect to soften and swell the emulsion, then put the print into the drymount press. My thinking is that the heat will vaporize the water in that tiny area of the emulsion, forcing the dent out. Or maybe use my drymounting iron through a piece of release paper instead of the press. Has anyone ever tried this? Any other suggestions or solutions? I'd really like to be able to save these prints.

I would try your dry-mount press approach--if you get a change in texture around the spot, you can always rewash the whole print and dry again.

I have used the drop of water -- but without the dry-press. Letting the emulsion swell, then hopefully shrink back flat. Might need to be repeated. Might add a little photo-flo to distilled water, then use a drop of that if the paper resists the drop of pure distilled water. The sooner the better before the paper emulsion starts to harden.

Do you flatten your prints using your dry mount press? If so, did you see the holes before or after flattening? I had a similar issue in the past and I tracked the problem down to tiny specks of dust/dirt on the surface of the print that would be pushed into the emulsion by the force of the press during flattening. This would leave small depressions in the surface of the print. Now I'm meticulous about cleaning the the print prior to flattening and no longer see these depressions in the print surface.

I got a dimple from something likely the size of a grain of sand when press flattening a print a few weeks ago. I re-wetted the paper in the area and re-flattened. No real change. Pretty much ruined.

Yes, I did flatten the prints in the press and I am fanatical about cleanliness. But I confess I didn’t examine the print surfaces prior to flattening so I can’t say it’s impossible that the damage occurred there.

I’ll try the drop of water first on one of the prints. I guess I’ve got nothing to lose besides a little time.

I have this problem “all the time” because I cold flatten my prints in a seal press. I replace the boards when it gets bad, but guess it’s a risk

If you created the dent with your press. it should come out with rewashing. That said I have put small dents in lots of prints I flattened in my press and I have a relatively pointed piece of wood, actually a broken spotting brush, and in the right light I push the dent back out from the back. It works surprisingly well.