Spotting Colour Prints

Yes I know we should not get dust spots, hair marks or scratches on prints, but we do and sometimes it is unavoidable.

Correct colour spotting dyes are horrendously expensive, that is if you can even get them but I have managed quite well using a 5 colour digital inkjet cartridge where I extract the dye with a hyperdemic needle and let it dry on an old white saucer.

From these 5 colours you can make almost any tint that you need to disguise blemishes on RA4 prints. If you can get hold of the newer ink/dye cartridges the colours will not fade. The results are infinitely better than using water colour paints.

There is nothing necessarily expensive about retouching dyes. I happen to use an old set of Ciba retouch dyes which are actually superior to those in chromogenic papers. Inkjet dyes aren't necessarily any better. The problem is that they're bound to pigment particles. So if you're going to contend with the nuisance of messing with the sheen of prints using opaque inkjet inks, you might as well just use artist's acrylics, then gloss them over if needed with some gum arabic. This is obviously a lot easier to do on matte prints than high gloss ones. Semigloss pigments are also available from
art stores. All this was figured out long before stinkjet was ever invented.

The problem of marks being visible as due to the sheen being visible after spotting can be reduced or eliminated in at least 2 ways, both of which I have used.
1. A tiny proportion of the liquid that comes with the dyes can have a clear water based varnish added before it is allowed to dry this will perform superbly on both textured and glossy surfaces.
2. there are sprays available which are designed to extend the life of inkjet prints and these can also be used successfully on RA4 prints, but do work better on lustre or non glossy surfaces..

DREW WILEY said:

There is nothing necessarily expensive about retouching dyes. I happen to use an old set of Ciba retouch dyes which are actually superior to those in chromogenic papers. Inkjet dyes aren't necessarily any better. The problem is that they're bound to pigment particles. So if you're going to contend with the nuisance of messing with the sheen of prints using opaque inkjet inks, you might as well just use artist's acrylics, then gloss them over if needed with some gum arabic. This is obviously a lot easier to do on matte prints than high gloss ones. Semigloss pigments are also available from
art stores. All this was figured out long before stinkjet was ever invented.

Click to expand...

Your confusing pigments and dyes - they are quite different. Pigments inks don't contain dyes, nor are dyes attached to them. Cheap Inkjet printers use transparent organic dyes so there's not an issue with the OP using them for retouching.

Ian

Wrong. Look up the patents on all these inkjet colorants. It's a complete fallacy to call the result pigment prints. The problem this kind of technology
poses is that the colorants have to squeeze through those really tiny nozzles without clogging. That means not only PEG in the solution to prevent them drying out, but a stringent limitation on pigment choice requiring a lot of hybrid formulation. What this consists of are are a blend of fine pigments, dyes, and lakes (dyed neutral pigment particles). So of the dyes are old standbys used previously in other color printing systems, but
not really any more permanent than they ever were, perhaps less since the application is really superficial. But that's an extended topic on its own
right. The practical issue of that, however, is that some inkjet colorants will fade before others. When you are retouching a color print, you ideally
want the spotting colors to age in the same manner as equivalent hues in the original print, so that spotting zits don't become apparent over time.

A follow-up: True pigment prints like carbro and carbon transfer rely on just three process colors (CMY) because particle size is not the primary issue. Once in awhile a separate black pigment (K) is also used. Most true pigments are comprised of particles too large to pass through inkjet nozzles, and
the newest nano pigments or micro-transoxides aren't available in suitably matched process colors; such options simply haven't been discovered yet.
So that means inkjets are made with a convoluted stew of eight to eleven separately programmed colorants, much like house paint dispensers, except
that the ingredients have to be further stipulated and highly restricted by much much smaller particle size. This inevitably involves dyes to round out
the necessary colorant selection. The R&D involved is truly remarkable; but either ignorance or dishonesty is involved when inkjet prints are marketed as actual pigment prints or presumed to have the same level of alleged permanence.

Waaaait! I have a brilliant idea!
Do the de-spotting/de-speckling in Fauxtoshoppe!