What can I do about spots?

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

I've just recently gotten around to properly printing some negatives. By properly I mean not using expired paper in the spare room in the middle of the night, shuffling back and forth from the bathroom.
I have a functional darkroom and a box of paper, and it's all been rather happy work. I've even gotten a few prints I can be quite proud of, (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

But a rather regular occurrence, especially with older negatives (when I had less than desirable processing conditions), are white spots on my prints caused by dust on the negative. I brush off each negative with a lens cleaning brush carefully before putting it in the enlarger, but even then a few specs of dust refuse to come off. I often take the negative out again, lay it on a light box and peer at it menacingly through a loupe, but to little avail.
I'll then brush and poke, and now and then against my better judgment, blow, to try to get rid of these tiny annoyances.
They just wont budge.

I'm tremendously fond of the 35mm format after various forays into medium and large format - it's just the medium that best suits me, but these spots are driving me mad. Has anyone got any advice? Can I fix this problem with old negatives, or can I only prevent it in the future?
I've refined my processing in the last few weeks with demineralised water and foto-flo for the last rinse. I hang my film up to dry on weighted clips and cut and sleeve them about 2 hours later.

 

[Mick Fagan]

There are various methods used in removing either dust particles, or various other particles either on top, or embedded in the emulsion.

If they are embedded in the emulsion it becomes quite difficult to remove and usually requires you to re-soak the film in water for a time to allow the emulsion to swell again and carefully, with a sewing needle and a magnifying glass, remove the object by brute force. I have done this.

For some of the other more surface stuff, like dust or specks of dirt, I use Removable Magic Tape. This stuff is brilliant for doing this, you pull a bit off from the tape dispenser and apply the sticky side to the offending part of film, then lift off gently. It is amazing what this stuff can remove.

If that doesn't work I use Kodak Film Cleaner, which is no longer made, but there is another brand of stuff available and it is imported into Oz.

To use the film cleaner, I dip a cotton bud into the solution. I have the negative in the enlarger neg holder with the offending side on the bottom. I have a Schneider 4 x loupe sitting on the top and I carefully apply the soaked cotton bud in a manner likely to remove the item. Usually this is circular rubbing, if this fails its the sewing needle, failing that, become good at spotting!

I think you will find that as time goes on you will start to have cleaner film as your experience and knowledge grow.

Also if you can have compressed air, that is a real bonus. I know you live in a rural setting, so if you have a compressor somewhere, consider running a hose to the darkroom. Do though, put in a water/oil filter between the compressor and the darkroom.

If ever you are over in Melbourne, feel free to drop in.

I'll show you my current negatives and some from decades ago, there is a difference.

Mick.

 

[Snapshot]

I found there are some spots which are too stubborn to remove. I deal with them in one of two ways...

1) I dab the spot on the print with ink to cover it up.
2) I clean the negative with an anti-static cleaner (e.g. Edwal Anti-Stat Cleaner)

Another cleaner is PEC-12, which is considered to be archival in quality. The anti-static cleaner gets rid of most of the spots, except the one that are embedded into the emulsion. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done with those spots.

 

[Ralf]

I greatly reduced the amount of dust on my negs by turning on the hot water in the shower of the bathroom prior to drying the negatives in there. The high humidity greatly reduces the amount of dust in the air. Also very important is to _not_ enter the room or open the shower cabin, and do not leave a window open et cetera. The dust the negs collect while drying is the worse sticky one.

 

[Monophoto]

Alex -

There are two steps involved in dealing with dust spots. The first is processing discipline - mainly, using PhotoFlo or a similar detergent-like chemical to reduce the surface tension of the final rinse water so that it will dry without leaving drying marks, and making sure that dust can't get on your negs while they are drying. The latter can be a challenge in a makeshift home darkroom. I have a drying cabinet in my darkroom that does a great job of protecting wet negs from dust; you may find that your university darkroom will have something like that also.

The second step is to accept the reality that step 1 is never 100% successful, and learn to spot prints. This is a tedious activity, but careful spotting can make those ugly spots completely disappear. And I find that spotting is a great way to really immerse myself in a print, and can be quite relaxing.

I still have a supply of Spotone, but there are other manufacturers who offer products that do the same thing now that Spotone is no longer being made - Marshall's is probably the easiest to find. I also use the traditional brush approach. Others prefer spotting pens - whatever floats your boat.

The objective in spotting is to reduce local contrast to the point where the white spot is no longer distracting. It is helpful, though not mandatory, that the color of the spotting dye match the color of your paper. Spotone and Marshall's both come in sets of six colors, and by carefully mixing them you can match any paper/developer/toner combination made. Always mix drops of dyes into a mixing container, and never add anything (dye or water) to the original dye containers. Marshall's comes with dropper caps to simplify this step.

I mix dyes into a white plastic palate container (actually, an old makeup container with all the makeup removed), and then let them dry completely. Then, I moisten a brush with distilled with that has a drop or two of PhotoFlo added to reduce surface tension, and pick up a bit of the dried dye. I smear that around on the palate, adding a bit of water if necessary to reduce the intensity of the dye. Finally, when I get to the right shade of gray, I then apply it to the print by stippling with the brush. Never brush on the dye. Instead, apply it by stippling to lay a pattern of tiny dots of dye.

Having a magnifier and a bright light helps. I use reading glasses as magnifiers, and normally spot under a bright desk lamp. Angling the lamp so that you can see a distinct shadow of the brush on the print helps - watch both the tip of the brush and its shadow on the print. When they touch, the tip of the brush is on the print. So by carefully bringing the tip and its shadow together at the spot, you get the dye where you want it to be.

Take your time in spotting a print. It may take 30 minutes to complete spot an 8x10" print. In fact, after you are practiced, the problem is that you tend to get carried away and try to spot out the spaces between grains of silver in the print!