Black and White Photography

1. Place your white match paper on top of the print. Position it next to an
area with dust, dirt, or scratch marks that need spotting.
2. Soak the tip of your brush with spotting dye. Use water or wetting agent to
liquefy dry spotting dye.
3. Blot the tip of your wet brush gently on blotting material. A somewhat dry
brush works better than a wet brush.
4. Touch the tip of the brush lightly to the test paper. Do not make a brushstroke—
just make a small dot.
5. Compare the mark on the test paper to the tone around the area that needs
spotting. If the mark is darker than the area, dilute the solution further
with water or wetting agent. Dip the brush in the newly diluted solution,
blot it, and make another test mark on the match paper. You don’t always
have to dilute the solution; often, just blotting the brush will do the job.
6. Keep testing and lightening the dye on the brush, until the mark you make
looks a little lighter than the tone around the area that needs spotting. It’s
best to start with dye that’s a little light and gradually build up the density
in the area with repeated applications; you can always darken spots that
are too light, but spots that are too dark are trickier to fix.
7. Apply the dye immediately to fill in the spot on your print when you are
satisfied with your test. Hold the brush straight up and down; touch the tip
of the brush lightly on the paper; and make repeated tiny spots in the area
until it is filled in. Never try to fill in an entire area by painting it in.
8. Examine the print for areas that need a similar gray tone, and spot them
right away. Repeat this procedure, matching all areas that need spotting.
Large spots take a lot of work, since you must fill them in slowly—spot by
spot. As your brush dries, you must add more dye and, again, dilute the solution
or blot the brush until the tone matches the areas that need spotting.
By far the most common spotting problem is making marks that are either
too dark or too large. That’s why you should make sure the tested dye looks a
little lighter than seems needed. If the results are too light, they can always be

darkened. Don’t try to hurry up the process with a few broad brushstrokes. A

sloppily spotted print usually looks worse than an unspotted print.

Since most dyes are water soluble, you can fix sloppy spotting by soaking

your print for a few minutes in a tray of water. Then dry the print and try again.

Prints made on RC papers are generally harder to spot than prints made on

fiber-based paper. You also will find matte-surface papers easier to spot than

glossy papers.

Some popular spotting solutions are packaged in kits with different dyes for

warm- and cold-toned printing papers—and for hand-colored or toned prints.

You can mix these dyes as directed to best match your print, but often you

won’t have to. With careful spotting using a neutral black spotting dye, you

should be able to spot most black-and-white prints successfully—and even

some hand-colored, or sepia- and brown-and-white-toned prints.

You can either mount prints on a single, stiff board or mat them between two

boards for display and protection. The boards help the print remain flat, and

they provide a clean, neutral environment for viewing the print. They also help

protect the print from nicks, creases, and other physical damage.

Dry Mounting

One common way to display prints is to dry mount them—attach them directly

to board with glue. You can choose to either cold mount or heat mount. Cold

mounting generally uses a spray adhesive or a double-sided sticky tissue; heat

mounting uses adhesive tissue that turns into an adhesive when heated. For

heat mounting, you will need a certain amount of equipment, generally available

in gang darkrooms or framing shops. Here’s what you will need:

Dry-mount press. A dry-mount press is used for mounting prints to mat board

(and also for flattening fiber-based prints). It has two parts: a flat, smooth

metallic top that heats up, much like a clothes iron, attached to a base at the

bottom that supports the print, mat board, and dry-mount tissue.

Mat board. Mat board is a heavy paperboard used for displaying or backing

prints. It is available in many sizes and types.

Dry-mount tissue. Dry-mount tissue is a thin tissue-like sheet that turns into an

adhesive when heated. It’s available in a variety of sheet sizes from a few different

manufacturers. Make sure you have a size at least as large as your largest

print; you can always cut down large sheets to dry mount smaller prints.