Retouching

Mechanical Preparation, Continued Retouching Photographs are rarely used for reproduction without some work being done to them to highlight important features or to suppress undesirable characteristics. You may eliminate minor flaws in a photograph by using a photo retouch pencil or opaque retouch greys applied by brush or airbrush. Handle a photograph carefully and avoid leaving fingerprints on the photo surface during preparation. Your natural oils will prevent the paint from adhering. The surface of a photograph has a slick resin coating which you must lightly abrade with Fuller's Earth, a fine, white powder, before you begin retouching. Paint the light values first, then the middle values. Paint the dark values last. RETOUCH PENCILS: Retouch pencils are available in various shades of grey and color. Avoid digging into the surface of the photograph. Use a slow, fine, circular motion to match the values in the image and spray the finished print lightly with a fixative. RETOUCH GREYS (cake form): Retouch greys are a series of opaque greys plus black and white in a premixed cake. Wherever you use white, use it pure or it will reproduce as a light grey. Spray the retouched print with a fixative. RETOUCH GREYS OR COLOR (liquid form): Apply liquid form retouch greys or colors with an airbrush. Extremely detailed or extensive retouching is possible. Figure 1-32 shows retouch greys in cake form. Figure 1-32. —Retouch greys. Continued on next page 1-43