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.
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