Spotting Prints - Tips and suggestions

[Mark Lindquist]

OK.  Using Breathing Color Canvas and a large print, 44" x 64", perfect in every way except for a small fleck, tiny in every respect, that shows as a tiny white dot in a gray green area.  My thinking is there was dust on the canvas and the ink separated afterwards.

What to do?

In the old days with B+W prints we used spotting inks applied with a small brush and camouflaged  the area.  Photo retouching.  Ugh.

So what do you do?  Any tips, tricks, materials, suggestions would be very much appreciated.

(I've used a thin "Sharpie" in black areas before and it works pretty well).  Today, in attempts to use acryllic paint, it went on well but dried with a ring and darker than it went on).

Thanks-

Mark

[JeffKohn]

OK.  Using Breathing Color Canvas and a large print, 44" x 64", perfect in every way except for a small fleck, tiny in every respect, that shows as a tiny white dot in a gray green area.  My thinking is there was dust on the canvas and the ink separated afterwards.

What to do?

In the old days with B+W prints we used spotting inks applied with a small brush and camouflaged  the area.  Photo retouching.  Ugh.

So what do you do?  Any tips, tricks, materials, suggestions would be very much appreciated.

(I've used a thin "Sharpie" in black areas before and it works pretty well).  Today, in attempts to use acryllic paint, it went on well but dried with a ring and darker than it went on).

Thanks-

Mark
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I don't have an answer for fixing this problem after the fact, but as a preventive measure I've found it wise to brush these types of papers before printing to remove those flecks of dust before laying ink on them. Kind of a pain with roll paper, but it does help.

[Ernst Dinkla]

I don't have an answer for fixing this problem after the fact, but as a preventive measure I've found it wise to brush these types of papers before printing to remove those flecks of dust before laying ink on them. Kind of a pain with roll paper, but it does help.
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Drawing pens filled with inkjet ink you use in the printer and stipple the white spot. It is better to use the lighter inks lk, llk, y, lm, lc . Pens like Mars Staedtler Marsmatic 700 ISO 0.25 and smaller. I also use watercolor pencils from Caran d'Ache that have a good fade resistance. Of course avoiding the problem helps but it still can happen.

Ernst Dinkla

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[rdonson]

I don't have experience spotting canvas but I certainly wouldn't use a "Sharpie".  For matte papers I use Sakura Pigma Micron pens.  They're pigment inks but I don't see any gray inks listed.

[Jim Cole]

A trick I've used ( I do not claim credit for this solution) with my Epson printers in the past is to print out a small crop from the same area (maybe about 1 sq inch) where the defect occurred on acetate or other thin plastic sheet (I've used report covers). The same inks as in the affected area of your production print are layed down but stay wet for a few minutes after printing. I then dip a thin brush or the chewed end of a toothpick in the ink and dab as needed. I usually dampen the brush or toothpick to dilute the ink a bit before dipping.

Has worked for me in many instances. The only failures seem to occur in light blue skies where matching the density is about impossible.

Good luck,
Jim

[WaltZ]

I like Jim's suggestion a lot.

I've got about a dozen pigmented ink markers from a local arts & crafts store, and have used them with varying degrees of success.  It's hard to get a good color match and even with the fine tip end, you get a distinct dot.  Quickly daubing with a facial tissue helps to blend it in.

To remove the flecks before printing, I use a 4" soft bristled never-been-used paint brush.  But one still manages to hang on every now and then.

[Mark Lindquist]

Thanks for the comments everyone - I very much appreciate the ideas, suggestions and tips.

Since I have a show coming up with 20 very large prints and I'm right into it full steam, I've had to act quickly.

I appreciate the feedback very much and will add my own.

These techniques apply specifically to canvas prints, also to Breathing Color Chromata White Matte and the Glamour Gloss finish.

DRY:  (Pre-top coat of any kind)
Ernst's suggestion of water soluble Watercolor pencils works amazingly well because of the blending abilities.  Thanks Ernst!

WET: (Between coats of Glamour Gloss).  Jim Cole's description of the ink droplet technique got me to thinking and I remembered a technique Rembrant used, painting with his finger tips.  Since the canvas has a nice coating on it, I was able to mix Utrecht artist's acrylic paint very close to the color and applied a thin coat with a tiny brush to the area.  Noticing that the weave of the canvas played in and certain areas acted differently, I used a little bit of distilled water and worked the paint around, gradually feathering it off with the palm of my hand.  (Remember that the print has already got a waterproof coating on it).  This is a similar technique to a French Polish in many ways. And the newly applied "paint" is sandwiched between layers of topcoat.

So I'm pretty happy with these two approaches for this one particular problem.

I'm looking into building a brush suction unit that would hover directly over the roll and vacuum the canvas before it goes into the printer.  PITA, but as many have pointed out, prevention is very important.  Funny, that 44" x 44" prints, I've not had problems (knock on wood), but the wide long prints seem to come through with a hickey.  Most distressing, but it's the nature of the process I guess.

Treating the print more as a canvas gave me permission to use a painting technique, and I think the fact that it's a tiny area and fine art acrylic is used, and between coats of finish, it should be good to go.

Thanks everyone for the comments, etc.  Keep them coming - we all can learn.

Best,

Mark