White marks on 35mm prints

[Randy Winkman]

I took and old film to get a couple of prints done for friend the other day. One has a couple of white marks on it where the negative had marks on it. If we ignore the ins and outs of why they are there and if the shop could have done a better job, is there a recommended way of touching up the print to disguise them? They are going to be put in frames on the wall and not looked at close up. The colour I need is a sort of boring greyish-blue.

[Randy Winkman]

LongQ said:

Back in the day it is likely that such blemishes would have been removed with some water based ink dyes and a fine paint brush, assuming photographic printing paper was employed.

Now I am not so sure since the "papers" are often plastics. Plus the print quality may be so good that such fixes would stand out anyway. There was a lot to be said for 'grain' back in the day.

How to fix the problem areas and what to use may be dependent on the print hosting materials.

Thanks. I think a paint brush might be involved. I do like to think of myself as something of a master-bodger.

[Randy Winkman]

Thanks. That might be the best option. Or possibly touching up the prints by hand and then normal scanning. I have a spare one I can practice on.

[Randy Winkman]

Thanks folks. I touched up the marks myself then got the pictures scanned so than the paint didn't show up from different angles because of the finish/texture. They are now invisible to the naked eye but it does show how the original prints that I have, the new copies and the scanned copies are all different shades/brightnesses. But that only matters if you see them all together.