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Retouching Negatives

Use Kodak opaque on base side of negative for pin holes and bad scratches. Use charcoal pencil (medium) or regular #2 pencil to do fine retouching work such as adding to highlights. For slight work- work on base side of film. For radical work- work on emulsion side but be careful. Great new tool for me is the KOH-I-NOOR pencil- with removable leads. Use your finger or a smug tool to smooth out your work. Also, powered graphite or powered charcoal works well in shadow areas or for other large areas. Use by putting on finger and rubbing into negative. To remove excess pencil or graphite and smooth out your work use your fingers or a smug tool. To add density to large areas try a broad magic marker only on the base side of the film. You must use a "Stanford" deluxe permanent marker. I like the brown color. This brand will come off with film cleaner others I've tested will not. Pencil can also be removed with film cleaner. I've used nail polish remover minus all the additives to clean negatives that nothing else will clean. It may ruin the neg but with careful work it is quite effective!

For removal of water marks and other defects try using selenium toner 1 to 29 for about 2 to 5 mins then wash and dry neg. It can and will remove a lot of marks. Be sure to soak dry neg in water for 5 mins before you put in toner!