Advice on cleaning editing marks on silver gelatin photos

[T206Jim]

I recognize the best advice may be to leave well enough alone.

However, I am considering removing the "halo" and "H" editing marks from this Chief Bender photo. If I decide to clean it any advice on best practices to accomplish this?

[Leon]

When I read what you are going to do, I first thought Oh My Gosh. I am not an expert on what you are talking about so kind of got stuck there. Good luck. If it were mine I would probably leave it alone. It looks kind of fragile. I should add, I am referring to the Halo. The crop marks look a bit easier....though still outside of my expertise.

[koufax1fan]

Hello:
I have used a cotton ball or swab, it works very nicely in removing most crop marks.
Phil

[Exhibitman]

Pec-12 and the company's wipes are made for it. If the white stuff is water based you could also try a Q-Tip (well, many, many of them) dipped in distilled water. I did this photo of Kid Kaplan (HOF):

Before:



After:

[thecatspajamas]

Distilled water and Q-tips. Most editor's paint is water soluble, and as long as you don't wet the gelatin base to the point that it gets "gummy" you should be okay. Better to remove some, let it dry, then remove some more than to push your luck with doing it all in one go. Q-tips work well for delivering the water, and you can kind of twirl them slowly to lift up the paint once it's wet. Don't skimp on the Q-tips, and don't be afraid to take your time doing it in multiple passes one small area at a time.

Also, if this is your first attempt, pick up a couple of crappy photos with similar paint on them and practice. There's no need to get your feet wet with a nice photo as your first attempt.

[T206Jim]

Thanks guys, that was just the kind of advice I was looking for.