Retouching White Spots on Digital Prints (Epson)

Could someone kindly suggest a website or other "How-To" source, that

thoroughly addresses the retouching of white spots that rarely, but eventually

occurs on larger ink-jet (Epson) prints?

But please, I have already gotten lots of info/advice on how to "avoid" spots.

What I want are techniques to retouch them, when they do happen, dispite all

humanly possible precautions to avoid them in the first place.

When I either print myself (Epson R1800 or Pro 7800) or outsource printing,

there are occasionally a couple of tiny white spots that are too conspicuous

to tolerate. The larger the print, the more likely this happens. These prints

are ultimately for sale, so quality and long term color stability are

paramount.

Ansel Adams, et. al., knew that retouching wet-darkroom prints were an

inevitability, and their technique(s) are well known. But for today's large

ink-jet prints, I'm having trouble finding really good information...

One of the best ways I know of is not to rely on Spot-Tone or any similay dye usually made

for photo papers. But to reprint the image in question onto the back side of an ink-jet paper

so that the ink doesn't dry quickly. Then from the exact area where the spot is, pick up some

ink from the wet sample and use that to spot the 1st print. The ink's right, the color's right,

all's well with the world.

retouching is a separate art in itself. Having good tools to work with is paramount. You didn't say how large the spots were but I'm guessing the're small but noticable. My first suggestion would t be to invest in a magnifyer either a headset or a stand with glass(some have a light built in). Now you're able to look at the spot like it's the Grand Canyon. Next step in retouching is a thought process, basically how to cover the problem. You have to consider things like surface(matte or glossy) intensity of color and most of all the light that you are retouching under. I prefer a combo of natural and artificial if possible (but this subject is huge also) since if the retouching of the spotting looks "invisible" it should stay that way under most conditions(except black-light)

Next is what to use to cover the spot. I would reccomend transparent acrylic inks the kind used for airbrushing. They usually come in small bottles, are permanent when dry and can be mixed to acheive a color, but be sure to test on a sample of yhe same paper and wait till your test is thoroughly dry. Then adjust the mix to compensate. I would also reccomend applying the medium with a very good quality 0, 00, or 000 sable brush, used almost dry with a gentle dabbing approach. That's it in a nutshell although there a tons of other ways of doing this. Fine tip permanent markers, colored pencils, cotton tip swabs with oil base retouching colors are just a few. Good Luck