Digital BW, The Print

David Dyer-Bennet wrote re nose grease . . .

>When I have tried this classic technique, I find the area filled with
>particulate dirt afterwards; apparently my nose grease isn't clean
>enough. What's the recommended application procedure; just wipe it on
>with a finger? Or should something be done to remove excess after
>application but before scanning/printing?

For those with exceptionally dusty noses or whose fastidious nature
recoils at the whole notion of using this technique, Edwal has for
decades made a product called "No-Scratch" for the benefit of these very
folk. It comes in a one-ounce bottle with a brush in the cap, rather like
a fingernail polish bottle. You brush the stuff on the negative--it's
supposed to be self-smoothing--and it functions in the same way as the
more, er, natural alternative. When you're done you wipe it off and
finish up with a bit of negative cleaner. Usually seven or eight US
dollars a bottle.

Daniel Bowdoin