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Re: Cropping Marks



Dear Mr. Berry,

In a word, PhotoShop; but why, really, would one want to remove cropmarks
from the original gelatian print? Signs of use are customarily considered an
integeral part of the history of an object. Unless the photo is of great
artistic imoprtance on it's own terms (with no other copy being available)
or, the cropmarks are an obvious, imposed blight on the artist's intentions;
I would not be inclined to toy with it.

The actual photographic prints from the morgue of The New York Daily News
that have been digitized, and are being de-accessioned, are of far greater
interest to the historian, and command far higher prices at auction than the
cleaned-up, hi-resolution digital image files that the newspaper is
retaining in their place. The utilitarian purposes of a clean digital image
are vastly different from those of an often unsightly original, of course;
but it's the dog-earing, retouching, rubber stamping, and cropmarks that
make these items valuable as artifacts of a pre-electronic, press-based,
industrialized mass media.

Furthermore, crop marks and the like are evidence of the workings of the
editorial eye; i.e. what the photographer saw, versus what the public is
permitted to see in the finished printed piece. I say that in most
instances, the best removal technique for wax pencil cropmarks is none at
all.

Best Wishes,

TGrunewald@QuadrigaArt.com

Theodore Grunewald
Chief Archivist

Quadriga Art, Inc.
Reproducta Co., Inc.
Executive Headquarters
30 East 33rd Street
New York, NY 10016

(212) 685-0751
(212) 889-6868 fax

==============Original Message=============

Another quick question:
What's the best way to get rid of cropping marks on photos? We found some
that appear to be some sort of wax pencil.

Best wishes,

Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
tberry@wcnet.org
http://www.hcea.net

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