Before retouching a photograph the draftsman should mix in a saucer a tint that will match the color of the part that is to be retouched and should try this tint and note its effect after it has dried and change it, if necessary, until it matches the color exactly. If he is to retouch a number of photographs that have the same local color he may with advantage make up enough of the tint for the entire lot, thoroughly mixing it and seeing that it is not too thin. In making this tint he should use only pigments of the best grade, and if he finds that the Chinese or other white he is using does not photograph well, or that it does not hold its color, he should discard it at once and use another brand. Photographs that are to be retouched should be large enough to permit sufficient reduction to soften the effects of retouching.
In order to eliminate the lines of junction between two or more photographs that are joined together to form a panorama some adjustment or fitting of details by retouching is generally required before the group is rephotographed to obtain a new print of the whole on one piece of paper. As it is often desirable to increase the width of such an illustration the photographer should be instructed to print the photograph on a strip of paper that is wider than the negative, so that, if necessary, the retouching may be carried above or below the new print to add depth to the illustration.
Panoramas may also be drawn from photographs with either pen or brush in the manner described on pages 68-69.
PART III. PROCESSES OF REPRODUCING ILLUSTRATIONS.
The preliminary work in producing illustrations includes the preparation, from originals submitted by authors, of drawings and other kinds of "copy" in such a way that the copy can be reproduced in multiple by printing.
Several processes are used for preparing plates for printing illustrations, and each has its peculiar features of excellence. One process may render fine details with facility but may fail in uniformity in large editions; another may be cheap and effective on the whole but may not reproduce fine details; and still another may give fine color or tone effects but may be too expensive. Therefore a knowledge of the varied uses and results and of the cost of the several processes of reproduction and, on the other hand, of the kinds of originals that are best suited for reproduction by any one of the processes is essential to effectiveness and economy in planning, preparing, and reproducing an illustration.
The following condensed descriptions of processes are intended mainly to aid in determining the kind of copy that is appropriate for each process and the kind and quality of reproduction to be expected, so that only the principal operations or stages in each process are described. Wood engraving, which was used in making printing plates for many of the illustrations in the early publications of the Geological Survey, is described here only to compare that laborious and "indirect" method of engraving cuts with the more modern kinds of relief engraving. In 1892 it gave way to photo-engraving.