a brief whinge about Ilford Postcard paper

Hi

I ran out of my stocks of Fuji's wonderful postcard paper and have more or less found that the only alternative is Ilford.

All other aesthetic issues aside just why is it that the writing side is coated in some plastic making it impossible to write upon with anything like a normal pen?

I think its just a standard RC paper, with a postcard print on, not a dedicated paper.

I just use a permanent fine line CD marker pen to write on them

I use a thick ball-point but write with the card on a hard surface so as not to leave indentations (oor would that be "EX-dentations"???) on the picture side.

Steve

I also use a ball-point, but some work better than others. It needs to have a strong ink flow: the more fine-tipped and scratchy ones don't work so well.

cheers
Pete

Dear Pellicle,

The postcard paper is normal RC paper, thats what we have to use, it was never the easiest to write on, its also, as I am sure you can imagine, extremely difficult to print on, the ink we use is very special so to avoid carry over during printing onto the emulsion side of the following sheet.

The best product to use to write is a fineliner pen designed to write on CD's they work well and dry very quickly.

Regards

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

simon I love ilfords postcard paper, im curious why not go fiber on it rather than RC?

As with all fibre papers it would need special effort to flatten and require more washing of course. It is also easier to damage as it goes through the various post office machines. Having said that, I have used MGIV fibre paper in the past and with a full-size label on the back they survived well.

I find an old-style ball-point pen works well on RC paper. The more modern gel-ink and fibre tipped pens do not work as well (if at all) except the aforementioned permanent markers. In practice, I print a label on the computer if there are more than half a dozen as my handwriting is very spidery...

Hi

gosh, someone from Ilford? Simon, thanks for taking the time to reply and suggest alternative writing methods. I happen to enjoy writing with a (good old fashioned) ink type pen (yes, its a fountain pen) and parkers nice blue ink just won't touch the surface.

I dislike the idea of printing something out from my computer (which I could always do straight from any of my digitals images). However I happen to enjoy sharing my travels with my friends in non-digital ways (as well) and (despite my poor handwriting) part of my way to appreciate my friends is to send them something hand made. For example some dozen of my friends have a postcard on the Fuji Rembrant paper of images such as this one.. (luckily the contact prints are much richer than this scan)

Dead Link Removed

which (dag nab it) ants which invaded my storage area have since eaten the emulsion from and I can no longer print.

If it is at all possible to feed back anything into your organization I would ask you to consider requesting a plain card backing? I know that I'm not the only one who loved this paper. Here is (there was a url link here which no longer exists) and
(there was a url link here which no longer exists) people who seem also to miss it.

I'm sure though we are quite a minority and not really commercially attractive.

So I should say thank you Ilford for still making such a product.

You could always make your own postcards by cutting down any size paper. I've received several during exchanges where this is what people did. And at least one comes to mind who had made (no idea where) a stamp that has the postcard "markings" for the back side.

That said, I still like the Ilford cards. And I've found lots of different pens and even some pencils that mark quite well. You could try some different ink in the fountain pen, good ole' black India ink would probably mark the card just fine after some experimenting with the nib size.

Maybe the postcard markings on the back of fiber prints could be made with an inkjet printer?

JPD said:

Maybe the postcard markings on the back of fiber prints could be made with an inkjet printer?

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That sound like the perfect function for such a device.

... or for a rule and pen - all it needs is a dividing line. When picture-postcards started that's what people did as previously the address was on one side and the message on the other (although early picture-postcards had room on the picture side for a short message as well as the picture).

Kodak used to make really heavyweight paper for post cards. I really liked it when I made some back in the 80s.

Kirk reminded me I have a box of Kodabrome G2 postcard stock squirreled away somewhere!

rwyoung said:

You could always make your own postcards by cutting down any size paper. I've received several during exchanges where this is what people did. And at least one comes to mind who had made (no idea where) a stamp that has the postcard "markings" for the back side.

That said, I still like the Ilford cards. And I've found lots of different pens and even some pencils that mark quite well. You could try some different ink in the fountain pen, good ole' black India ink would probably mark the card just fine after some experimenting with the nib size.

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My wife is a "crafter" (scrapbooking, rubber stamping, and card making) and I believe she has a stamp for the standard postcard layout. Check AC Moore or Michael's or Joann Fabrics in the rubber stamp aisle.

Incedentially these places are good for finding things for photo storage and modification. Scrapbookers as a whole are very concerned with archival quality even down to making special pens that you can write on the backs of photos with and still be "archival".

I think my wife the non-photographer has a better grasp on archival processes and storage than I do.

JPD said:

Maybe the postcard markings on the back of fiber prints could be made with an inkjet printer?

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I have a friend who does this -- he even scans in the back of very old postcards and uses the scans to print the address side of his photo postcards.

vaughn

I have used ordinary FB paper to make postcards. At one time, Porters carried a rubber stamp that would do the postal imprint. I bought a stamp at a stamp store in Provincetown, MA many years ago that works just fine.

I understand the point about writing on postcards on RC paper. I get around the problem by using either a Sharpie or a Rapidograph technical fountain pen with India ink. B

ut I would note that if you intend to mail your postcards naked (no envelope), RC is actually better. Cards made on FB paper will curl in high humidity, and that curl can interfere with automated postal handling. As a minimum the card can be damaged, and it may be totally destroyed (or worse yet, fall to the floor under the processing machinery where it will remain until the next time the post office is moved or remodeled). Cards on RC stock are less likely to have this problem.

Like Louie I've also used FB paper to make Postcards, but you need a good heavy weight paper. I used Record Rapid or MCC back in around 1994 for Exhibition Invites, I fed the prints through an Epson Dot matrix printer before cutting them up, it worked fine.

Ian

rwyoung said:

Kirk reminded me I have a box of Kodabrome G2 postcard stock squirreled away somewhere!

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I've still got my leftovers too!

JPD said:

Maybe the postcard markings on the back of fiber prints could be made with an inkjet printer?

Click to expand...

I've tried this with the Ilford postcard paper, and it turned out to be a horrible smudgy mess (Canon ChromaLife dye-based ink, for what it's worth.)

JPD said:

Maybe the postcard markings on the back of fiber prints could be made with an inkjet printer?

Click to expand...

If your using an Inkjet for this kind of thing, not sure if they would work on RC paper, you could print the line and address, then write the message on. The printed address would make it easier for sorting machines and postal employees to read the address. I work for a courier company, and some hand writing is just plain horrible, other writing is so flowery as to make it hard to read, when in a small space such as a waybill. I've sent stuff to our shipping resolution department because I could not be sure of the address, and sometimes they have to call the sender to figure it out, and that delays the package.

Another thing for post cards, they have full sheet address labels, so you could cut one of those to fit the back of the paper, and then write/print on it. I wonder if this would be the solution for Ilford in making such paper, simply make the paper with an extra plain paper backing sheet.

Bob F. said:

... or for a rule and pen - all it needs is a dividing line.

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Yup, that's what I do. I used to use the Ilford postcard stock, but then when the postcard exchanges started getting upwards of 40 participants, I started using a Saunders proofing easel instead. The easel has a 12x15" tray and a heavy metal mask with a 4x5" hole in the center and a handle to lift it. The paper is moved alternately to each corner of the tray to make four 4x5" images on one sheet of 8x10" paper. Combined with a Metrolux timer for producing consistent exposures shorter than 5 sec, timed to 1/10 sec., and a neg that prints well without manipulation, I can crank out the postcards pretty quickly.

tim_walls said:

I've tried this with the Ilford postcard paper, and it turned out to be a horrible smudgy mess (Canon ChromaLife dye-based ink, for what it's worth.)

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I had the same results on a Canon IP90v. Finally resorted to printing labels.