Advise beginner with first print paper and also direct positive

[jay moussy]

It is time for me to get into printing, now that I got a start with development practice, ideally with 5 x 7 size.

- best paper choice(s) for a low-volume beginner?

- same, but with direct positive (that pinhole hitch!)?

I need to add, will be purchased from U.S. vendors.

 

[sterioma]

I don't know what the prices are like in your area, but here in Europe Foma papers is all I have been using as a beginner, and they are a very good value for money.

I recommend VC resin papers as a beginnner, you can try Fiber Base later on as it takes quite a bit more time to properly wash.

 

[jay moussy]

Good point @sterioma this is for a U.S. purchase.

 

[koraks]

To start out, I'd just use any resin coated paper. Saves you a lot of time washing prints and it stays nice and flat.
Although in principle there's nothing wrong with fiber based either, if course. It's not more complicated or anything.

For the direct positive stuff: I'd either forego it to begin with and just make paper negatives and contact print them. Or if you really want direct positive paper I think there's not much choice anyway so your route would be pretty much predetermined.

Don't overthink this. Just buy some paper and get going.

 

[grainyvision]

My recommendation is to try Ilford MGV RC. It is really the best RC paper on the market today in my opinion. When you want to step up to FB, Arista.EDU Ultra FB is more reasonable than I expected for a cheap paper, it's a very neutral almost cold tone paper with good depth of blacks.

Direct positive there's only 2 choices. Ilford's direct positive FB paper and Ars Imago direct positive on polyester base. The Ars Imago stuff is probably the closest feel to old cibachrome paper, but also can feel plasticy and is extremely high gloss. Personally I don't like Ilford's direct positive FB paper. It's thick, very curly, and dries to an ugly dull gloss unless you ferrotype it. The ars imago stuff is likely to be Ilford emulsion just coated onto a different base, but the ars imago stuff is also very expensive per sheet. Also look into pre-flashing (or post-flashing, same thing) to decrease the contrast and increase the speed of direct positive papers. Also, make sure t do safelight tests. I use red LED safelights which work great with everything, even medium speed ortho litho film, but with direct positive paper my safelight will fog the paper within 1-2 minutes.

I recommend buying from Freestyle unless you need fast shipping, then order from B&H. Both are still doing normal shipping for online orders but are closed for in-person pickup due to the coronavirus

 

[removed account4]

hi jay
couldn't agree more with RC paper. it got a bad rap year ago but as long as you wash it and fix it .. and don't trap it behind glass (sometimes it silvers out)... modern rc can be as stable as FB paper (according to RIT, Wilhelm (image permanency institute) and Kodak rc can be as stable, or more stable as FB paper (it lasts as long as the substrate its coated on) ... with regards to direct positive ... im not sure if Ilford still makes it...
have fun !
John

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Why spend money on expensive direct positive paper? You can do reversal processing of cheaper VC paper. Fomaspeed RC is a nice paper for both paper negatives and reversal positives.

 

[kevs]

I deffo recommend using RC (resin-coated) papers to start with. Steer clear of fibre-based (FB) papers until you are confident enough to start expanding your skills. They are more particular and time-consuming to work with.

 

[jay moussy]

Why spend money on expensive direct positive paper? You can do reversal processing of cheaper VC paper.

Hmm.. I barely know the basics, and would not know about that process.

I got a search going and will learn from what I find.
First impressions: complicated, hard-to-find ingredients in the U.S..

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

First impressions: complicated, hard-to-find ingredients in the U.S..

For reversal, you need the following chemicals which are also the chemicals you would use for developing paper negatives and prints:

Paper developer like Dektol or Ilford PQ Universal
Fixer for fixing
Sodium Sulphite for clearing

and one extra chemical:
Bleach.

Potassium Dichromate is the preferred bleach but people have used household Hydrogen Peroxide as a substitute. There are videos too on using Peroxide bleach.

As far as the process is concerned, it's easy to learn if one follows the workflow given here:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/paper-negative-reversal-process.74130/#post-1029646

My point was if you buy the relatively cheap RC paper, you can start with paper negatives, gain some experience and then do reversal processing with the same paper without having to buy the more expensive direct positive paper. Of course you should do what you think works best for you.