anyone using colour roll paper?

[jpberger]

Now that endura is no longer in sheets, and rumour has It that fuji is next I'm wondering if anyone is using colour (ra-4) roll paper-- if you how do you manage it?


Ps I asked this under darkroom equipment in a slightly different way but there weren't any bites in that forum (sorry for the duplication)

 

[ZorkiKat]

Roll paper was about the only thing we had here for RA4. When I used to do colour printing in the darkroom, I bought 12.7 cm and 20.3 cm wide rolls. I cut the papers in the darkroom for 5X7 and and 8X10 sheets, using a DIY paper roll holder, and a guillotine type cutter. Yes, there is risk in getting fingers cut, but if you're careful, this won't happen ....I did this for years, and still intact. The cutter has a guide stop, where the paper edge can be located, and then the blade goes down to cut the sheet.

 

[perkeleellinen]

I was using rolls. When I first started colour I got some Kodak Edge rolls really cheap and I practised printing on those. As soon as I was confident I moved onto Endura sheets and when my stocks run out in a few months I'll start buying Fuji which is being cut down by a 3rd party here in the UK. As to the question, how did I cope: I didn't! It was awful. My darkroom is tiny, tiny, and I had less than an inch to manoeuvre whenever I needed to cut down some stocks. The roll is heavy, I used to place it over my arm, pull out an arm's length and then feed it into a guillotine wedged up against the wall. I struggled to cut the paper straight and normally ended up with paper shaped like a rhombus. If rolls are the only option in the future, I'd hire a large darkroom and cut down the lot in one session.

 

[jpberger]

Thanks all.

 

[Mike Wilde]

Keep your eye out for a vaccuum easel if you like to print without borders. The curl near the inside of the roll is a bitch to flatten, and never comes out of some paper stocks.

 

[Jeff Bannow]

We are currently using Fuji CA type 2 on a 10" roll. It's dirt cheap - $94 for around 800 8x10 sheets (once you cut it). I took an old empty box and ran a dowel rod through it. I thread the roll onto it in the dark.

Then, I just pull on the paper and feed it into a guillotine cutter. Took about 5 minutes to cut 30 of them, and that included setup and tear down time.

 

[MattKing]

Look for the equipment used by businesses that do gift wrapping - they use roll holders that would work for holding the roll.

For rolls that are 12 inch or shorter, you could probably use one of these for that purpose:

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/60105853