basic photo paper questions

1. How do you tell what side is the photo emulsion on? The companies selling/making paper say to use a "touch method with wet fingers", older information online says that the outer face of the curved paper is the image side.

2. If i have a package of RC paper that is curved/bent when removed from package, is it really RC paper when the retailer says RC paper doesnt have a bend or curve to it?

3. I had a sheet of my paper out for focusing with. Left out in open air, exposed to ceiling light, and to enlarger during enlargements. Why would it turn purplish colors on a cream/yellow back ground

bunktheory65 said:

1. How do you tell what side is the photo emulsion on? The companies selling/making paper say to use a "touch method with wet fingers", older information online says that the outer face of the curved paper is the image side.

2. If i have a package of RC paper that is curved/bent when removed from package, is it really RC paper when the retailer says RC paper doesnt have a bend or curve to it?

3. I had a sheet of my paper out for focusing with. Left out in open air, exposed to ceiling light, and to enlarger during enlargements. Why would it turn purplish colors on a cream/yellow back ground

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1) The touch method works, if necessary.
Normally I can tell based on the slightly more shiny side being the emulsion side - but I have fairly bright, tested safe safelights.

2) RC paper will become curved if it is stored curved. FB paper curves frequently because the emulsion side expands and contracts (more than RC paper) with changes in humidity.

3) If you expose photographic paper to high levels of light, it will start to "print out" without benefit of developer. That colour is the result of printing out. For fun, consider trying lumen printing - put objects like leases on top of the paper and leave it out in the sun. You will see images when you remove the leaves.
Those images require some special care to make them last.

1. With glossy paper, it is usually easy to see which side is the emulsion side; it's the shinier side. With matt paper it can be more difficult. The wet finger test works (your finger will stick to the gelatin), but can leave a mark on the print, so use the border. Manufacturers package their paper with the emulsion side up, i.e., facing the top of the box or front off the package, so keep track of the orientation of the stack when you first remove it from the package. In the worst case, if you've kept the stack together, you can sacrifice a strip to do a quick test to see which side is the emulsion side. Clip a strip, keeping track of which side is which, pack up the rest of the paper, and then turn on the lights and dunk the strip in the developer. The emulsion side is the one that turns black

2. RC paper can be curved too. If it comes in an original package that says it's RC, it's RC.

3. Paper prints out a bit, even without developer. Fun project: take out a sheet of paper, arrange interesting stuff on it, leave it out in the light for a while to make photograms. Fix when you're done to save the image.

Best,

Doremus

A very old test was to wet your front teeth and gently bite one corner of the paper. The side that sticks to your teeth is the emulsion side with the gelatin coating. Make a note of how you removed this sheet from the packaging for future use.

FB paper ends to curve up, and RC paper tends to curve down.

the backside of the paper is flat and not reflective usually, matte and semi matte, and luster, pearls &c finishes on photo papers shine/reflect light, even dim darkroom light.

As soon as I reach into the black plastic bag that it's in, I can tell which side is the shiny side just by touch. It's pretty obvious, at least on the papers I've used.

ive been using inkpress multi tone pearl, and i have had one sheet that was upside down in the package, only learned after developing, others have all curled downwards.

bunktheory65 said:

ive been using inkpress multi tone pearl, and i have had one sheet that was upside down in the package, only learned after developing, others have all curled downwards.

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Can I ask where you got this stuff and how long ago you purchased it and what price you paid for whatever size and quantity you purchased
I have never heard of it but it appears that Amazon once stocked it but no longer

Thanks
pentaxuser

go

pentaxuser said:

Can I ask where you got this stuff and how long ago you purchased it and what price you paid for whatever size and quantity you purchased
I have never heard of it but it appears that Amazon once stocked it but no longer

Thanks
pentaxuser

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purchased in last 2 months from either adorama or bh photo video. i got the 50 sheets of 5x7 for 8.00$ before tax and shipping.

It looks to be a darkroom paper that comes from Inkpress - a company whose main business is inkjet paper.
These people: http://www.inkpresspaper.com/
As far as I can tell there is no reference to the darkroom paper on that website.

When I printed on Kodak surface N (RA4), I could tell the difference in sound my finger made gently going over the surface of the paper. Can't remember how they sounded different and probably could not hear the difference now, 20+ years later.

MattKing said:

It looks to be a darkroom paper that comes from Inkpress - a company whose main business is inkjet paper.
These people: http://www.inkpresspaper.com/
As far as I can tell there is no reference to the darkroom paper on that website.

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I've seen this paper on the shelves of a couple of smaller photographic stores in the US - the sort of store that is 99% digital, with a small shelf related to film and darkroom.
A company that sells inkjet paper may be well set up to handle the distribution issues for the sort of small orders that stores like that might place - they buy a few cartons of inkjet paper, then add a couple of small boxes of this to the order.
I have a vague recollection of someone wondering if it might once have been Mitsubishi paper - a brand that normally didn't leave Japan. I believe that Mitsubishi recently stopped making their black and white darkroom paper.

I did a bit more research as well. Inkpress state that it covers grades 1-4. Now as Inkpress is essentially an inkjet company that has obtained darkroom paper and this is not one of its main line products, I'd imagine that it hasn't done its own independent research into the paper's properties which may mean that it is repeating what it was told by the manufacturers of the paper or what it obtained by its own searches for information

The only "recent paper manufacturer that I can recall stating that its paper covers grades 1-4 as opposed to 0-5 is Tetenal I cannot find any information as to whether Tetenal still makes or has paper made for it. The "Tetenal " shop does not seem to stock any Tetenal paper. Since Tetenal's demise and its the "rise from the ashes" it would seem unlikely. Any paper that covers grades 1-4 only, will not compete these days with Ilford, Adox or Foma

So might this Inkpress stuff be old Tetenal?

Anyway back to the subject in hand I'd be surprised if "Pearl" paper in any make does not reveal which side is which quite easily under a safelight. My Ilford Pearl and Kentmere Lustre( Kentmere's name for its Pearl equivalent) certainly do. Simply bend the paper slightly and the side with the sheen clearly reveals itself

OP I am unsure if you mentioned using any other paper but if the Inkpress paper is your first journey into darkroom printing then the simple bending of the paper should reveal which is the emulsion side.

If it doesn't but all the other makes did, then my sympathies but that problem plus the lack of grades and possible limited stocks suggests that a move to other paper may be sensible

pentaxuser

bunktheory65 said:

1. How do you tell what side is the photo emulsion on? The companies selling/making paper say to use a "touch method with wet fingers", older information online says that the outer face of the curved paper is the image side.

2. If i have a package of RC paper that is curved/bent when removed from package, is it really RC paper when the retailer says RC paper doesnt have a bend or curve to it?

3. I had a sheet of my paper out for focusing with. Left out in open air, exposed to ceiling light, and to enlarger during enlargements. Why would it turn purplish colors on a cream/yellow back ground

Click to expand...

I strongly recommend against touching the emulsion with wet fingers. It will leave very undesirable marks on the print. With a little experience You will be able to tell the difference by the haptic of the emulsion and the back of the paper .Try it first with a sacrificial sheet in light.

How to tell emulsion side? Make a print. If it doesn't work, turn the next sheet over. (Admit it - we've all done this.)