Flattening paper

[timbo10ca]

Can prints (FB) be ironed in order to flatten them? If so, what temp setting, with or without steam, face up or down, and what should they be sandwiched between for protection? Could a length of cheap, light cotton be used between the print and the iron? My guess would be yes, no steam, face down and thin flat cotton (t-shirt material) is OK, but not sure of temp to use.....

Tim

 

[Travis Nunn]

Hi Tim, check out these threads...
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[timbo10ca]

I was thinking more just getting the paper flat after drying, not mounting it.

 

[Travis Nunn]

ah. sorry

 

[timbo10ca]

no prob- found this though....
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Lopaka]

Never tried it, but I would think some experimentation is in order. Try to use the lowest setting that gets results - something in the 'permanent press' range. Dry mount temp is around 180 F and the high setting (cotton) on an iron is closer to 400 F.

Bob

 

[George Collier]

You should read the linked references above, one is a sticky on this forum. Also, I think I mention this in one of the posts, but even if you get prints flat after drying, my experience is that if they are stored, then brought out again later, they will still react to current temp/humidity and re-curl again. For this reason, I don't flatten (just with weight, no heat) until just before framing.

 

[timbo10ca]

You should read the linked references above, one is a sticky on this forum. Also, I think I mention this in one of the posts, but even if you get prints flat after drying, my experience is that if they are stored, then brought out again later, they will still react to current temp/humidity and re-curl again. For this reason, I don't flatten (just with weight, no heat) until just before framing.

good tip- thanks.

 

[Anscojohn]

Put the dried prints, back to back, belly to belly, between doubled sheets of photographic blotter paper, and put them under moderately heavy weight. I put the whole array between two sheets of 3/4 inch plywood, and pile books on top of them for a coupla days. I have also used four small c clamps, one on each corner. I find leaving them outside my basement darkroom is about the right amount of humidity.

 

[jmal]

I've tried an iron and initially it worked okay, but the prints left on their own now look about the same as the non-pressed prints (i.e. they curled a bit with humidity/temp changes). If you are talking about drying prints so that they dry flatter, my best results have been face down on a screen with a towel over them. This leads me to believe that the blotter stack method will work even better. I intend to try blotter stacks next time I print. See Dan's explanation of this in the sticky.

 

[jovo]

Recently I've been hanging prints on a thin line with plastic clothes pins (about 4 or 5 on an 11x14 print), and then using another 4 or 5 pins to "clamp" a plastic ruler to the bottom edge on the back of the print. The plastic is inert, and I only clamp the edge of the border so the image area is totally beyond risk of being dented from the cheap plastic pins that don't exert a lot of pressure anyway. The print is forced to dry without the edges being able to curl up. I often put each print in the dry mount press with heat after it has dried to smooth it out and flatten it further, but it will curl nonetheless. Storing under light pressure till ready for mounting is then easier in an acid free box.

 

[dancqu]

This leads me to believe that the blotter stack method will
work even better. I intend to try blotter stacks next time
I print. See Dan's explanation of this in the sticky.

Not a blotter stack but what I describe as a Corrugated Board
Stack Dryer. Within it are sandwiched the prints, and each side,
sheets of non-woven polyester. Unlike the usual blotters polyester
sheets stay dry.

I've run a couple of more test and will detail in the Sticky. Dan