Less glossy FB Paper

[payral]

Do you know any trick to reduce a little bit glossy aspect of FB glossy paper ? I think old paper was not so much glossy at least when air dried.

 

[FerruB]

Drying FB papers taped down with gum tape on a glass surface (emulsion up) will make the surface a bit less glossy compared to air dried paper. You will reduce dry down "darkening" as well with this method.
Cheers
Ferru

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Drying FB papers taped down with gum tape on a glass surface (emulsion up) will make the surface a bit less glossy compared to air dried paper. You will reduce dry down "darkening" as well with this method.
Cheers
Ferru

Really?? I can't imagine how this would affect the gloss of the paper, nor change the drydown... Just how do you think this works?

Doremus

 

[FerruB]

I am not sure how...but fibers soaked in water are swollen and constraining the edges of the paper during drying prevent it to shrink back to its initial "dry" dimension. I used this method for a couple of years and I observed a general increase in dimension of about 2-3%. Is this related to drydown? Maybe...at the end what is the cause of drydown?
And about the glossy surface it may well be just a personal impression...but to me the surface of a paper dried using this method looks less glossy, you can actually see some paper texture.

 

[payral]

Drying FB papers taped down with gum tape on a glass surface (emulsion up) will make the surface a bit less glossy compared to air dried paper. You will reduce dry down "darkening" as well with this method.
Cheers
Ferru

Thanks for your answer. I'll give it a try.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Do you know any trick to reduce a little bit glossy aspect of FB glossy paper ? I think old paper was not so much glossy at least when air dried.

I completely agree with your observation and, unfortunately, know of no way to reduce the gloss of air-dried fiber-based papers. The problem reportedly results from photo paper manufacturers being reduced to one choice of base paper from Schoeller. It has driven me to pearl RC photo paper and hybrid printing, the latter offering many more surface choices today.

 

[FerruB]

Thanks for your answer. I'll give it a try.

You are welcome, give it a go and let us know your impressions.
Personally I stopped using this method because is quite labor intensive and after a long darkroom session the last thing I want to do is playing with gum tape and wet prints...

 

[mnemosyne]

I completely agree with your observation and, unfortunately, know of no way to reduce the gloss of air-dried fiber-based papers. The problem reportedly results from photo paper manufacturers being reduced to one choice of base paper from Schoeller. It has driven me to pearl RC photo paper and hybrid printing, the latter offering many more surface choices today.

If you like warmtone papers, Foma offers some FB papers that could be interesting for you. I have recently seen samples of the #2 surface of the Fomatone MG classic (FB) paper that is relatively close to the Ilford RC satin surface. The Foma paper code ist 132. Then there is another Foma warmtone FB paper, this is on a natural (non baryta) base, called Fomatone Classic II 542, which is surface wise quite close to RC pearl. Although the surface codes of are all the same number "2", these two papers are quite different from the dead matte of the neutral tone Fombarom FB offering (112). Also, Fomatone MG classic is sold with a number 3 surface that going by the Foma product description ("velvet") should be slightly more texturized than the "2" surface (haven't seen samples of this paper yet).

 

[Hilo]

The higher the temperature where you dry your prints, the more glossy they'll turn out. Do a test drying one print near a heater and the other in a cool room. Just make sure you have wiped off all excess water (drops) . . .

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I have no idea how it would affect the archival properties of the image, but there are matte varnish sprays that you could use. Some of these offer UV projection now, so there could be advantages from an archival perspective.

 

[subsole]

ADOX MCC semi-matte might be worth a try : https://www.fotoimpex.de/shopen/pho...ibre-13x18-100-sheets-gradation-variable.html