My first fiber based printing session...

kraker · Jul 26, 2007

cafeharrar said:
With both Kentmere Bromide and Ilford MGIV I've noticed that hanging them until water no longer drips off of them then drying them overnight emulsion-side up on some matboard leaves them nearly flat.

Hm, I think I'm going to have to try this and/or some of the other suggestions for the next prints. A "returning theme" seems to be to not let them dry 100% on the pegs. I ended up with some Not Really Flat prints; they are now under a stack of books, I hope that helps a bit. Also, you can see small marks where the clothes-pegs were. But still, for a "first time", I'm pretty satisfied.

I sympathise with the OP and the difficulty in learning which side of the paper is the emulsion. It was easier with the glossy Kentmere, but my initial box of MGIV matte I had a heck of a time figuring it out.

Glad I'm not the only one. Yes, I can imagine it's a lot easier with glossy paper .

Mike Té · Jul 26, 2007

Bingo.

I tried my dry-mount press today, and, for the first time in over 50 attempts at flattening FB prints, it came out perfectly flat.

A lot of time, effort, money and water, but it came out right, finally.

Marco B · Jul 26, 2007

As a rough guideline, I would take off 10% of the exposure based on your wet prints. So if the wet print looks OK at 20s, expose at 18s to account for the drying down. I've used this measure with AGFA Multigrade FB, Ilford Multigrade FB and Ilford Multigrade FB Warmtone and it works for me... But hey, that's just me ;-)

About drying your fiber based prints, there is a very easy method that only requires watercolor tape.... I've made a full description of this method, as I apply it, on my website:

http://www.boeringa.demon.nl/menu_technic_dryingfiberbasedpaper.htm

Marco

kraker · Jul 27, 2007

Marco B said:
About drying your fiber based prints, there is a very easy method that only requires watercolor tape.... I've made a full description of this method, as I apply it, on my website:

http://www.boeringa.demon.nl/menu_technic_dryingfiberbasedpaper.htm

Sounds good, I'll give it a try...

Gotta run, have to buy some watercolour tape...

Palmer · Jul 27, 2007

Akki14 said:
I must be weird, I don't like FB (I tried it out a few weeks ago with my samples from the APUG tour too). It's definitely has an almost velvety black colour and it's ultra-matt surfaced but the extra hassle involved with washing it and then trying to flatten dried prints doesn't make it that great in my eyes.

Well, mark me down as another strange one. Fibre obviously has all the advantages that people say it does, but I just love the look of the Iford MGIV Satin RC. Some RC papers have a plastic like appearance to their surface (Ilford MGIV Pearl) which I don't like but the Satin paper is quite different..very soft. I like it and I don't mind going against the Fibre gods.

Steve

johnnywalker · Jul 28, 2007

Wasn't there some talk a while ago about Ilford coming out with a non-curling fibre paper?
I've just finished my first sheets (Kentmere) over the last few days, and trying to dry it flat is an absolute PITA. I've ironed the last few (folded between heavy paper), then placed them on a sheet of glass, interwoven with paper, and about one tonne of coffee-table books on top. I'll leave them there for a day or two. I'll also try some of the other suggestions here as well. Right now I'm not sure my masterpieces are good enough to go to all this washing and drying trouble. I have a very small darkroom.

dancqu · Jul 28, 2007

johnnywalker said:
I'll also try some of the other suggestions here as well. ...
I have a very small darkroom.

Should search out - corrugated board - this NG.
Dry and flat in one operation. Compact, very light
weight; easy to tuck away. Almost free. Dan

Akki14 · Jul 28, 2007

They're still building the extra ironing out rollers, I believe it was mentioned on this year's APUG tour of the factory so it might be a while yet. Didn't sound like they were producing ultra-flat FB yet.

vet173 · Jul 29, 2007

Blighty said:
Good for you! Watch out for the dreaded 'dry-down'!

As recomended on this site I started using a lower light level to evaluate prints and dry down became much less of a problem.

panastasia · Jul 29, 2007

Those who suggest viewing wet prints (RC included) with a reduced light level know what they're talking about and I totaly agree with them, a 40watt bulb seems to eliminate the problem almost completely. I can't comment on the flattening problem because all my experience has been with drying on screens (in between two) and flattening with a drymount press set at 200F for about 1 minute then cooling quickly between two other flat surfaces for another minute. Prints always ended up totally flat. If it were me experimenting with something new, instead of buying an expensive press I would try a heavy metal sheet and a heat gun.

You can't do better than FB, you can even hand color the semi-matt surface (better than matt IMO). RC looks and feels like plastic because that's exactly what it is. I have some old RC prints that have cracks in the emulsion, maybe that's why I find packs of unused RC paper laying around for years. Good luck.

Paul

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Jul 29, 2007

panastasia said:
Those who suggest viewing wet prints (RC included) with a reduced light level know what they're talking about and I totaly agree with them, a 40watt bulb seems to eliminate the problem almost completely.

Out of curiosity, how far from the bulb do you stand? Normal ceiling height? I usually check mine under a 100w, but my ceilings are rather high (old appartment).

panastasia · Jul 30, 2007

... how far from the bulb do you stand? ...

8 1/2 ' ceiling.

panastasia · Jul 30, 2007

mhv,

Previously I was using a halogen flood, about 80w, because it was good for viewing color prints and also subtle B&W print tones. Drydown problems occurred when I was getting tired and would hurry through the printing session until I took the advice of someone else in this Forum who suggested using 40w incandescent bulb. It solved my problem as long as I no longer work with color materials and stay with my chosen developers/tones.

PS That was some discussion you were having on another thread recently, something about "photographs are not transparent but prosthetical viewing is", or something like that. I followed it as best I could, but it was getting late and my brain was shutting down. You sent the thread off on a very amusing tangent. Thanks for the entertainment!

Paul

My first fiber based printing session...

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