Platinum print enlarger

[nsmk82]

Hi everyone, could i replace my enlarger bulb to UV 75w bulb to print platinum print instead of get a large negative?
does the UV light harm the enlarger or the lens?
Regards

 

[Simon Howers]

I'm sorry, but the short answer is 'No'. You need a lot of high energy light (towards UV in the EMS) to cause this type of emulsion to react. The problems are twofold: 1) the light diverges from the enlarger lens, thus reducing intensity and 2) it would be difficult to encase a sufficiently powerful light source in your enlarger. I suggest you buy a metal halide lamp set from an horticultural supplier - this is the cheapest way to get started.

 

[nsmk82]

I'm sorry, but the short answer is 'No'. You need a lot of high energy light (towards UV in the EMS) to cause this type of emulsion to react. The problems are twofold: 1) the light diverges from the enlarger lens, thus reducing intensity and 2) it would be difficult to encase a sufficiently powerful light source in your enlarger. I suggest you buy a metal halide lamp set from an horticultural supplier - this is the cheapest way to get started.

thank you for the answer, i was thinking on way to get a very high resolution from negative instead of scan and print, any suggestion printer for a very good quality to print a negative?

 

[Simon Howers]

There are basically two ways to get high quality enlarged negatives for any contact print process like platinum. It is perfectly possible to make film internegs using an enlarger and a suitable sheet film. I am no expert at this. I imagine that your difficulty will be finding a suitable film. Nowadays, the majority of alternative process practitioners use digitally produced internegs. To do this you will need a good film scanner and the best photo printer you can afford. There isn't room on this forum to go through the technicalities of doing this. I suggest you make start by reading "Making Digital Negatives" by Dan Burkholder which is published on the web
Good luck

Simon

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Here's your chance to shoot a larger format and contact print on platinum.

 

[jeffreyg]

Since you have a darkroom and enlarger you can make enlarged negatives to make pt contact prints. I have been using x-ray duplicating film for a number of years to make pt/pd prints. While the film is not cheap it is a reversal film and will produce excellent quality negatives. Place the original negative emulsion up (as opposed to facing the easel) and enlarge as making a print on paper. The film is slow so exposures will be longer than for paper. You can contact print the resulting negative with a uv light box or for that matter using the sun as the uv source. It can be a time consuming procedure and with a learning curve to come up with the emulsion formula and paper combination that works for you.

When all is said and done there is nothing like a well made platinum print.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

So true

But you can also try Andrew Sanderson's trick.

http://www.thewebdarkroom.com/?p=675

When all is said and done there is nothing like a well made platinum print.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/