Postcard paper

Alexander Ghaffari · Nov 22, 2009

PHOTOTONE said:
Not exactly "optical" as that would imply enlarging. Rather, contact printed postcards were universally popular. Many manufacturers made roll film and plate cameras with the postcard size image.

Well, of course, I didn't know what word to use in order to differentiate "optical" light-sensitive paper versus the various "non-optical" printing methods. I re-read The Printed Picture a few days back...there were quite a lot of printing methods back then, even for just making postcards. The only proper Victorian-aged size that I can contact print at the moment is the carte de visite.

ozphoto · Nov 22, 2009

I use a Staedtler permanent Lumocolor pen if I need to write on the reverse of my RC prints. Great pens that dry in seconds - best ones are the F (fine).

But for the postcard exchange, I have used two versions of labels - the A4 ones sheets, that print all the required info (address, picture details) but more recently I have been using Avery labels that are exactly 6x4" and can be fed through your printer or just stuck straight on for you to hand write.

Great little labels that I buy at my local Office Depot - if the cards are smaller, I print the info required and trim to size. (last few rounds I've been using 3.5x5" paper.)

PhotoJim · Nov 22, 2009

I've been getting into fountain pens of late... I wonder how a fountain pen would do on the back of an RC print. I will have to give it a try. A reasonably broad nib would probably work quite well, although I imagine the ink would need a minute or so to dry.

Vonder · Nov 22, 2009

I have the Ilford postcard paper and it is not usefully heavier than their regular paper. And I don't understand this. Even the crappiest postcard you can buy at a second-rate tourist trap is on sturdy, heavy cardboard. I'm sure someone could make photo paper on such heavy stock, but nobody does. If you want real postcards nowadays you have to go digital.

Tim Gray · Nov 22, 2009

The trick to finding the Ilford postcard paper online is that it isn't always listed as postcard paper. Look for the Ilford MGIV RC Portfolio paper in 4x6, and it will postcard paper. Portfolio is Ilford's heavier (double-weight?) RC paper.

BetterSense · Nov 22, 2009

I've been getting into fountain pens of late... I wonder how a fountain pen would do on the back of an RC print. I will have to give it a try. A reasonably broad nib would probably work quite well, although I imagine the ink would need a minute or so to dry.

My fountain pens will write on RC paper, but the ink doesn't dry for a long time. I never let it sit around long enough to fully dry and test it; I just started using my Pigma Micron pens instead.

mopar_guy · Nov 22, 2009

Try using a pen with Gel Ink. I have had some luck with Pilot G-2 pens using this type of ink on slick surfaces. Also keeping only light pressure on the paper surface tends to help.

Mike1234 · Nov 22, 2009

Heck, a cheap Sharpie fine point will write on anything except a grease blob.

pentaxuser · Nov 22, 2009

While Ilford postcard paper is heavier, I think that Wolfeye has a point. Any commercial postcards that I have received recently did seem to be heavier and stiffer than Ilford postcard paper. However given the price of Ilford postcard paper, the real question is: How many people would be prepared to pay the extra involved if Ilford were to produce an extra heavyweight RC paper that would really only have a very small niche market, assuming of course that RC paper could effectively be produced at much heavier weights.

There are a lot of postcards around from way before WWII and they do seem substantially heavier but they must have been FB paper then or were they in fact something quite different? That is to say, were they actually produced as normal commercial darkroom prints or was there, even then, a commercial printing process for them which was quite different to normal silver gelatin printing?

It would be interesting to know the history of postcards and their printing methods.

pentaxuser

BetterSense · Nov 22, 2009

As would I.

Rob Skeoch · Nov 22, 2009

If you want to see a sample of the Ilford Post Card paper, send me your address and I'll mail you one. I have a few extra's printed from the latest APUG Postcard exchange.

-Rob

Alex Bishop-Thorpe · Nov 22, 2009

I've got a reasonable collection of old postcards from around 1900-1940, and the stiffness seems to be about on par with Ilford's postcard paper offering. It just has to be stiff enough not to get damaged in the post, and it fulfills this purpose very nicely. Buy a box and see.
Coating postcard paper on an entirely unique (double double weight?) base would require quite an investmen in R&D, and then you'd have en entire master roll of paper that could only be sold as postcard paper. I doubt it's a viable proposition when there isnt actuallyanything wrong with the current offering, and for such a niche product.

By the way, from what I can see with my own old postcards, each appears to be a contact print. I've even got prints of the exact same photo, one toned and on glossy paper and one without toning with a matte finish. The postcard format on the reverse seems to have been stamped on.

polyglot · Nov 22, 2009

Fountain pens will write on RC but the ink will generally not dry properly. Even when it eventually dries, it will be very prone to smearing as they're generally designed to soak into and/or react with cellulose to form a hard finish. So spreading the ink on plastic means the water in it evaporates but the ink does not cure properly.

Sharpies are where it's at for writing on RC. I did my 53-ish from round 18 with a fine sharpie on 5x7 MGIV 44m RC.

pentaxuser · Nov 23, 2009

I know I have asked this before but obviously didn't pay enough attention to the answer. Exactly what kind of a pen is a sharpie that ensures it writes on RC paper? We must have them in the U.K. but I have never seen the word sharpie used for whatever they are called in the U.K.

Thanks

pentaxuser

Tim Gray · Nov 23, 2009

Sharpies are a brand of not-too-stinky permanent markers in the US. Sanford makes them. They are great. One nice thing about them is that you can get them with relatively fine tips.
sharpies on wiki

I've also used Microperm markers by Sakura. Essentially the same thing as a Sharpie. Probably more expensive.

2F/2F · Nov 23, 2009

Freestyle and Samy's have it for sure. I bought it right off the shelf at Samy's Pasadena.

polyglot · Nov 23, 2009

I discovered Sharpies (non-toxic permanent felt-tip marker, for which any other brand substitute will most likely be just as good) when I was in the US - I still have the one I bought in 2001 and it's still going strong. You can now buy them in AU as well so I figured they've gone global. Any old fine-tip permanent marker will be fine for RC, including pens designed for overhead projection, e.g. Lumocolor.

Roger Thoms · Nov 23, 2009

Rob Skeoch said:
If you want to see a sample of the Ilford Post Card paper, send me your address and I'll mail you one. I have a few extra's printed from the latest APUG Postcard exchange.

-Rob

I have two of Rob's postcards and they are both very nice. So I recommend senting him your address. I'd also be more than happy to send you a card as I printed extra too.

We also have a Postcard stamp, which my girl friend uses to make post cards out of cereal and cracker boxes, but I still like the Ilford paper. Yes it could be a little thicker, but it works fine. If Ilford stops making postcard paper I'll probably go the rubber stamp route and use up some of my miscellaneous paper I have sitting around.

Roger

clayne · Nov 23, 2009

Dead Link Removed

polyglot · Nov 23, 2009

But we're talking about postcards here, not permanent archives.

And I wish people would quit posting chapters from that book - I just spent another hour reading it!

clayne · Nov 23, 2009

polyglot said:
But we're talking about postcards here, not permanent archives.

And I wish people would quit posting chapters from that book - I just spent another hour reading it!

How can we resist when the book is that great? Anyways, the section is specifically on types of pens, pencils, etc. to use when dealing with prints and the like.

Postcard paper

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