PRINT PAPER DRYING

yya · Sep 24, 2023

snusmumriken said:
In your OP you said you didn't have space for screens! Now you seem to be thinking of screens and a hot press. That's quite a lot of workspace.

What size prints do you intend to make, how many in each printing session, and what space do you have?

I will try rc rack, if it is not work well, I will try to use screen, 8x10 to 11x14, some times 16x20, I can use screen, but I can dry 2-4 paper at same time, that's why I'm trying to find an alternatide way.

Paul Howell · Sep 24, 2023

yya said:
Can I ask what is your screen? fiberglass? or

I have 6 screens, fiberglass, expandable window screens, the size I have can dry one 11X14 or 2 8X10s on each screen, because of the frame they stack really well.
There are larger sizes, I got the size I did as it fit on top of my patio table.

.

MattKing · Sep 24, 2023

GregY said:
At the cost of 16x20" & 20x24," I'm not a fan of hanging paper....

I definitely wouldn't do that with large prints. From the illustration in the OP, I took it that the OP was asking about smaller prints, although I see now that the Kaiser rack is sized to permit use with 12"x16" prints.

Hilo · Sep 25, 2023

MattKing said:
I definitely wouldn't do that with large prints.

Hi Matt, I think very differently about this. I have always dried my fiber prints by hanging them above my sinks, since the mid-eighties. Never ever they came down. I have always done (still do) lots of 16x20 in. and 20x24in. First Agfa Record Rapid, then Ilford warmtone. Almost always glossy paper and for sure the larger sizes were on glossy paper.

(I can't be sure if this way of drying also goes well for matte or semi matte papers. But I think it will).

It was dust and lack of space that made me experiment with this. The printer who trained me (about 5 years in a Paris lab) had the drying racks that, of course, worked fine. But they needed to be kept clean from dust once every month, and sometimes sooner. We didn't like that, but couldn't find a way to prevent it. He should have built closed off drying compartments, but there was no space for that.

See the attached images. These pegs are 10cm long. Of course, they leave a mark on the paper, but as said before I trim 1cm off the print, all four sides. With fiber paper, this trimming helps to get very flat prints, together with the drymounting press. The last image is a 20x24in. print.

snusmumriken · Sep 25, 2023

Hilo said:
I trim 1cm off the print, all four sides. With fiber paper, this trimming helps to get very flat prints

Yes, that’s something I don’t understand, but trimming off the curly edge definitely helps to get the remaining print flat. It’s as if it’s edge-bound, like when you work sheet metal.

yya · Sep 25, 2023

Paul Howell said:
I have 6 screens, fiberglass, expandable window screens, the size I have can dry one 11X14 or 2 8X10s on each screen, because of the frame they stack really well.
There are larger sizes, I got the size I did as it fit on top of my patio table.

.

Thanks！！！

Hilo · Sep 25, 2023

snusmumriken said:
Yes, that’s something I don’t understand, but trimming off the curly edge definitely helps to get the remaining print flat. It’s as if it’s edge-bound, like when you work sheet metal.

Paper, and for sure photo paper, has a certain tension. Perhaps because of the emulsion. By trimming you cut most of this tension away. Not everyone has a drymounting press and a smart way is to make a stack of fully dried prints, face to face and put them under a weight. When, after a couple of days, you then trim them they can turn out pretty flat.

I think the temperature in the room where we put the wet prints to dry also has to do with all this. The warmer it is, the more they curl.

Pieter12 · Sep 25, 2023

Window screens, or home-made screens (some hardware stores carry kits to make your own) along with a baker's rack or one of these from Ikea: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/jonaxel-frame-white-40419958/

I have also use clothes drying racks:
A word of caution with adjustable screens. The ones I have used have a metal divider that will eventually rust and could stain the back of your prints if they are large enough that you need to lay them across the divider.

yya · Sep 30, 2023

Pieter12 said:
Window screens, or home-made screens (some hardware stores carry kits to make your own) along with a baker's rack or one of these from Ikea: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/jonaxel-frame-white-40419958/

I have also use clothes drying racks:
A word of caution with adjustable screens. The ones I have used have a metal divider that will eventually rust and could stain the back of your prints if they are large enough that you need to lay them across the divider.

very nice idea！

GregY · Sep 30, 2023

Stack of small window screens used for drying 8x10"s or small runs of 11x14" otherwise i use the 24x30" Calumet screens

Philippe-Georges · Oct 4, 2023

After gently wiping off the excess of the final Sistan bath (ADOX Adostab now) with a microfibre cloth from the emulsion side while the print is laying on a thick towel, I let the prints dry, emulsion down, on household fibreglass insect screens at room temperature for as long it takes to get them thoroughly dry.
Then I lay them, upside down and stacked by about 12 prints of the same size at once, under a pile of heavy marble tiles I recovered from dump container on a construction site (for free) for at least 2 days.

The prints are still somewhat undulated but that is so typically tactile for fibre prints so I leave it like that.

Anyway, the undulating reaction on the environmental atmosphere (moister) of the paper proves that the (natural-) materials, like rag and cotton, have still some life left in it, in contrast with RC paper (just like wood)...

I know it takes time, weeks even, but Festina Lente, it is analogue photography, and as ADOX says: "Good things in life are analogue"...

BTW, I regularly clean the screens, with a bit of Monsieur Propre and lots of water, as I fear that there is always some old emulsion (gelatine) that could be sticking and soiling fresh prints.

yya · Oct 4, 2023

Philippe-Georges said:
After gently wiping off the excess of the final Sistan bath (ADOX Adostab now) with a microfibre cloth from the emulsion side while the print is laying on a thick towel, I let the prints dry, emulsion down, on household fibreglass insect screens at room temperature for as long it takes to get them thoroughly dry.
Then I lay them, upside down and stacked by about 12 prints of the same size at once, under a pile of heavy marble tiles I recovered from dump container on a construction site (for free) for at least 2 days.

The prints are still somewhat undulated but that is so typically tactile for fibre prints so I leave it like that.

Anyway, the undulating reaction on the environmental atmosphere (moister) of the paper proves that the (natural-) materials, like rag and cotton, have still some life left in it, in contrast with RC paper (just like wood)...

I know it takes time, weeks even, but Festina Lente, it is analogue photography, and as ADOX says: "Good things in life are analogue"...

BTW, I regularly clean the screens, with a bit of Monsieur Propre and lots of water, as I fear that there is always some old emulsion (gelatine) that could be sticking and soiling fresh prints.

Thanks for your answer!

George Collier · Oct 9, 2023

Second the hanging over the sink, but hang them back to back clipped together at the corners.(strong clips if large prints).
They dry slowly, don't curl as much. Still flatten afterwards in a press, or just weight.

Saganich · Oct 9, 2023

yya said:
Hi guys
Here is a quick question
Due to space constraints, I cannot use fiberglass screen when drying fb paper, so my question is: is it possible to use rc paper rack and then use Heat Press to level fb paper?

Yea, I squeegee both sides first. Heat press works fine but will still have a bit of a curl.

PRINT PAPER DRYING

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