PtPd on Baryta Paper Book Now Available for FREE!

[CraigK]

Hi All,

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of my book "Vouloir C'est Pouvoir, A guide to hand coating fixed-out baryta paper with platinum/palladium & other alternative process solutions". I've been delighted to see some gorgeous prints made with my method. The book is still available for purchase here for those (like me) who prefer holding actual books in our hands, but I've now made it available to read online or to download....FOR FREE!!

You can now read the book, in its entirety here and you can now download a pdf copy of the book here.

So if you've ever wondered about coating fixed-out Baryta paper with PtPd or other alternative solutions but didn't want to spend nearly 30 bucks on the printed copy of my book (darn Blurb is pricey), you can now try it out for nada! The only thing I request in return is that you consider posting an image or two of your results. I'd love to see em!

Cheers,

Craig Koshyk

 

[karl]

Very interesting. Thank you.

 

[Vaughn]

Very interesting indeed! I have heard of attempts before. The only thing I would caution about is blow-drying the coatings. This can kick up drying platinum and palladium salts off the surface of the paper and get them airborne. And if one is working in one's home, the house can eventually be covered with platinum salts.

Breathing in platinum salts can lead to a nasty form of asthma. http://www.occupationalasthma.com/occupational_asthma_causative_agent.aspx?id=141

It took me 5 years of one to two printing sessions a week to get hit with asthma. Wearing a good dust mask helps as would vacumming ones work area regularily (if the vacumm can trap the platinum dust -- otherwise one is just spreading it further) -- perhaps wet-wiping after drying coatings would be best.

But one can probably go ones life without worrying about it and be fine...just did not work out that way for me.

 

[CraigK]

Very interesting indeed! I have heard of attempts before. The only thing I would caution about is blow-drying the coatings. This can kick up drying platinum and palladium salts off the surface of the paper and get them airborne. And if one is working in one's home, the house can eventually be covered with platinum salts.

Indeed, that can be a concern. Thank you for mentioning it. Using a blow dryer does pose some risk of kicking up dust. However with my method, the solutions are actually coaxed into the gelatin layer of the paper so they may be less prone 'dusting off' than when applied to plain cotton paper where they are right on the surface. So in that regard, there may be slightly less risk of dust, but it is certainly not zero.

In any case, the blow dryer step is optional. You could also just wait for the coatings to dry on their own or you could place the paper is a d.i.y. drying box that is vented to the outside (that is what I used to do) or you could use the blow dryer under a vent hood etc. The dust issue is one of the reasons I suggest that folks first trying to learn the technique start with cyanotype or van dyke brown solutions. Not only are they waaaaaaay less expensive, but they may pose fewer risks in terms of toxicity (airborn or otherwise).

Cheers!

 

[Tom Taylor]

I use to blow-dry the backside of the paper with a hair dryer on the cool setting but have since switched to letting them air dry face-up (i.e., not hanging). I believe that you get better results drying them that way as the coat settles down and dries straight into the paper. In my environment the paper is "bone dry" in 45 minutes but I give it another 15 minutes and the print immediately.

Thomas

 

[Mateo]

I love it! Thank you.