so much paper, so many chemicals

[mark]

I have arentz book that lists a lot of papers and their qualities. But I see papers here that are not mentioned there, and then there is the paper chase. As a stubling newbie in this process is there a list of papers and qualities somewhere as well as an explanation about what is meant by an ACID BATH. Sounds like a timothy leary holiday :wacko:

Getting into this has been a very long multi-year process that is coming to an end. I have some Platine, I think it has been about three years since I have seen the package, I bought from BS. They are nice people and I don't think they would screw a guy asking for help. It will be fine for the learning curve but I am curious about my choices.

So .....Those of you in the know What paper do you like and what do you do with it preparation wise that makes it work the best.

 

[Deckled Edge]

Mark,
I assume you are questing for papers for PtPd.
There are some who have tried hundreds of papers, as well as old sweatshirts and license plates from South America. I don't have that much experience, but i do have some favorites that I hope you will try.
Arches Platine
Rising Stonehenge
Fabriano Uno
All are available from Daniel Smith in Seattle. I have ordered online.
Each of these papers requires double coating, an expensive proposition, especially if, like me, you use much more Pt than Pd.
I have found that double coating is unnecessary if you first re-size the papers with gelatin.
Glass rod coating is easy with AP and RS, but bruises the high points of the very textured FU. I use brush coating for FU.
All three papers are very white. AP and RS are smooth and very pretty. FU has a deep linen texture and prominent watermark, and therefore gives a very different look than the former two.
Rising Stonehenge is quite inexpensive--you will wind up paying almost as much for S&H as you do for the paper. You will get 6 8x10 sheets from each sheet of paper, and 4 11x14 sheets. These papers come in much larger sheets as well, but the shipping is prohibitive.
As one who has placed $500 worth of Platinum in the trash, I suggest that you do one thing well, rather than experimenting endlessly, as I did. I would start with Rising Stonehenge. Once you get comfortable with that, then you can branch out to other papers and techniques.
Best of luck!

 

[mark]

As one who has placed $500 worth of Platinum in the trash, I suggest that you do one thing well, rather than experimenting endlessly, as I did.

:twisted: I would in the trash if I did this, and my wife would still be trying to pulverize me into the bottom of the can.

I will use what have without a doubt.

What is an acid bath anyway and what does it do?

 

[PJC]

Most fine art papers are buffered to mae them alkaline and somewhat more archival. This is not a good thing for Pt/Pd printing, which works much better in an acidic environment. An acid bath is simply a weak organic acid solution that you allow the paper to soak in for a few minutes then dry. Once the paper is dry, then you can sensitize and print.

Regards, Pete

 

[cjarvis]

To expound that...the papers specifically made for platinum printing (e.g. Cranes Platinotype and Arches Platine) are not buffered, so an initial acid bath is not required.

Besides you'll be clearing in an acid bath (citric acid, EDTA, HCl, whatever) of some sort anyway, so any buffering is pretty well eliminated just by virtue of that.

Avoid the paper chase. Pick a good paper, and stick with it until you've learned its qualities inside and out. If you still don't like it, move on, but don't be premature in decision making until you're sure your motivation is the paper and not something in your process.

Is anyone using Bienfang 360?