Re: what paper negatives ?

[Katharine Thayer <kthayer@pacifier.com>]

On Oct 12, 2006, at 8:18 PM, Judy Seigel wrote:

> On Thu, 12 Oct 2006, Keith Gerling wrote:
>
> > I admit that I have not used paper negatives in several years.  I  
> > forgot how
> > good they can be.  If curves could be used to achieve better  
> > highlight
> > detail, that might be the way to go.
> -----------------
>
> > We used paper negatives in Keith's gum workshop (Istanbul) and I was
> > surprised with the fine results we got (black ink only). I'm  
> > inclined to use
> > paper negatives for future gum works. I guess I won't need the  
> > sharpness
> > which ultra low dot gain transparency media provides since I will  
> > print "a
> > la Keith" (= big, around A3 - A3+).
> It isn't entirely clear (at least to me) what means "paper  
> negative" here. I surmise you mean a negative printed on opaque  
> paper, rather than transparent film such as pictorico -- but still  
> printed by inkjet,
Yes, that's what I meant, at least, when I said  I printed from paper  
negatives for several years,  when my old inkjet printer would no  
longer make decent negatives on transparencies.

> Then the paper that's been printed digitally is waxed or oiled?  Or  
> not? And, if you please, which paper ????
I don't know about other people, but I oiled mine with mineral oil.   
Kees and I both reported using Epson photo quality paper, which took  
oil very well, but I should mention that this paper has a noticeable   
(when viewed against light) internal texture.  Oiling the paper makes  
the texture less visible,  but in large areas of even tone, it can  
sometimes be seen in a gum print.  However, since it wasn't a regular  
texture, like a laid pattern for example, I didn't find it  
objectionable.  But some might.  I'll see if I can find an example on  
my website.  So there might be a better paper for the purpose.  For a  
while I was using a paper that was designed especially for color  
photocopiers, that had no grain at all, took oil well,  and printed  
beautifully, but when I went to buy more of it, it had changed or was  
no longer available or something.


I'll add that IME,  glossy coatings on photo papers (at least those  
available in the late 90s) didn't take either wax or oil well.
Katharine