Re: Cyanotype on papyrus
It gained roughly an inch in the long direction (let's call it 10%). I actually didn't notice at the time, but it barely fit in the blotter book before and now there's about an inch of space. It's the same size now as the untouched sheets.My papyrus streched like a mofo when wet...does yours do the same thing? Weird. I think next time I'll just keep an eye on the length and if it doesn't seem to be compressing in the final stages maybe I'll just switch to a lighter set of books or something. If that doesn't work I'll try your suggestion. I'm not so concerned about dmax as that if it hasn't compressed 'yet' it might at any time.Anyway, if I let the print dry completely in a press, the never compressed back to its original size, which drastically reduced my dmax. So, I ended up letting the print air dry for about an hour, then pressed it overnight, then air dried for a half hour, then pressed until fully dry. Something to try if you're feeling ambitious next time... I really like the way it looks. I printed a test strip with a more delicate image and it came out well. I'll print at least one full delicate cyanotype and a vandyke to see how they look. (I should probably also say, for the record, I'm using Mike Ware's cyanotype chemistry and a 30 second .1M hydrocholoric acid rinse which really intensifies the blues.) Doug
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