U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | RE: Pictorico pinholes

RE: Pictorico pinholes



For everyone that is having quality issues with Pictorico substrates be sure
to contact them if you have demonstrable defects with their products. Even
the smallest ones. I found them to be very very responsibe about replacing
defective product this past summer. This material is just to expensive to
expect anything less than perfect quality control. 

Don Bryant


-----Original Message-----
From: Diana Bloomfield [mailto:dhbloomfield@bellsouth.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 4:09 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: Pictorico pinholes

Hi Jan,

I honestly didn't see any pinholes before printing, but they could  
have been there.  I was getting more than a dozen, randomly spaced.  
This is why, at that point, spotting the negative wasn't a good  
solution.  As I said, once I used the humidifier, things improved,  
though I still have a few pinholes--only 2 or 3--small enough in  
number and size that I could spot them at this point (and thanks to  
those who told me what kind of sharpie to use!).  However, I agree  
with you that I think the Pictorico itself is suspect.  I never had  
trouble with Pictorico in any way until recently.  I hope they didn't  
go and change something to "improve" something else . . .  Thanks for  
the mention of Agfa copyjet, though.  I may end up trying that.   
(Pictorico is way too expensive to have any defects, no matter how  
small--in my opinion!)


On Dec 5, 2006, at 1:30 PM, David & Jan Harris wrote:

> Diana,
> Are the pinholes visible on the pictorico before you print? We had  
> trouble
> with some small circular defects on sheets of pictorico. Initially we
> thought it was a printing problem, but then we spotted small  
> dimples on the
> surface of several sheets. This happened with more than one pack of
> pictorico. Eventually we gave up on pictorico and now use agfa  
> copyjet.
>
> Jan
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Diana Bloomfield" <dhbloomfield@bellsouth.net>
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 5:02 PM
> Subject: Re: Pictorico pinholes
>
>
>> Hi Camden,
>>
>> Yeah, I think Jack mentioned the static electricity issue early on.
>> I assume, too, that static electricity is brought on, in part, by
>> lack of humidity.
>>
>> I did think about the spotting, though.  You really use a sharpie?
>> One with a very fine point, I'm guessing.  I think it may come to
>> that, though. Thanks, Camden.
>>
>> Diana
>>
>> On Dec 4, 2006, at 11:34 AM, Camden Hardy wrote:
>>
>>> Diana,
>>>
>>> I've got one more suggestion that hasn't been mentioned.  Pictorico
>>> tends
>>> to build up quite a bit of static when it's removed from the rest
>>> of the
>>> stack.  I've found that this static attracts all kinds of dust,
>>> hair, etc.
>>> that's floating in the air or printer.
>>>
>>> Also, there's a (fairly) easy workaround for pinholes.  What I do
>>> is spot
>>> the holes with a sharpie, and then spot the area back in on the  
>>> final
>>> print.  If done correctly, it becomes very difficult (if not
>>> impossible)
>>> to tell that there was anything wrong with the negative.  It takes
>>> some
>>> practice, but it saves money on wasted Pictorico.
>>>
>>>
>>> Camden Hardy
>>>
>>> camden[at]hardyphotography[dot]net
>>> http://www.hardyphotography.net
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, December 3, 2006 4:58 pm, Diana Bloomfield wrote:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> I have a question maybe someone can answer here.  I have used
>>>> Pictorico for a while, with an Epson 2200.  I have been working on
>>>> one particular negative, and every single time I print it, on
>>>> Pictorico, I get these little pinholes (always always up in the  
>>>> blank
>>>> sky area).  I have cleaned everything-- my house, the dog, the
>>>> computer/scanner/printer, the room itself, and I've cleaned the
>>>> original negative obsessively.  The entire room/computer/scanner/
>>>> printer/negative/dog are cleaner than they've ever been.   I opened
>>>> up a new packet of Pictorico, thinking that maybe something was  
>>>> wrong
>>>> with the original packet I was using.  But the first one out of the
>>>> box--I printed it, and it was all clean, except for about 6 little
>>>> pinholes in the sky.  Well, they vary in size.  I'm going crazy  
>>>> with
>>>> this.
>>>>
>>>> They don't seem to be dust marks; they just look more like little
>>>> places where the ink isn't going down properly--or something.  So I
>>>> don't know if this is a static electricity problem or a humidity
>>>> problem or what.  I really haven't a clue.  So if anyone else has
>>>> suffered from this, please tell me what to do about these little
>>>> pinholes.  I'm going crazy here.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for any help!
>>>>
>>>> Diana
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>