U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: Cyanotype woes

Re: Cyanotype woes



Keith said:
but I with red and yellow gum layers I
was getting some of the deepest blacks I've ever seen in any process.

PS this, above, along with sharpness of the layer, is the best reason to use a cyano underlayer--the resulting black in the print which eliminates the necessity to print a K layer as some suggest must happen. However, this also is the reason that some don't like the cyano underlayer--it is too dark. Hence I actually have switched from a 2:1 A:B ratio that I always used to use to a 1:1, so that I have essentially halved my FAC proportion to what it once was.
Chris

1) use a more
concentrated solution of FAC
YES

2) dump vinegar in the gum development
water
Try this--it'll tell you if alkalinity is the issue

3) finish the project in 6 years when the Cyanotype solutions
have properly aged.
Now a question for you and others: I have never aged my cyano--I'm too impatient, so I just mix n' go. I do this with VDB also, tho they say age it. Do you have data on this--is it a good thing?
Chris