Re: solarplate prints
Hi Linda. Thank you for your feedback. I am geared up to print pictorico on my 3800. One question. What sort of exposure times were you looking at, just as a ballpark? Should I expect to be testing at a range of, say, 1 minute to 15 mins, or did yours tend to fall in a certain range? Mike On 23 Sep 2008 at 10:51, Linda Stinchfield wrote: Date sent: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:51:05 -0700 From: Linda Stinchfield <linda@turtlesilk.com> Subject: Re: solarplate prints To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Send reply to: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca > Hello Mike, > > I just took a 3-day workshop from Dan Welden. I think one reason you > haven't had good feedback on inkjet negs from him is that he really > isn't into printing from photographs. He prefers working abstractly, > directly on the plate or on acetate with ink. I, on the other hand, > really wanted to work from my manipulated photos-- and did. I printed > my transparencies on Pictorico transparency film, using the Photoshop > print setting that gave me the densest black. (That seems to vary > depending on PS version and printer.) Dan said my transparencies were > great-- and indeed they printed well. > > A couple of things to remember: > > - If you are making a relief print (not too likely from a > photograph, I guess), you would produce a film neg; if you are > printing intaglio, you need a film positive. > > - For an intaglio print, you need to expose your plate using an > aquatint screen as a separate step-- otherwise you get open bite in > the blackest area. Dan showed us some images from earlier students > where the resulting plate wipe was an interesting effect, but it's > generally not desirable to lose your black areas. > > - For intaglio prints, I've been converting my Photoshop files to > Bitmap, based on the process outlined in Christina Anderson's book, > Alternative Processes Condensed, pg. 114, Method 1. (Even then, I > found I didn't have any dot in the blackest areas, so I started > adding a top layer of 10% opacity white in Photoshop before > converting to Bitmap. With Dan's solarplates and the aquatint screen, > that doesn't seem to be necessary. With regular photopolymer plates > from Boxcar, I think it helps to do the extra layer, even with the > screen.) > > I hope that's a help. I can send more info from my notes, if you have > questions. > > Best, > Linda S. > > > > > On Sep 23, 2008, at 1:01 AM, Michael Healy wrote: > > > I've got access to a press, and want to do solarplate prints from > > digital images. Can anyone > > offer some pointers on the appropriate substrate? I've consulted > > Welden without success. > > He talks about many aspects but not about the inkjet digineg > > (positive, of course) medium. > > > > Mike Healy >
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