Mark,
There are in the commercial printing business many "varnishes" that
are used like ink and overprinted on top of the image to create this
effect. These products are rolled onto a plate either offset or
letterpress and printed over the original printed image. They deepen
the printed darks and even out the gloss of the page. How archival
they are I don't know. They are used primarily in advertising and
promotion.
Jack
On 11/15/08, ender100 <ender100@aol.com> wrote:
> Judy,
>
> Speaking of varnishes, I was out in San Francisco teaching and a friend
> showed me a boxed set of Paul Strand photogravureshe Mexican Collection.
> This set was a second printing done around 1960 from the original plates
> and is considered the best. Beautiful photogravures. They were also
> varnished with a clear varnish. It really gave them that "wet look" with
> deep blacks. I don't know if any of the list members might know of a
> varnish that is commonly used with photogravures? The varnish extended just
> beyond the image area into the plate mark. I am guessing it might have even
> been sprayed on. It was very even.
>
> Any thoughts out there?
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Mark Nelson
> Precision Digital Negatives
> PDN Print Forum @ Yahoo! Groups
> Mark Nelson PhotograpOn Nov 14, 2008, at 8:43:46 PM, "Judy Seigel"
> <jseigel@panix.com> wrote:
>
>
> From:"Judy Seigel" <jseigel@panix.com>
> Subject:varnishes / was Re: fabriano artistico EW
> Date:November 14, 2008 8:43:46 PM CST
> To:alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
>
> On Thu, 13 Nov 2008, Paul Viapiano wrote:
>
> > Waiting for my prints to dry now...why do they always look so good in the
> > wash and then get a bit hazy after drying down? ;-(
>
> That's the difference between wet and dry ! This has been a perennial
> issue, first mentioned (AFAIK) by Robert Demachy in one of his first
> articles about gum printing -- he wrote about watching the "wet look" come
> back to the dry print when he applied the Vernis Soehnee, or the Soehnee
> Varnish that I've been trying ever since to identify... It sounds like
> some kind of shellac or lacquer (being soluble in alcohol). Many formulas
> for varnishes are listed in old formularies for coating all kinds of
> prints, but...
>
> I've tried some to NO satisfaction, but plan to try some more... have a
> list somewhere of possibilities...
>
> J.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> hy
>