Re: Gum over Cyanotypes
Hi Judy, 28 Nisan 2009, Salı, 11:56 pm tarihinde, Judy Seigel yazmış: > > ... > > I agree. My experience is that cyano is better without a pre-size. > (And that's apparently Sarah's experience too.) > > When I began cyano, I tried every size I ever heard of & found that > starch, gelatin (with or without hardener), spray, glue, whatever, all > made an inferior print. At the time most sources did seem to call for size > (tho in those early books, "info" tended to be cut & pasted from earlier > books, rather than experience). I haven't tested this extensively (only a couple of prints on hardened gum and hardened gelatin size) but given the fact that Cyanotype sensitizer is problematic in being absorbed into paper fibers *even with non-additionally sized paper*, I think the extra sizing would increase image loss. In my attempts, sharpness (and contrast) was less with sized paper too. > > ... > > Either way, if you're going to use the same negative, life is much easier > if you shrink the paper first. And whether a hot pre-shrink will or won't > hurt the cyano -- it's not necessary. My tests showed that a long soak at > room temperature (from several hours to a day) shrank the paper as much as > a very hot bath. > > (However, I only tested the couple of papers I was using at the time. > Can't guarantee all are the same.) Will give more importance to shrinking paper. But I'm a little skeptical, have been seeing how dry gum *further* shrinks paper - as I said to Marek before... > > ... > > For just re-registering without any special contrivance, I find keeping > humidity constant (if possible) is a big help, but registering from the > center is even helpfuller -- so any miss-register is pushed to the edges > where it doesn't register that much... (As occured to me before while replying David) Probably this is the best method to follow: - Shrink well - Expose both the cyanotype and gum layers at similar humidity/relaxation levels. (I don't do so currently; I expose the cyanotype bone dry whereas expose the gums with pretty humid/relaxed conditions...) Regards, Loris.
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