[alt-photo] Re: dilution of pt/pd

[Clay Harmon Website]

This thread has been entertaining in a strange, twisted way.  Let me see if I have this right:

1. The traditional formulas for pt/pd printing are based on percentages and are not quite chemically balanced. In fact, there is a modest amount of waste of the pt/pd metal salt because of this imbalance.

2. It does not really make much difference in terms of print quality, because there is an overabundance of metal relative to ferric oxalate with the traditional formula. It works fine, in other words.

3. If you don’t want to needlessly flush noble metal salts down the drain, make a one-time adjustment to your formulation and keep printing.

4. If you don’t care and don’t want to think about it, and believe a modest amount of waste in printing lends a sassy and insouciant 19th century flair to your printing practice, just keep doing things the way you always have.

Did I get this right?

Clay