[alt-photo] Re: Dmax for silver paper

[etienne garbaux]

Pierre wrote:

>My dryer is flat. I can dry on both side though.  So there's no 
>rotation.  I think my drier is a premier dryer.

OK, I thought you might have had a professional drum drier.  The 
Premier dryers are unmitigated crap -- my advice is to throw it away 
before you ruin any more prints.  They run way too hot and even when 
they were new the surface was not nearly smooth enough for proper 
ferrotyping.  It is best to dry prints without heat -- the usual 
method is on nylon screens held horizontal in a frame, or squeegeed 
to plate glass or a ferrotype sheet if you want a full glossy 
finish.  You can use a fan to blow room-temperature air across them 
to speed things up a bit.

>So you have to wait for the print to pop off by themselves?

Yes, if you don't want to damage them.

>How do you know when they are ready because they are under the canvas.

You can't ever get good results with a Premier.  They always run way 
too hot and the heat is very uneven -- they have hot spots that are 
even hotter than the already too-hot rest of the surface.  As I said, 
do yourself a favor and throw it away.

>You also said to squegee the print but then later on you added to 
>have water (with photo flo) between the print and the plate. Which 
>method is best?

They are the same method.  Start with the print nice and wet with 
water and photo-flo, then "roll" it down onto the glass so there is 
good, wet contact and no air bubbles or dry spots.  Then squeegee 
very firmly.  The prints should stick tight to the glass, then pop 
off when they are dry.

>Now, on the inkjet part..I really have never seen a good inkjet 
>print. Maybe because i can tell it is an inkjet print. They have no 
>dimension to me.

Sorry, I don't understand that.  It sounds like an audiophool saying 
the highs are "too white."  If one gets the tonal mapping right (the 
success rate on this seems on par with printers using traditional 
methods -- which is to say, ever so slightly better than dismal), and 
doesn't try to print the pixels too big, I find that one can make 
very nice inkjet prints.  I have scanned old negatives and made 
inkjet prints that are just as pleasing (to me, anyway) as my 
original prints.  However, it generally requires a B&W-only setup 
with several grey inks in addition to black.  As far as longevity 
goes, Dr. Wilhelm seems to think most of the current art-quality 
inkjet media and supplies will be stable for more than 100 years, 
which is more than enough for me.

Best regards,

etienne