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> Bad materials in contact with paper can also deteriorate paper or
> trigger deterioration: mats and backboards are notorious for this (unless
> well made of course). So edge-disintegration is most times caused by the
> way photos are kept and not necessarily by incorrect processing,
> although....
Hi Bas,
Well now I have got you exactly where I want you because I have a major
question on paper/gum archivality & have been waiting for someone really
authoritative, clear and expansive to come along !!! (Note that's
expansive, not expensive!)
Here's my problem: I seek to recreate the depth of tone of the wet gum
print permanently in the dry print and to that end have been experimenting
with print "varnishes." The ones in the old books are, in my tests,
countrproductive. Gelatine (recommended in several places), for
instance, simply adds a haze, actually diffusing rather than deepening
the tone.
I've tried also gum arabic, gloy (!), dilute liquitex varnish, shellac,
Renaissance wax (same diffusion effect) & no doubt some others I don't
recall. So far, aside from full-strength acrylic gloss medium, which
looks so ugly it would scare the horses, but does deepen the color, I've
found only one track worth pursuing.
That is either an extra thick gum arabic or a gum arabic with sugar and
glycerine added (which if it proves successful I will reveal in detail for a
mere $395). My questions, therefore, are:
1. Can you (or other paper wizard) suggest a "varnish" to shine up
the print like water? Or,
2. Warn me of dangers lurking in the idea. Would the gum arabic mix, for
instance, flake off in time? (I tried hardening it by mixing with
dichromate and exposing to light, but that took the shine away.)
Thanking you kindly in advance and hopefully .......
Judy