> Im just doing some now to use in gum over cyanotype. Paint Shop Pro
>(and Im sure lots of other packages gives a lot of control over contrast
>and density, and its the work of a moment to create 3 different density
>and contrast negatives, and print them out on a 600dpi laser printer.
>The printing paper also looks thin enough to work well as a paper
>negative.
>
>Has anyone any experience of this sort of thing?
A few years ago, I produced a number of gum prints from laser (600 dpi)
negatives. While these prints were not as sharp as those printed from
enlarged film negatives and their tone scale was shorter some of them were
sucessful. I used a thin vellum paper called "UV II" put out by the Neenah
paper company (available through most commercial paper merchants). Many
silkscreeners use a paper called "Casey's Vellum" for positives. I did not
have as much sucess from negatives made on laser acetate (although they
were more dimensionally stable).
I worked with "Adobe Photoshop" and preferred to use a random diffusion
dither screen rather than a conventional halftone pattern. The density of a
laser printed negative is lower than ideal, so you will have some trouble
producing very clean highlights.
Felicia Lovelett