Van Dyke Problems

Billie S. Mercer (102165.2342@CompuServe.COM)
Wed, 25 Jun 1997 16:43:57 -0400 (EDT)

I am working with VD's and new to alternative processes. Some prints turn out
great but others end up washed out by the time they are washed and dried. Are
there some VD printers who might give me a hand. I have thought it could be
over fixing, underfixing, chlorine in the water, overwashing. What do you think
is the most likely cause?

Also sometimes I get irregular spots in the emulsion (sort of like a water mark)
which I think could be where the paper ripples during drying and some of the
emulsion puddles up. Do you think this is what it could be or some other
problem.

Today I got a beautiful, rich print using the Argotype chemicals. Does anyone
else have experience with this chemistry vs the Van Dyke. I also did some other
exposures with this chemistry which were not as successful but I can see that
when everything works out, the prints are quite luscious.

One other thing I tried was scanning a silver gelatin print and making a laser
transparency negative. Grainey Van Dyke but tweeks my interest in digital
negatives.

Billie