From: John Campbell (tojohn@texas.net)
Date: 02/11/03-08:08:54 PM Z
Hey, Nick--
Good to see your input, given all the consternation we exchanged, moons ago,
on this topic.
I've come to believe, rightly or wrongly, that you *can* produce both prints
and negs on the same printer--but *not* (here's the rub) with the same ink
set. You may recall that I was trying to produce both with the Cone
product, wanting negative tonal transitions similar to what I was getting
with positive prints (you were working with MIS, as I recall. . . ?). The
limiting (fatal, actually) factor was your referenced problem 1-- the
pigments won't hold on transparency media. There is nothing for the pigment
solution to sink in to, as there is on paper positives. It is literally an
Oil and Water problem.
If you do ever find the magic combination, I'll go in halvsies on the
lifetime supply.
This entire discourse raises a new awareness for me--something having to do
with increasing complexity and decreasing satisfaction in advancing
technology. To wit:
When I first began *playing* with these concepts, I was shooting out of an
old Canon A-1, taking the film to my local lab, hoping no one really looked
at the developed images. I then took the prints back home and scanned them
with some archaic flatbed (max resolution probably around 200 ppi. . . I
dunno) and
edited them to my heart's delight with some free photo editing software that
I found on the web (the name of which I do not recall). I then inverted the
best images and printed them out as negatives with a Canon 600 printer (I
was very loyal, you see) on overhead transparency film thrown out by my
department at the university. I sandwiched the negatives on POP paper (or
some pre-fab cyanotype) between two sheets of glass and exposed using
diffused sunlight. Then I washed, toned, waxed, etc, etc., etc.
Those were some exquisite prints.
My best to all,
John
www.photogecko.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Makris" <nick@mcn.org>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: More digital negatives
> Christina, I have tried them all including some inks from Italy and it
has
> always boiled down to two problems. 1) the ink doesn't dry/adhere and the
> image is very delicate, and 2) there is not enough density in the ink. I
> could live with 2), but 1) always seems to be present at least to a very
> little extent. I know there are other methods, like Dan B's spectral
> density, but this is a kind of purist search for a one printer operation
> that can make both b/w prints on art papers and b/w negs on a clear
> substrate. If I ever find the combination, I will buy a lifetime supply -
> Ha!
>
> Thanks for the info.
>
> N
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Christina Z. Anderson" <zphoto@montana.net>
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 3:30 PM
> Subject: Re: More digital negatives
>
>
> > Nick,
> > I am not an expert, and probably well below you at this stage on
this
> > topic, but I just winged out a neg on my Epson 800 onto Pictorico and
> > printed it immediately in cyanotype, using Sam Wang's cyanotype
> conversion,
> > and the negative looks VERY thin but it actually made a pretty cool
print.
> > I could scan it and send it to you offlist if you would like. The fact
> that
> > I could just take a 6 meg image and invert it, do a little monkeying in
> the
> > channels, and then immediately print it makes me feel it is not so outa
> > line. However, I do not have one of those straight black/grey inksets I
> > think you are talking about, e.g. Cone or MIS, or some other.
> > I also am having a service bureau print up two of my scans to
> > imagesetter negs ($12 each, 8x10). So this week I have 2 of my 35mm
> images
> > enlarged onto Bergger 200 film, Maco Genius film, and now imagesetter
> film,
> > and will compare the three. But I also am in search of a good digital
neg
> > alternative I can do at home without buying a new printer.
> > Chris
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Nick Makris" <nick@mcn.org>
> > To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 3:03 PM
> > Subject: More digital negatives
> > > Let me ask a question that I have asked more than once previously on
> more
> > than one list - a question to which, I have never received a definitive
> and
> > positive answer.
> > > Is anyone using any of the smaller (now somewhat older) Epson printers
> > (11nn, 12nn or 15nn) for successfully making digital negatives on a
clear
> > substrate with a BLACK/GRAY inkset? The printers are without a doubt
> > capable of printing the necessary quality, however, as has been
discussed
> > time anD again, there doesn't seem to be an inkset that is compatible
with
> > any clear substrate.
> > > Comments much appreciated...................> TIA, Nick
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
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