Re: Kallitypes, Digital Negatives, and Dust Specs

Are you "sure" they are dust? If you brush too hard (for a given paper)
you will raise the "nap" of the paper. When exposed and processed these
"raised naps" will appear as white spots/threads. What you are seeing
are individual strands of fiber. They were once compressed into the
paper and are now "floating" free. This is a big problem when using a
foam brush on non sized paper (or at least it was for me when I
started). If you have a "puddle pusher", try using it (and limiting the
passes) to see if your problem goes away. Or, just try a real soft
brush and minimal working. An inexpensive hake brush is cheap and soft.
They also tend to leave bristle behind, but it would be a cheap test.

On Saturday, November 15, 2003, at 04:05 AM, Mike Klemmer wrote:

> I did try dusting off the paper prior to printing.  There seemed to be
> little improvement.  I haven't tried dusting the paper prior to
> coating.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ender100@aol.com
> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2003 1:28 AM
> Subject: Re: Kallitypes, Digital Negatives, and Dust Specs
>
> Did you brush the dust off the paper too prior to coating & printing?
>
> Mark Nelson
>
> In a message dated 11/14/03 10:44:08 PM, mklemmer@comcast.net writes:
>
>
>
> I am fairly new to alt photo processing of kallitypes.  I am using a
> Nuarc exposure unit consisting of a vacuum frame and mercury vapor
> lamp, and negatives produced with Pictorico OHP film on an Epson 2200
> printer.
>
>  
>
> My question is this:  I've been having a problem with lots of light
> dust specs appearing on my final prints.  I've been very careful with
> eliminating dust at every possible point....the negatives and the
> glass are both cleaned prior to exposure, but the dust specs appear
> none the less.  I've even noticed dust specs in the areas of the
> sensitized paper outside of the negative area.  
>
>  
>
> My suspicion is that these spots might have more to do with the
> coating and drying of the paper, rather than a problem with dust on
> the negatives and glass.  Perhaps those of you with more experience
> can share some tips on how to avoid/solve this problem. 
>
>
>
>
--------------
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com
Received on Sat Nov 15 08:52:55 2003