Re: Hardening gelatin (Ws: glutaraldehyde)

Judy Seigel wrote:
>

>
> I'm not sure it's a matter of "learning to print" without sizing... I
> think it's finding the print you want to make, which may not be made
> without size. In my experience the look and effects are different.

In my experience they are not, in fact that's exactly why I stopped
sizing, because I tried printing without sizing and found no difference
whatever in the look of the prints. I'm quite sure that no one could put
the sized next to the unsized and tell any difference between them.
>
 
> > then the size should probably be hardened one way or another. The
> > hardening is not to keep the gelatin from melting during gum
> > development;
>
> I never heard of gelatin "melting" during development, at least not normal
> tap water development. I doubt that happens.

That was my point, that it doesn't.

In my experience, sized
> paper gives crisper tones, better separation -- as shown repeatedly in my
> comparison 21-step tests.

Well, I haven't done comparison 21-step tests, I just print pictures.

 That that may not be the "look" you want, is of
> course possible. But IME it's different.

This probably depends on the paper. Like I said yesterday, the only
paper I've had to size is Fabriano Uno, because it prints with
attenuated DMax without sizing.

But I'm confused. Yesterday the reason to size was pigment stain.
>
> > ....If there are large areas of white in the
> > image, you should either harden the gelatin before printing, or soak the
> > print in hot water after printing to remove the areas of unhardened
> > gelatin that weren't hardened during printing due to lack of exposure.
>
> I would not advise that, at least not without careful testing... First,
> to get the water hot enough to melt off gelatin without any agitation --
> just melt it off the paper, especially when it may have had *some* tanning
> -- is not a sure thing. Secondly, that could well soften your image,
> which if you've used low dichromate and minimal exposure could be soft and
> susceptible, and melt some of that off as well. But the idea seems highly
> theoretical, at least until proved by testing (tho how you test to see
> that the gelatin is off I don't know). And even if it "worked," sounds
> like more trouble than hardening.

Here I have to agree with you; that was a half-baked idea that had no
basis in experience. I don't know what came over me; I don't usually
talk off my elbow like that. I guess I was just trying to think of a way
around hardening, because I'm kind of down on hardening at the moment
and wanted to give people an alternative. But I agree, it wasn't a
well-thought idea. I'm pretty sure it would work for my method, because
when I'm done my gum is well hardened; you can pour boiling water over
one of my finished gum prints (I tried it a couple of weeks ago for an
illustration for my website) without affecting it in the least. But I
am aware that not everyone prints the way I do.
Katharine
Received on Thu Apr 1 21:58:55 2004