Re: New Cyanotype - my first unsuccessful attempt

Hi Loris -

I am glad Dr. Ware's trick worked for you. I almost gave up on the formula
because every paper I tried it with turned blue within 15 minutes after
coating. Then I contacted him and he told me about the citric acid trick and
everything worked great.

As for the slight staining I have also run into that and a 2-5% citric acid
bath will clear it completely. There was some question as to whether citric
acid will cause the print to fade sooner (as mentioned in the James book).
To that end, I have noticed that a number of prints which were given a
citric acid bath were noticably lighter after being displayed in a gallery
for a month. I currently use a 1/2% nitric acid bath since I have several
liters of the acid at hand and I haven't noticed the same fading with these
prints.

The test print you posted look beautiful. I absolutely adore the depth of
blue that you achieved and the process is especially suited to the subject
matter.

Glad I could help, Scott.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Loris Medici" <loris_medici@mynet.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 7:21 PM
Subject: Re: New Cyanotype - my first unsuccessful attempt

>
> Hi Scott.
>
> Thank you very much. The trick worked!!!
>
> Minutes after your helpful message I noticed that there's a very small
> side-note in the New Cyanotype chaper of John Barnier's "Coming into
Focus"
> which mentions the 40% citric acid addition. I have successfully printed
on
> watercolor paper and cotton with the new formula - thanks to the trick you
> mentioned.
>
> In some prints, I noticed a very very slight yellow staining in the
> highlights which I guess is due to incomplete clearing - I have made rough
> tests so far; didn't bother with developing/clearing 5 minutes in 2%
citric
> acid - just plain tap water (probably the cure is developing in citric
> acid)... Other than this (the stain) I think the new formula is superior
to
> the classic formula. I coat only once and *in my case* "dMax is
considerably
> higher than double coated classic formula" (big plus!). And, indeed the
> paper absorbes the emulsion more easily, the emulsion sets up very
quickly.
> 2 mins. wait to let the paper soak the emulsion then 15 mins. drying in
> front of a cool air fan and I'm ready to print (in less than half time I
> have to wait for double coated classic formula - and again; dMax is higher
> in my case). Kudos Mr. Ware!
>
> Regards,
> Loris.
>
> P.S. See one of the test prints I have made @
> http://loris_medici.sitemynet.com/new_cyanotype_test.htm (careful levels
> and/or curves adjustments were made to make the scan resemble to the
> original print as much as possible. Additionally, paper background outside
> image area was deleted in order to eliminate annoying light falloff on the
> edges; the paper was slightly bigger than the scanner bed can
> accommodate...)
Received on Wed Aug 18 19:44:29 2004