RE: Paper Preshrinking

Thanks, Kate. The ones I flat-dried yesterday are looking pretty good this AM, so I
guess I'm in good shape. Thank you for the feedback. The only hanging I'd done before
was for albumen, and for that I use Strathmore 500 single-ply, which stretches about as
readily as your 2000 ml mylar.

Simili Japon is not Japanese. It is made by Van Gelder. I think I read somewhere that
they designed it to have that early 20th-C Japanese/Art Deco look. My NY Central
catalogue (2001) recommends it for use with platinum. They say that it is made in
Holland by the Schut Mill. Mouldmade, cotton and high alpha cellulose, with a satin
smooth wove surface. The color is off-white, a very subtle cream. It seems to have
adequate wet strength, tho I haven't given it a gum test yet. What it does print very well
are cyanotypes. The effect is very close to what I've achieved with Arches Platine. The
outcomes are nearly identical, tho the Platine's is a harder white and the Japon has this
wonderful, subtle coloration that makes you need to lay it alongside Platine to be sure
your eyes aren't fooling with you.

I also tried Japon numerous times for Argyrotypes, but there wasn't enough tooth. The
emulsion holds for about 30 seconds, then suddenly bolts right off. Maybe it just needs
some sizing.

I'm about to print my first gums, and have some Rives BFK handy, and also a bunch of
Japon. So I thought I'd use some of this. I'm going to do Sam Wang's method, with
cyanotype as the bottom layer. If the sizing makes the cyano look any different, then I
guess I'll have to try sizing it for some argyrotypes or VDB.

I just checked soaked/dried versus the original paper, and yes, soaking has given the
raised just a tiny bit of texture. It's nearly undetectable, though. I really can't tell the
difference until I take off my glasses and peer at them from 3".

I do like the paper a lot. Yes, it is somewhat thin, about the heaviness of Platine. Could
be it's the wrong paper for gum. If it backfires, I'll try something else. I've still got the
BFK to rescue me.

Mike

On 1 Dec 2004 at 22:03, Kate M wrote:

And while I'm at it, I've been thinking about this one too.......What
is Simili Japon paper like???? Is it quite rough and fibrous?

225 gsm is quite a light paper in my printmaking repertoire. If it's
like most Japanese style papers I've used, preshrinking always brings
up a texture. I would be inclined to soak those buckled sheets again
and then when they're dry, put them under a sheet on glass with a
weight on them. If you size them when they're deformed, they will
probably stay that way. If you're printing gum, a smooth to mildly
textured surface looks better anyhow.

About hanging to dry: I've been using an intaglio paper recently,
(which is fairly soft) and have found that the sheets stretch quite
badly if they are hung by one corner....moral of the story: hang them
by two corners and then (maybe)your negs will still fit the print
after it's dried!

Kate

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Healy [mailto:emjayhealy@earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:32 p.m.
To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Subject: Paper Preshrinking

Hope this isn't a stupid question. I'm preshrinking two different
papers, and believe it or not, I'm already having some problems. One
is Rives BFK, no problems. The other is Simili Japon (the heavier
form, 225 g/m2). Some of the Japon sheets dried with wobbly surface
areas. In two instances, I think it must be because I dripped a drop
of water from the second batch of paper onto one from the first batch,
which already was drying. So it sort of puckered up, half wet and half
dry, and then dried that way.

First problem is obvious: I laid them to dry on a screen, instead of
hanging. From now on, I intend to hang them.

Second problem, tho: I'm going to resoak these and try again; but
suppose I didn't. Would sizing then lock these pseudo-topographical
effects into the paper? Can they just be flattened out, now before
resizing or later after I've finished printing?

Mike

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