Could someone summarize that gum up or down discussion?

Could someone please *succinctly* summarize the gum hardening from the
top down issue for me?

I skimmed many of the posts but I missed seeing anything that would
point to hardening from the bottom up. I have to admit my attention
span isn't what it used to be and that I lost interest in reading the
off-topic banter but I would be interested in any novel empirical
results that would lead one to believe gum hardens from the bottom up.

Marek's image on transparency helps convince that gum hardens from top
down, but isn't that image problematic by also negating the widely held
belief that more surface roughness (e.g., Pictorico ceramic layer vs
smooth side) allows for a stronger or easier to print image in a single
layer? (A post for perhaps another day...)

My take on this is has always been that gum hardens from the top down
and that is evidenced by the often observed flaking of a too
strongly-pigmented and underexposed emulsion layer. It comes off in
chunks once the unexposed emulsion beneath it dissolves in water. This
also seems confirmed by Marek's latest image. What leads others to
believe or postulate the opposite?

Let's leave who cares, what's the point, and who's a bad person out of
this please and thank you.

joe
Received on Thu Apr 13 18:52:21 2006