Re: URL for platinum gum comparison

Clarification:

On May 1, 2006, at 10:13 AM, Katharine Thayer wrote:

> Agreed. I'm sure of this (that a print rivaling the tonal scale of
> platinum
>

I should have included smoothness as well as tonal scale here to
respond to Dave's discussion of the grainy quality that sometimes
gets into a one-coat gum, that can compound the inherent problem of
shortness of scale.
kt

On May 1, 2006, at 10:13 AM, Katharine Thayer wrote:

> Agreed. I'm sure of this (that a print rivaling the tonal scale of
> platinum can be achieved with two gum coats) from my own
> experience, but have never done a direct side by side comparison
> with platinum, so will look forward to seeing yours.
>
> What I don't understand (and this goes with the usual caveat that
> looking at jpeg rather than actual print makes any interpretation
> tentative) is that the print that's made with the "correct curve"
> seems grainier than the print made with the same coating mix but a
> different negative. I can't think of any logic of the gum process
> that would explain why that should be so.
> Katharine
>
>
> On May 1, 2006, at 8:21 AM, Dave Soemarko wrote:
>
>
>> And it is not just the matter of tonality either. If it were, we
>> can adjust
>> the tonality/curve either digitally or by positive/negative
>> masking in the
>> traditional way.
>>
>> But the fact is that when you do a gum print (at least a
>> traditional gum
>> print with analog negative), somewhere after the midtone and near the
>> highlight, you get grainy effect. Depending on the paper and
>> sizing, the
>> grainy effect might not be too pronounced (so I don't mean very
>> rough,
>> coarse effect, but the effect can be seen). This is because of the
>> gum layer
>> is near the top of the tooth (or top of the "punk hair" using the
>> model that
>> I used before. The tooth or punk hair does not have equal length
>> like a true
>> nicely trimmed punk hair, but I will get to this later in the
>> summer).
>>
>> You can see this grainy effect even in a simple print using a step
>> tablet.
>> When one see that, one can tell already that a single coat gum
>> cannot show
>> the same look as Platinum because the difference is not only on
>> tonality but
>> on graininess as well (and I am not saying which one is better
>> because that
>> depends on the object/purpose of the printing and personal
>> preference. I am
>> talking talking about the technical side of it).
>>
>> However, if one understands the concept of duotone and have
>> control of it in
>> gum process, I believe one can achieve the same tonality and the
>> same (or
>> perhaps almost the same) smoothness with gum compared with Platinum.
>>
>> When I setup my printing environment again, I will ask if Pt/Pd
>> printer
>> might be interested in a test. What I will need is an original
>> negative from
>> you (one that have full tone but is not so important for you (just
>> in case
>> there is a loss) and preferably one that you have a duplicate) and
>> a Pt/Pd
>> print from you. If you are interested, please let me know (either
>> now or
>> then).
>>
>>
>> Dave S
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Christina Z. Anderson [mailto:zphoto@montana.net]
>> Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 11:05 AM
>> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
>> Subject: Re: URL for platinum gum comparison
>>
>> Positively--I decided that until I had a carbon print for
>> comparison, I
>> would choose the process that would make gum look the worst and
>> compare, to
>> weight the comparison away from gum. The other reason for using
>> pt/pd is
>> that it gives such an incredibly long tonal scale, especially in the
>> highlights where it shines and glows with delicacy, it would be a
>> good
>> indication of long tonal range to compare with a short tonal
>> range process.
>>
>> I can get with both salt and pt/pd close to 31 steps on a 31 step
>> tablet,
>> where gum is somewhere between 9 and 12.
>> chris
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Yves Gauvreau" <gauvreau-yves@sympatico.ca>
>> To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
>> Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 8:58 AM
>> Subject: Re: URL for platinum gum comparison
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Christina,
>>>
>>> the platinum print doesn't seem to have the same texture (none)
>>> as the
>>> other prints which makes it a bit difficult to compare don't you
>>> think?
>>>
>>> Regards
>>> Yves
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Christina Z. Anderson" <zphoto@montana.net>
>>> To: "Alt, List" <alt-photo-process-L@usask.ca>
>>> Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 8:45 AM
>>> Subject: URL for platinum gum comparison
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> http://www.loris.medici.name/Christina_Anderson/
>>>> Gum_Platinum_Compare.
>>>> jpg
>>>>
>>>> Here 'tis.
>>>> Chris
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
Received on 05/01/06-03:30:51 PM Z