>Dick Arentz in his Pt/Pd printing manual seems to imply that this relative
>lack of sharpness is inherent to hand coating.
It has more to do with the paper texture, fibers, lack of fillers and
extreme calendering between heavy rollers.
>
>David Fokos (beakman@netcom.com) told me:
>
[snip]
>
>I am interested to know thoughts of Pt/Pd printers on this partly because I
>am thinking of experimenting with alternative methods of coating.
I have never had good luck with coating glossy papers. It simply did not
work. If you want to experiment with getting a wide variety of effects from
one process you may want to take a close look at the carbon transfer
process. With it, on photo grade papers and with the right pigments, I have
made prints that everybody swore were Agfa Portriga prints. The same
process can also produce matte prints on watercolor papers and full color
prints with a unique relief thick enough that a blind person can "see"
certain images with their fingers. You can also make photoceramics with it.
The problem, of course, is that it is more complicated than Pt/Pd. Also,
you have to be able to maintain your lab at no more than 21 Celsius. And
there are health considerations... Nothing is perfect.
Luis Nadeau