Re: safe way to flatten gum prints?

s carl king (sanking@hubcap.clemson.edu)
Sun, 12 Mar 1995 09:24:23 -0500 (EST)

To flatten gum prints on heavy papers I would suggest the following procedure.
It works fine for my carbon and carbro prints, and should for gum
bichromate also.

After the prints has been cleared of the bichromate stain, wash it thoroughly
and allow to dran for about five minutes. When all of the surface droplets
of water have gone, place the print on a piece of 1/4" masonite (or on some
other suitable flat surface). Uge gummed tape of the wettable type and fasten
the print firmly on all side, overlaping the paper of the print about 1/4"
or slightly more. Allow to air dry. As the print dries, it shrinks, causint the
support to bow; the print is pulled flat from the resulting tension, and dries
flat.Trim away the tape and the print is ready to mount. The only negative
of this procedure is that you loose about 1/2" on each dimension from the
paper. This is no problem for me since I always transfer my carbon and
carbro relies to oversize paper (8X10 to 11X14, 11X14 to 16X20, etc.)

Sandy