Re: sizing paper for gums

Michael C Hsueh (cream+@CMU.EDU)
Thu, 20 Jul 1995 16:30:24 -0400 (EDT)

Excerpts from mail: 20-Jul-95 Re: sizing paper for gums by Judy
Seigel@panix.com
> Michael, you leave us wondering whether you do multiple printing on
> cornstarch size despite the non-recommendation, or whether perhaps you
> add another coat of cornstarch after each soak -- or maybe after a couple of
> soaks?!? Please tell!

What I meant was the former - I really didn't want to mess with formalin,
and besides, I don't know of any way to get it. Since there was no mention
of using gelatin without formalin hardening in Crawford's The Keepers of
Light, I conjectured that using a starch sizing is preferable to using
unhardened gelatin. So that leaves me using starch sizing with multiple
printing, though it is not recommended.

Regarding the second question, I cannot squarely answer it because I haven't
yet settled on a technique - I've only just begun printing over the last
month or so, and I've completed only a handful of prints. In the few
prints I have attempted, I've sized only once in the beginning, and this
has seemed to work okay, although I may decide to do a second sizing after
the first two soakings with my current print.

A question for those using multiple-printing techniques for color - do you
do 3-color (yellow, magenta, cyan) or 4-color (yellow, magenta, cyan, black)
separations? and do you print in the above order? Also, do you find
yourself doing multiple prints of a single color? If so, which colors?

thanks,

michael