papers for pt/pd

Keith (KEITH@ccp.arizona.edu)
Wed, 11 Oct 1995 19:41:42 -0700 (MST)

I've been subscribed to this list for a little over a month now and reading
through archive files to see if this question has been addressed previously.
Since the answer seems to be "no" here it is: I've been working primarily with
platinum/palladium for about 5 years using Cranes Platinotype as my standard
paper. I've experimented with several other papers but nothing else has
approached the consistency, subtle tonal gradations and ease of handling of
this fine paper. It has a warm, slightly yellow color which mates well with
Strathmore Antique White mat board. However, this color is not always
desirable and so I have been searching for an alternative. Recently I have
tried a sample of Arches Platine and found it to have all of the qualities I
am looking for but with one major problem. I can't get it to clear completely,
whether I use my standard procedure of 5 minutes in 3 consecutive baths of 4%
phosphoric acid or following explicitly Martin Axon's suggestions which came
with the paper. Have any of you who use this paper had a similar problem? If so,
how have you solved it?
Also there are a few papers refered to in the literature that I have not been
able to find and local suppliers don't have a clue. Since the authors who
mention these papers are contributors to this list, maybe they can be of help.
The papers in question are Jean Perrigot Arches and Fabriano Perusia (Nadeau,
2nd edition), and Van Gelder Simili Japon (Malde and Ware, 1988).
A couple of other papers, not mentioned in the literature, that seem to work
well for pt/pd are Gampi and Rives Moulin du Gue. Both are available from
Daniel Smith.

Thanks for any help. If anyone is interested in further discussion of papers
for pt/pd or other alt-processes I think this could be useful to all of us.


Keith Schreiber
Center for Creative Photography
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
520-621-7968
520-621-9444 FAX
keith@ccp.arizona.edu