print drying question?

[stradibarrius]

I use a nylon window screen to dry my prints on and was taught to dry them face up. I have read in several of my books to dry them face down.
My concern about face down is that somehow the screen pattern would get into the emulsion while it was wet.

How do you do it...face up or face down?

[hmf]

I learned that one should dry the prints face down. But I got screen marks, so started to turn them over. I've never had a problem drying my prints face up.

[mike rosenlof]

Face down for me. Lots of curl if dried face up in my experience. Face down, I can see a wet screen pattern if I pick up the print while wet, but not on the fully dry prints.

My screens are nylon or polyester, "sweater drying racks", they certainly shouldn't be metal screen material.

[Vick Ko]

Face up for RC.
Haven't done fiber in decades.

[Peter Lewin]

Face up. Many years ago this was covered in one of Fred Picker's ZoneVI Newsletters; since he was getting patterns on occasion when he dried them on screens face down, he recommended drying them face up. I've been doing it this way ever since.

[Dan Henderson]

Several years ago I dried prints face down on screens. Some...naturally ones that I had printed for a time-sensitive project...showed screen marks. I'm not sure which paper, maybe Foma. My recollection is that good, tough MGIV was fine, but some with more touchy surfaces were not. Since then I have dried all of my prints hung from line. Yeah, they curl, but a minute in the press takes care of that.

[DanK]

Face up on screens here as well....

[AF-ULF]

Face up, with a twist. I put a second screen on top of the screen with the prints on it. There is a gap of about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch between the two screens (the thickness of the metal frame of the screen. The prints will curl a bit, until the edge comes in contact with the top screen--they stop curling and there are no screen marks as only the print edge touches the upper screen. This method really helps to control the curl of FB prints drying face up.

[Mark Woods]

I only do fiber base and dry face up on screens. If you tone, the prints will show screen marks. I also squeegee the prints on a flat surface.

[jeroldharter]

Face up. But I gave up screens altogether. I had some screen marks even drying face up. Now I hang them from a line, usually with two prints back to back, and no problems and reasonably flat prints.