Q: Fiber Paper / Glass Sheets for Drying

[bob carnie]

J medlock

The method you describe is a good one and suggest that you do this, however humidity or lack of will change the curl of the print, the flatness you describe using this method will work.
I have heard of silver print workers using this method. go for it.

[Gem Singer]

I do not see any mention that this method of flattening prints will prevent the dry-down effect. Have I missed something?

It certainly does seem like a very labor intensive and finiky method of flattening FB prints. Pressing the prints under a weighted surface or placing them in a dry-mount press for a few minutes seems like a much more practical method of obtaining the same result, since the flattened prints will tend to curl again under humid conditions.

As far as my personal preferences, trimming the prints to remove the tape will make the finished sizes too small to fit into pre-cut mats. Also, I don't want to loose the high gloss finish on my prints. It seems to give them a feeling of depth that I cannot get with non-glossy surfaces.

[J.Medlock]

Thanks again for the additional responses.



Yes, the text quoted from the APUG post didn't refer to eliminating dry-down
effect.  But there are other posts on this topic which do describe this. 
For example, the text below is from this forum:

<a href="http://largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/221005.html">
, 2001-03-21 03:43:13

Using glass/tape is tempting, so I'll give it a shot and see how it works.

[ronald moravec]

I put this on Photo-net a while ago.

Ironing will most likely not get rid of center bubbles or wavy edges. The trick is to dry the print evenly all over.
Without a Salthill or Burke and James dryer, the best way I have found is to squeegee, air dry 15 min emulsion up, place between photo blotters which are then placed between corrigated boards. Make a stack up to 18 in high. They will dry in 24 hrs. They probably will have a curl, but no compound curves. The machines mentioned are long discontinued, but they dried the prints by blowing air thru the corrigations. 24 hr turned to 3.

One person here says he uses a flat bed and releases the canvas every few minutes to facilitate even drying. I never could get it to work.

The only other method was a 3 foot diameter drum dryer fed by a canvas apron. The darkroom at college in the 1960`s had one and it worked.

Irons, blotter books, small drum driers, hanging by one edge , screens, are all YUCK.

I never tried glass, but did use a boxwood board purchased for mechanical drawing. Tape down 1/4 inch border. Very good results ,but slow as I only had one board.

One of the old 4 foot diameter belt feed drums also works well. They were both gas and electric heated. I was unsucessful with the small diameter home ones. The big one was in a college darkroom in the 1960`s. Probably can`t get one of these either.

[pablo batt]

hi

yes it works well

important to allow the print to drip dry for 30 min approx to allow the shrinkage to be controlled a little, or the paper can tear the tape once shrinkage is taking effect

then use a mister to wet the tape , and attach to glass with a 5 mm overlap on the paper

use a piece of flat wood to hold the glass, this way it will not break so easily

i think that it may work with perspex but there is a risk of scratching and possible buckling of the perspex as the print dries under pressure
hope this helps

[jnantz]

usually i take my prints
when they are a barely wet and mostly dry
and i put them back to back between clean masonite or
countertop. they dry flat. if they are small enough
i stick them back to back betwen masonite boards
in my nipping press (cast iron book making press ).
that works well too.

[Toyon]

I have had bad luck squeegeeing prints, so I simply hang them by a corner for a few minutes until most of the surface water has drained, then lay them on fiberglass sheets. Drying varies wildly depending on the humidity. More humidity = slower and flatter drying.

[Drew Wiley]

I squeegee the prints on a sheet of plate glass or melamine, then air dry them face
up on fiberglass screens. After they are dry I place them under a heavy sheet of plate glass to flatten them for several days. Then they are put into storage until I decide to drymount them. But prints will always eventually curl to some degree unless they are under compression or firmly mounted. Some brands of paper are worse than others. But it's a simple fact that if two sides of any kind of paper are
of a different composition, then there will be difference degrees of humidity absorbtion, and therefore curl. Every picture frame shop on the planet knows this (or else they'll be out of business fast). That is why fiber-based prints are routinely
drymounted. Spray mounting isn't archival, and it certainly isn't healthy. Read the
MSDS sheets. Non-emulsion prints, however, such as Pt/Pd are often hung "deckle
edged", suspended with paper hinges, just like watercolors often are, to reveal the
character of the paper itself. Very different kind of print. RC prints are yet another
problem, as are glossy polyester-based color prints. Each requires its own strategy
for mounting and display.

[jwaddison]

I use glass, and it works fine. It is slow, but that's not a problem for me.

[rbuck797]

Years ago, I saw a product (can't recall manufacturer) that was a roll consisting of layers of material one of which was a muslin (sp) -like substance which protected the emulsion. The FB prints would dry with a slight curl but at least they weren't wrinkled. Has anyone else seen this product and can it still be found?