How do you flatten your glossy fibrebase or Baryta darkroom prints after air drying ?

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

I am printing a lot of pictures on glossy Ilford fibre base cool tone and Adox MCC 110 papers. I have gotten a routine in fixing toning and drying those but when it comes to flatten I am a bit frustrated. I use a sponge to slightly moisten the backside of the print in then I put it under the hot mounting press for 30 seconds. This goes well up to size 11x14" but I do not get 16x20" or 20x24"s flat enough. My aim is to have the prints flat enough to overmat without having to drymount when I put them in a frame. Maybe the flattening should be done in the drying process ?

[Fred L]

I used to dry fiber prints by drying them using blotter sheets. usually had prints between two blotter sheets above and below, and with a weight on top while they dried, they came out flat.

[Arne Croell]

I am printing a lot of pictures on glossy Ilford fibre base cool tone and Adox MCC 110 papers. I have gotten a routine in fixing toning and drying those but when it comes to flatten I am a bit frustrated. I use a sponge to slightly moisten the backside of the print in then I put it under the hot mounting press for 30 seconds. This goes well up to size 11x14" but I do not get 16x20" or 20x24"s flat enough. My aim is to have the prints flat enough to overmat without having to drymount when I put them in a frame. Maybe the flattening should be done in the drying process ?

What temperature setting do you use in the drymount press? 30s seems a bit short to me, I usually use 1-2 min, without any additional moistening - the water vapor adsorbed in the paper is usually enough.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

Thanks for your answer, but can you dry glossy prints with blotters too ?

[jp]

I use a drymount press and a couple of clean matboards.. Warm it up and press the mattboards for a couple minutes and open it up to let the moisture out, then insert a print for a minute or so. Repeat drying the matboards if needed as they absorb moisture.

[Arne Croell]

I use a drymount press and a couple of clean matboards.. Warm it up and press the mattboards for a couple minutes and open it up to let the moisture out, then insert a print for a minute or so. Repeat drying the matboards if needed as they absorb moisture.

Agreed - I use 2 4-ply matboards below and one above the print, plus a sheet each of "release" paper (i.e. siliconized paper)in direct contact with print. Temperature setting is around 230°F (110°C), for 1-2min.

[Robert Opheim]

I have been printing on Adox MCC 110 and am now currently making 16x20 prints. To flatten them I put them in my drymount press between two sheets of museum board with relase paper, without adding any water and press them for 1 minute. I pull them out of the press between the board still - and put a weight on top of them for 2 or three minutes. My weight - I had made at a welding shop - is a 3/16" sheet of plate metal with two handles welded on the back. I can easily handle a 20x24 matte print size.

[Greg Y]

I use the same system as Arne..... press between 2 mat boards & release paper... then I let them cool under a piece of plate glass.

[Corran]

Recently I've started hanging mine up with 4 clothespins on the corners as shown. This has drastically reduced curl while drying. I have some high-test fishing line strung all the way across my darkroom up near the ceiling for hanging.

It's flat enough to stick in a mat and frame without much trouble and doesn't push up the windowed mat. If not matting immediately I stack the prints in a paper box of that size to flatten more.

I don't have a press or anything to do much else and didn't want to have space tied up with weighted-down prints.

[Kirk Gittings]

I use the same system as Arne..... press between 2 mat boards & release paper... then I let them cool under a piece of plate glass.

Ditto except I used to let them cool in the DMP. That took to long. I now use a granite sink cutout ($5 from a local fabricator) with a clean sheet of paper to cover the print. The granite sucks the heat right out of the paper.