OK, so I've read everything in these archives about contact printing. With the amount of humidity our air here contains, nothing has worked in my battle agains t rings. The rings in question form between paper and 8x10 negative when sandwi ched in a Great Basin wood, split-backed frame. I like the enlarging papers I'm now using and don't want to print on Azo. Switched from TMY to HP-5 Plus for t he Ilford film's less-smooth emulsion. That helped, but was fully successful on ly on the dryest of our days. My next step will be to replace the old, deterior ated foam on my Patterson Proof Printer with a new sheet purchased from Saunders ' parts department. If that results in sufficient and even enough pressure, may be the problem will go away, but I'm not counting on it.

Some in the past have suggested sponge rubber pads to insure even pressure. Can anyone identify a specific type and source? Also, mention has been made of vac uum frames as the ultimate solution. Condit is often cited as a manufacturer of those. A Web search turns up no Condit presence; the only frames offered by o thers are huge and hugely expensive. Can anyone provide a URL/address/phone num ber for Condit, or a lead to any vacuum frame manufacturer that builds an effect ive product sized (i.e. around 11x14) and priced for the application we're all i nterested in?

Thanks in advance for your help.