Workflow for Paper Negatives (Digital)

[Fragomeni]

Hi everyone. I'm exploring a number of options involving digital negatives. Something that I'm very interested in but which I can't find much information on is digital paper negatives. I've done some experiments in my darkroom which seem promising but before I continue or spend too much time on it I'd like to survey you brilliant people to see if anyone else is working with this out there. I've personally been experimenting with 68 lb. semi-transparent vellum paper that does an excellent job of simulating transmission of light and image through a traditional oiled/waxed paper negative. Issues that I've run into include contrast. Because the opacity of the paper acts as a kind of mask contrast needs to be increased substantially. Thats about as far as I've got so far. I'm very interested in this because it seems as though less is needed to produce this type of negative compared to printing an inkjet negative on transparency film. Also the fiber of the paper appears to eliminate any problems with print head dither patterns and tale tale signs of a digital negative.

Who out there is producing prints from digital paper negatives and what is your workflow? Please share.

Have you come up with any curves that work well for you? Otherwise how do you adjust your negative for proper printing?

What papers are you using?

Do you have any issues with fiber or grain?

I've seen the work of Peter Liepke who I believe works exclusively with paper negs (thats what I heard) as well as some others who demonstrate the potential of the process.

Thoughts and experiences?

[PViapiano]

Francesco,

I spent a large part of this past year working with paper negatives very similar to Peter Liepke's method, using beeswax and Epson paper. All of the negs were used in making gum dichromate prints.

I also experimented with unwaxed paper negs using Strathmore Layout paper. I seemed to get the best results from that particular paper with my Epson 3800 printer. Various vellums and tracing papers didn't agree with my printer.

What is the 68 lb paper you're using? The Strathmore is 16 lb. 68 lbs seems like it would be bulletproof, the exposures would seem to be unbearably long.

Here are a few of my results:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/viapian...7624234247830/

Images 5-10 were made with paper negs; see photo details.

[Fragomeni]

Francesco,

I spent a large part of this past year working with paper negatives very similar to Peter Liepke's method, using beeswax and Epson paper. All of the negs were used in making gum dichromate prints.

I also experimented with unwaxed paper negs using Strathmore Layout paper. I seemed to get the best results from that particular paper with my Epson 3800 printer. Various vellums and tracing papers didn't agree with my printer.

What is the 68 lb paper you're using? The Strathmore is 16 lb. 68 lbs seems like it would be bulletproof, the exposures would seem to be unbearably long.

Here are a few of my results:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/viapian...7624234247830/

Images 5-10 were made with paper negs; see photo details.

Paul,

Thanks for the reply. The vellum paper I've been experimenting with is an artist paper called Gateway Deluxe Tracing Vellum by Bee Paper Company. Its 68 lb. 115gsm paper and is semi-transparent like most typical tracing papers but this feels just a little heavier then a sheet of standard letter size printer paper. It is semi-transparent so the exposure times are not bad at all. The main issue I've come up against is dealing with the increase in contrast necessary to print through paper. If you don't mind would you please talk me through your process a bit? Do you overcome the contrast issue by adjusting the curves or by some other means? Also, what did you do to determine the best way to print the negative? Did you run any tests to determine exposure times through the paper or density or anything like that? If so please explain them. I very much appreciate your help! I've sent Peter Liepke an email yesterday afternoon asking him to shed some light on his process so hopefully he responds with some useful information.

-Francesco

[PViapiano]

Peter's neg-making process was described in View Camera about a year ago, basically the way he uses the 3800 to print the neg and to coat beeswax on the Epson paper (High Quality Inkjet Paper or Presentation Paper Matte).

I used a free utility called Charthrob to find a curve to apply for any particular process, which for me is pt/pd and gum. And yes, I did find, that for me, I needed a much higher contrast style of neg than most were recommending for gum, even when I used Pictorico as my neg medium. I haven't tried paper negs with pt/pd, as Peter does.

Check out Charthrob or Mark Nelson's incredible PDN software. I found that learning and making digital negs took a really long time even when working on it for many hours a day. The endless reiterations of coating, drying, exposure, clearing/developing, washing, drying just go on forever. It's like sitting in front of your computer all day and constantly rebooting ;-)

[PViapiano]

You should also check out http://www.hybridphoto.com/forums/home.php

for tons of info on making digi-negs. Just search through the forums, enough to keep you reading for years.