Digital negatives for contact printing "are you experienced"

[David Brunell]

There are Piezography digital negative ink sets for several Epson printers.

http://www.inkjetmall.com/wordpress/...-negative-kit/

Depending on the printer and methodology Piezography ink sets are available for different density ranges appropriate for various printing processes. Some discussion of this has taken place at the Piezography forum on Yahoo. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/piezography3000/

Sandy King

Perfect, thank you for pointing that out Sandy. I have not been to Jon's blog or website in some time; looks like I have some catching up to do.

From the blog:

" The beauty of Piezography Digital Film is that it already produces a linearized grayscale. That work has been done for you. Use it as is to make great prints. Then, simply respond to the print as you would in the darkroom and apply your dodging and burning in Photoshop."

Sounds like this may save me some time and frustration.

[Jeff Graves]

Hi David,

If your interested I'm teaching a workshop next month based on digital negatives & platinum/palladium printing using QTR and Photoshop. You can check out the details here http://www.cpvw.net/the-modern-plati...art-to-finish/

Jeff Graves

[David Brunell]

Hi David,

If your interested I'm teaching a workshop next month based on digital negatives & platinum/palladium printing using QTR and Photoshop. You can check out the details here http://www.cpvw.net/the-modern-plati...art-to-finish/

Jeff Graves

Thank you Jeff.

I would be very interested in that workshop if it were in Michigan; can't make the trip however.

[J. Fada]

I won't touch on the different methods of making negs. As long as the print is good how you made it doesn't really matter. I made some prints in the mid 90's with negs from a crappy Epson that were decent.

The purpose of my post is to encourage you to start with another process besides platinum since you don't have any experience with wet prints. I would suggest to do some Cyanotypes first to get your feet wet. They are really easy to do. Then maybe move to Kallitypes for a bit before doing Platinum prints. The other processes will help you refine your methods before you start bleeding money doing the Platinum prints. Besides, you will have fun doing them. Cyanotypes are a blast to do because they are so easy and super cheap.

[David Brunell]

I won't touch on the different methods of making negs. As long as the print is good how you made it doesn't really matter. I made some prints in the mid 90's with negs from a crappy Epson that were decent.

The purpose of my post is to encourage you to start with another process besides platinum since you don't have any experience with wet prints. I would suggest to do some Cyanotypes first to get your feet wet. They are really easy to do. Then maybe move to Kallitypes for a bit before doing Platinum prints. The other processes will help you refine your methods before you start bleeding money doing the Platinum prints. Besides, you will have fun doing them. Cyanotypes are a blast to do because they are so easy and super cheap.

That is excellent advice. I have spent a good portion of the last 48 hours researching various methods and completely agree. A better starting point for my taste would be the toned Van Dyke print (cart is loaded at Bostick & Sullivan) From there I will move to Kallitypes and if time and money permit, on to platinum/palladium.

I have also invested in a Calumet C-1 green monster. I am going to expose some fp4 in pyrocat-hd to use with the processes before I jump into digital negatives head first; seems like the most logical progression.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge & resources as well as your advice.

[sanking]

That is excellent advice. I have spent a good portion of the last 48 hours researching various methods and completely agree. A better starting point for my taste would be the toned Van Dyke print (cart is loaded at Bostick & Sullivan) From there I will move to Kallitypes and if time and money permit, on to platinum/palladium.

I have also invested in a Calumet C-1 green monster. I am going to expose some fp4 in pyrocat-hd to use with the processes before I jump into digital negatives head first; seems like the most logical progression.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge & resources as well as your advice.

David,

It is a good idea IMO to get some experience with continuous tone in-camera negatives before moving on to digital negatives. I would also strongly recommend that you acquire and work with a 21 or 31 continuous tone transmission step wedge to learn about how the process works. You can buy these in several sizes at http://www.stouffer.net/TransPage.htm

A small amount of testing with a step wedge can save you an enormous amount of time if you learn how to use it. I make extensive use of step wedges in testing new materials in printing with alternative processes, both in initial testing and as a control in fine adjustments.

Working with a new process and digital negatives is something of a rabbit hole since you have no idea what to expect from either.

Sandy

[David Brunell]

David,

It is a good idea IMO to get some experience with continuous tone in-camera negatives before moving on to digital negatives. I would also strongly recommend that you acquire and work with a 21 or 31 continuous tone transmission step wedge to learn about how the process works. You can buy these in several sizes at http://www.stouffer.net/TransPage.htm

A small amount of testing with a step wedge can save you an enormous amount of time if you learn how to use it. I make extensive use of step wedges in testing new materials in printing with alternative processes, both in initial testing and as a control in fine adjustments.

Working with a new process and digital negatives is something of a rabbit hole since you have no idea what to expect from either.

Sandy

Yes, thank you Sandy. I ordered the Van Dyke Brown kit as well as the gold toner and non-calibrated step wedge from Bostick & Sullivan yesterday. I am using your pyrocat-hd tomorrow morning on some 4x5 negatives. I exposed fp4 rated @ 100 and plan on extending the suggested development by 25% to start. I suspect it is a good place to start since I will not be able to control my contrast with the VDB process. I have spent alot of time reading your articles over the last few days. Again, thank you.

[sara_criss]

I was sailing along with the instructions on making a digital negative UNTIL it said to use “overhead projection film to print the negative on. Where does one get Overhead projection film?

[mdm]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...nsparency.html

[Andrew O'Neill]

Hi David,

Over the past few years, I've incorporated digital negatives into my carbon transfer printing. I have been quite happy with them. It's great being able to build in your dodge/burns, etc into the negative. I've also been able to print my smaller negatives this way, too. I use QTR. There are several people who make platinum/palladium prints this way, too. As far as ink goes, I just use cheap ink from a local supplier... made in China. I can't justify paying $1000 for 8 cartridges of ink.