"Arches Platine" Pt/Pd printing!

[Nasser]

Dear Pt/Pd printers,

Have you tried Arches platine paper? Does it really want a double coating? Does it need extra humidifying more than other papers.

Any simple comments would make a big help
Nasser

[Jan Pedersen]

Double coating not needed if the paper has been humidified well ahead of coating.
I am not sure it needs higher humidity than other papers but will coat a lot better and easier if it has been left in a humid room before coating. I usually bring the humidity up in my darkroom the day before coating and leave the paper spread out so it can absorb. A cheap humidifier can bring the humidity up to about 65% in my darkroom in less than 24 hours and that is what I have found to be ideal for Arches Platine.

[Cletus]

Arches Platine is made for platinum printing, or at least for alt process and the surface is very easy to coat, even if you don't have the ideal humidity in your DR. I use the Na2 method, so might be slightly (and only slightly) biased. As for double coating, with Arches PT, I believe it is a complete waste of expensive metal salts.

[Cletus]

I should qualify the comment about double coating Arches - there may be other papers that I've not tried that would benefit from double coating.

[Payral]

I use Arches Platine for more than 15 years for platinum printing and I never did a double coating. I did some comparison years ago and didn't see any improvement.

[Nasser]

I usually hold the paper above the boiler working with led open and flip it and wave it horizontally like a circle, until the crispness of the paper go away.

Thank you for the helpful comments

[Pitcherman]

Hey Nasser,
Which side are you using? I find that the coating seems to soak in less on the pebbled side, although Bostick and Sullivan recommends the other side–the one with the screen pattern. Low humidity is not an issue here in Georgia.

[Vaughn]

I had good results with it by coating first with distilled water (~40 drops for an 8x10) and letting the paper sit for a few minutes before coating with pt/pd.

[ghostcount]

I had good results with it by coating first with distilled water (~40 drops for an 8x10) and letting the paper sit for a few minutes before coating with pt/pd.

Do you brush the distilled water?

[Vaughn]

Applied the same way as the pt solution -- coating rod (to define the coating area and get the solution over entire area quickly -- about 4 passes with the rod), and then finish with a brush.

I waited more than 'a few minutes' -- probably closer to ten to 15 minutes. In drier climates, one may not have to wait that long.

[ghostcount]

Thanks Vaughn.