Coating Pt/Pd prints: results to-date

[sanking]

I fooled around with waxes and acrylics for a while in an effort to re-create the wet look of Pt./Pd. prints but finally decided that what I really like about the process is the matte look so that made my life a lot easier. Also, I am inherently suspicious of coating prints as I have seena lot of old ones that have been ruined by various kinds of coatings.

Have you tried coating on fiber based photograhic papers? A fellow from Canada named Craig Koshyk has written an informational bookleet on this and it is not all that hard to make work. And the results are much better than you can get with any coating method I have seen. You need to fix out the paper first, of course, and a special coating technnique is required, but when you get the knack of it it works great.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

finally decided that what I really like about the process is the matte look

:-) ...specially when nothing seems to work huh?......

I tried the Koshyks method as well as a variation of my own, and frankly the prints to me looked like toned silver prints.....not something I liked.

My intention is to keep the look of the paper and the wet look as well, I suppose this is the holy grail for many of us... :-)

[Ken Lee]

Thanks for the reference. A little googling revealed that Craig has a web site called www.prairieview.ca.



I sent him an email.

[Ken Lee]

Jorge - I have always diluted the acryic varnishes with water when applying them. Just to be clear -you are suggesting that the entire print be completely wet, through and through... right ?

At paper companies, I presume there are scientists or other specialists who deal with these and related matters on a daily basis. Might there also be professors or other experts, who could be consulted ?

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

The Golden site has this acrylic varnish, I think maybe brushing it undiluted on the wet print might do the trick.

[james mickelson]

Has anyone ever tried "burnishing" the paper after the print has dried? Burnishing is done with a hard stone or metal by rubbing the paper with an even hard pressure. I used to make high dollar furniture and jewelry boxes and that is the method I used to bring a luster to the wood when I didn't want to use a finish. I use this method on my hand coated emulsions of flowers on art paper. It doesn't hurt thew look of the paper other than polishing the surface' Maybe give this a try.

[paulr]

"Did your teacher coat before coating with the pt/pd solution? This might be just a gelatin sizing and most papers dont need it for pt/pd, although some do. If he coated after the print was made, I tried that too.......it did not work as well to bring back the wet look of the print."

After. I don't know about it bringing back the wet look of the print, but it gave a surface that's a little closer to an air dried fiber print, with somewhat higher d-max. He didn't do this with all his prints ... just a few. He suggested that I try the gelatine coating on inkjet prints, but since it involves dunking the paper in water, I have a hard time imagining it working. Might be worth a try on a rainy afternoon though.

[paulr]

Ken,

how exactly are you applying the varnish? When I was using the same varnish I was unable to get an even coat by brushing. maybe my brushing technique is lousy, i don't know. i moved on to airbrushing, which solves a lot of problems, and of course creates a lot of new ones.

[Ken Lee]

I diulte the varnish, and polish lightly in-between coats, as is done with shellac on furniture. Ideally, lots of very thin coats.

In my simplistic view, the dMax is ultimately a function of the whiteness of the paper, the darkness of the sensitizer, and the smootheness of both. Coating can't change the first two parameters, but it can help out with the other.

[Annie M.]

OK... I've had a chance to dig through my old 'swatches' ....

To obtain a luster finish comparable to an air dried silver glossy fibre based paper such as Agfa Classic... Dissolve by volume 1 part rabbit skin glue or hide glue (my apologies to all the bunnies) to 6 parts water in a double boiler or over very low heat. DO NOT BOIL. This is a thicker mixture than the usual preparation for canvas prep in painting etc. While the mixture is hot apply it to your paper... as this starts to goo up quite quickly I have found the best method is to attach my Pt print to a board with butcher tape around the outside edge (if you wish to maintain the dekel edge you will have to figure out a different method as I cut the tape off at the end of the process). I use a squeegee to apply the hot glue in one pass over the image.... if you use a brush I assume any marks will flow back into an even surface due to the viscosity of the mixture. You can let the print air dry or use a dryer if you wish. When dry the print is a bit stiff I just give it a run over the edge of the table as the finish is a little plyable and will not crack.

Now... this finish will warm the image and the paper slightly... so no pure bright whites... however the dry down effect is gone... absolutely gone. Another concern may be the method of mounting... I do not use a hot press so I have no idea how this would effect the coating. The test swatches I have here are on Cranes and Kodak PX-3001 (emulsion removed) so I have no idea how the glue would adapt to a more textured paper... you may have to adjust your dilutions according to the penetrability of your paper

This coating once dry will also accept varnishes and you can take it to high gloss if you are inclined to do so.... which reminds me it wasn't varnish over wax as I said in my post above... it was a 'fat' wax over a 'lean' wax (such as the wax mediums & the Marshall's oil dryer) I found the paper experienced less distressing when the wax gels were used prior to the crystalline.

Anyway... keep up the good work and let us know if you find your magic coating!!

Cheers Annie