I realize most of you alt-process guys are probably using traditional spring-back contact frames, but I was wondering if any of you had successfully used a Paterson-like "front loader" for your UV exposures.
The reason I ask is that I'm kitting-up for some relatively small prints on 8x10 paper, but without a purpose-built darkroom I wanted to keep the form factor as compact as possible.
The split back of a traditional contact frame is necessary in order to judge exposure when printing.
Haven't tried it, but don't see why it wouldn't work. Just give it a try if you have one of those frames already.
Jim-- Thanks very much for the reply, could I trouble you to elaborate a bit more as to "Why"? I'm guessing you're monitoring the development of the "latent" image on the sensitized paper, but I'm not sure as to why the spring back frame makes this easier.
Thanks! I was mainly concerned about the evenness of pressure with just the one clamp on the distal end, especially if the watercolor paper made the "sandwich" a bit thicker than what it was designed for.Originally Posted by koraks
Yes, the pressure would be my concern as well if very stiff substrates are used for printing. But in my experience the foam padding of the paterson frames is pretty stiff and it takes a lot of pressure to close them, so odds are it will work for most papers.
What Jim means is if you don't run a time/intensity calibrated workflow (I.e. if you don't know beforehand how long to expose a particular print), it's difficult to check progress of exposure without losing negative to print registration during exposure. When you open the frame, the negative and the print will move with regard to each other, making it hard to re-register them again for the remaining exposure. This is not an issue if you calibrate your exposures, eliminating the need to check in-between.
Koraks-- Excellent, thanks for the background information, very helpful.
Contact Printing Frame for Alternative Processes
https://www.largeformatphotography.i...=1#post1115679
Tin Can
It is necessary to open part of the back, while leaving pressure on the rest to maintain alignment of negative and print, to judge exposure.
Thanks for the link, Randy--very helpful. (FWIW, I've bookmarked a lot of Mr. Bray's threads over the years regarding Paterson Orbitals, darkroom design, etc. and was even hoping I could buy him a round there in Plymouth summer before last, but inferred that some health issues had taken him away from his avocation. "No man is an island," though, at the very least.)
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