How to finish, wash and dry fibre paper prints for exhibition and sale

[tgtaylor]

I was doing 4 or 5 minutes in the wash aid - sodium sulfite in my case - but just the other day I noticed in the James Christopher Alternative Photography book that he uses one minute in the wash aid. He also advised 1 minute in the fixer but apparently took a lot of heat for that and now recommends 2 fix baths of 1 minute each. I switched to the latter recommendation but the prints that I made 10 years ago using a single 1 minute fix bath look as if they were just printed.

Thomas

[Bernice Loui]

Dry down of the print and lighting intensity and type figures into the print making process. B&W prints rendered variations in the image dependent on how bright the display lighting will be -vs- print making evaluation lighting and the type of lighting used (Daylight, tungsten/halogen, fluorescent, LED and etc..)will also have an effect on perceived print color, tone-contrast. This should be accounted for during the print making process and toning process.

Be aware if Selenium toning is done, it is easy to over tone (will color the print Magenta) the print as the typical time in the Selenium toning solution is about 1 to 2.5/3 minutes MAX. Keep in mind long as the Selenium toning solution is on the print, toning action is happening. This means time needed to pull out the print from the toning solution, drip off then into the water wash must be accounted for. Larger the print, more challenging the entire print making process becomes.

Do keep a toned reference print near by as some means to gauge how much toning should be done to allow some degree of print toning consistency.


Bernice

[Fred L]

...Be aware if Selenium toning is done, it is easy to over tone (will color the print Magenta) the print as the typical time in the Selenium toning solution is about 1 to 2.5/3 minutes MAX...

This is the first I've ever heard about this max time, is there a reference to it as I'm very curious to read up on this. My selenium times are much longer than this and I aim for tonal change which can be very subtle, depending on the paper and toner strength.

thanks

[Michael R]

Maximum toning and the amount of potential colour shift will always depend heavily on the emulsion and the dilution of the toner. Even the developer used to develop the paper can sometimes have an influence on the colour shift in the toner. Most people tend to settle on a dilution that results in a selenium toning time of a few minutes or more to achieve the desired degree of colour shift for a particular paper.

This is the first I've ever heard about this max time, is there a reference to it as I'm very curious to read up on this. My selenium times are much longer than this and I aim for tonal change which can be very subtle, depending on the paper and toner strength.

thanks

[willwilson]

Lots of good stuff on this thread. I use a microwave to dry down test prints and test strips, works great. Also a super low wattage led viewing bulb of 0.5w or less is a good tool to save your night vision.

For selenium toning or any toning I just have to experiment. Paper, Dev, wash aid, timing, etc, all work together to impact my final print. When I change one thing it seems to impact the end product, so I take good notes and tend not to change things that work well. I start with directions on the box and then make up my own method within reason. Toning can definitely be part of the craft of printing. Mistakes and accidents can be pretty rad sometimes too.

A few book suggestions. Darkroom and Darkroom 2. Both Lustrum press. Mckays Bookstore is your friend.

[Axelwik]

In terms of flattening I dry mount my fiber prints. Back when my large press broke down and all I had was an 11x14 press, I did larger prints in sections, then transferred to the broken press for cool down between sections. Worked fine.

[Kornscharfsteller]

After reading all of the above, I now got two follow up questions.

1. Would it be feasible to put multiple prints at once into the press (that I have yet to build)? I was considering to have multiple prints stacked on top of each other, all separated with some sort of acid free passepartout cardboard or something. It would be cool if I could do some sort of batch processing when flattening my prints.

2. Speaking of batch processing: I read several times in here that it is a good idea to dry the prints on (glass?) screens. How could a fixture / a setup look like that would allow me to dry multiple 40x50cm prints on screens at the same time? The space in my darkroom is somewhat limited and also for security reasons I would not want to place glass screens all over the place. So I would need to build some sort of rack or something with many screens next to each other? How could something like that look like?

[Pieter]

After reading all of the above, I now got two follow up questions.

1. Would it be feasible to put multiple prints at once into the press (that I have yet to build)? I was considering to have multiple prints stacked on top of each other, all separated with some sort of acid free passepartout cardboard or something. It would be cool if I could do some sort of batch processing when flattening my prints.

2. Speaking of batch processing: I read several times in here that it is a good idea to dry the prints on (glass?) screens. How could a fixture / a setup look like that would allow me to dry multiple 40x50cm prints on screens at the same time? The space in my darkroom is somewhat limited and also for security reasons I would not want to place glass screens all over the place. So I would need to build some sort of rack or something with many screens next to each other? How could something like that look like?

To make it clear, the screen material is usually made of fiberglass mesh. I sometimes use a clothes drying rack to stack several screens. You can use a baker's sheet pan rack if you have access to one.

[jnantz]

blotter book
retractable clothes line ( and clothes pins )

[Kornscharfsteller]

To make it clear, the screen material is usually made of fiberglass mesh. I sometimes use a clothes drying rack to stack several screens. You can use a baker's sheet pan rack if you have access to one.

Oh, OK a mesh is preferable over glass screens, I guess.
In your second image the prints would dry laying horizontally, isn't horizontal drying of prints prone to stains or "uneven glossiness" of the glossy surface?