Rubylith, sheet film or tape?

[Andrew ren]

hey all,

about this Rubylith thing. For masking purpose(pt/pd), is better use the tape type or the sheet film windowed by a knife?

and also, when I cut a window on the sheet, do I have to cut thru both layers, or just the red translucent, leave the clear base on top of my negative?


All I want is sometime I prefer the pt/pd print bordered(surrounded) by a thin straight black line, might be 1/8"

Cheers

Andrew

[Jim Jones]

When I worked in the graphic arts, lithographer's tape was preferred over Rubylith wherever it could be used. With Rubylith, only the colored layer needs to be removed to make a window.

[Colin Graham]

I print in the relatively few different sizes, so just made a different rubylith mask for each size. I make the window a little oversized, then tape a few strips of rubylith on perpendicular sides like a cropping L for minor variations. Making the mask I cut through both layers, the clear backing might get fairly scuffed up in use, and it's another surface to keep clean.

I tried the tape one or twice, but it seemed a lot slower and fussier than using a mask.

[Andrew ren]

Thanks Jim. i think i might have to get both, sheet and tape.

Colin,

i thought about keeping the clear base layer as an anti-newton ring feature. :-0

if that's the case, how to make the subtle edge like this image you posted on the alt thread, I mean the lower left corner, not a straight line...




Cheers

Andrew

[Colin Graham]

Ha, I was worried about overcutting- the lith tears very very easily if you overcut the corners. So I drifted the knife in at some of the corners and they look a little rounded as a result.

There is also a bleed effect with rubylith if you use the mask over the neg/paper sandwich. The light can scatter through the thickness of the negative/transparancy (pictorico OHP especially) and spread somewhat like fiber optics. This can give a pretty soft border. You can put the negative above the mask and supposedly it will neutralize the effect, but I haven't tried it. Not so apparent with the print above but negatives with strong black around the perimeter like the one below will really go quite soft.

[D. Bryant]

I print in the relatively few different sizes, so just made a different rubylith mask for each size. I make the window a little oversized, then tape a few strips of rubylith on perpendicular sides like a cropping L for minor variations. Making the mask I cut through both layers, the clear backing might get fairly scuffed up in use, and it's another surface to keep clean.

I tried the tape one or twice, but it seemed a lot slower and fussier than using a mask.

My method is the same as Colin's though I will mention that the rubylith needs to be placed under the film to prevent light piping through the film base and exposing a faint outline of the film sheet.

Don Bryant

[Andrew ren]

There is also a bleed effect with rubylith if you use the mask over the neg/paper sandwich.

hmm, this is interesting, Colin. As I thought that the Rubylith is super thin..
try looking around locally, no one carries Ruby sheets anymore.. and misterart.com is out of stock.

Don, did you notice any softness on the print as the ruby sits between the negi and coated paper?

Thanks guys.

Andrew

[Colin Graham]

Just to be clear, the UV light seems to scatter though the pictorico base when the mask is the top layer and has nothing to do with the thickness of the rubylith. With the negative on top of the mask, as Don suggests, the light has nowhere to go around the borders of the print.

[Kerik Kouklis]

Andrew, another approach is to use low-tack painter's masking tape and create your border area prior to coating the paper. That's how I get borders like this:


12x20 Gum Over Platinum Print

[Andrew ren]

[QUOTE=Kerik Kouklis;496417]Andrew, another approach is to use low-tack painter's masking tape and create your border area prior to coating the paper. That's how I get borders like this:

Kerik, you mean tape on the paper itself before coating, and peer them off after drying?

Thanks

Andrew