Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Notices

Go Back   Film and Darkroom User > Monochrome Work > Print Finishing

  ***   Click here for the FADU 2015/2014 Yearbooks   ***

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 4th April 2015, 05:32 PM
Martyn Martyn is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Padiham, Lancashire
Posts: 34
Default Drying FB prints flat.

This was a response to another FADU members query but I thought it may be more useful as a wider thrown question. Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.

For exhibition purposes I used to dry mount FB prints, but do so no longer due to archival issues. Yes a mounted print is easier to handle and fame and it looks lovely and flat but I can't bring myself to do so anymore. Drying a FB print flat is difficult due to the paper fibres and the emulsion drying for different times but back to back drying and pressing works well enough. Do any other FADU members have other successful flat drying techniques to impart?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 4th April 2015, 07:14 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jersey Channel Islands
Posts: 5,433
Default

Dry the prints back to back pegged on a line,put 1 clothes peg on each corner of the back to back prints then peg them to a line,the prints sort of pull against each other and dry pretty much flat, finish by putting prints between two sheets of mounting boards under a pile of books and 2 or 3 days later lovely flat FB prints
Richard
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 4th April 2015, 08:02 PM
Mark Snowdon Mark Snowdon is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Northallerton, North Yorkshire
Posts: 169
Default

Dave Miller wrote about a method of drying FB prints flat in the article section on the forum. The method he describes works well - I have used it for many years.

Mark
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 5th April 2015, 08:49 AM
photomi7ch's Avatar
photomi7ch photomi7ch is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: East Midlands
Posts: 2,516
Default

I agree with Mark Snowden that Dave method works very well. I use an adapted method of Dave original. The Technic is one I used to use when using water colour paints to stop the paper bubbling when applying the paint to the paper.
__________________
Mitch

http://photomi7ch.blogspot.com/

If you eliminate the impossible whatever remains no matter how improbable must be the truth.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 5th April 2015, 10:27 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 1,426
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Gould View Post
Dry the prints back to back pegged on a line,put 1 clothes peg on each corner of the back to back prints then peg them to a line,the prints sort of pull against each other and dry pretty much flat, finish by putting prints between two sheets of mounting boards under a pile of books and 2 or 3 days later lovely flat FB prints
Richard
This is the method I use and it works well. I stack the prints face down, and in a neat pile with no overlaps. I don't use any old books. They have to be photography books, by people like Ravilious, Blakemore and Henri Cartier Bresson. So the magic permeates down into my own prints. It hasn't happened yet but I live in hope...

Alan
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 5th April 2015, 10:29 AM
vincent's Avatar
vincent vincent is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Co. Kildare Ireland
Posts: 876
Default

I also took up Dave's way of drying my FB prints and am quite happy with it.
__________________
Cheers

Vincent - Not afraid of the dark
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 5th April 2015, 04:43 PM
marty marty is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Italy
Posts: 340
Default

I lay the wet prints, just out of the washing bath and wiped, on old frames with glass or plexiglass emulsion up. They just stick there. I leave them there to dry. They dry a bit bowed but I can cure that by pressing them under a stack of books. In the end they're ready to be mounted. If not mounted the curl tends to come back at some extent.

Cheers, M.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 24th April 2015, 09:29 PM
Brock's Avatar
Brock Brock is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: St Andrews
Posts: 698
Default

I got permission to publish Dave's method on my blog a while back. I included a lot of tips that I found on APUG so there might be something new there if you fancy trying a different method.
http://www.theonlinedarkroom.com/201...lattening.html
__________________
The Online Darkroom
www.onlinedarkroom.blogspot.com
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 25th April 2015, 09:26 AM
John King John King is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: County Durham
Posts: 3,319
Default Drying flat

It may sound a bit crude, but believe me it works. Just let the print dry naturally at roomtime temperature then I turn them over onto a table in which I have place a multifolded sheet. I then use an ordinary domestic iron set at a low temperature (try the 'silk' setting).

Placing the print face down I iron it all over starting at one corner then to another and working my way down. Don't use too much pressure. There will be enough residual moisture left in the paper to ensure the print is flat enough to mount using spray adhesive.
If there is still a curl, again with the print face down, place a straight edge on the back of the print (I use a biece of rounded doweling so there are no sharp edges) and with light pressure pull the paper though under the straight edge aganst the curl of the paper. That will get it as flat as you ever will do without resorting to a heated drying drum or flatbed.

One downside is if you have not washed the print properly before the initial drying, using the iron may cause the emulsion to turn a slight yellowish or magenta tone in patches where the fixer is still present. The heat hastens the aging process

I have some prints used in my ARPS assessment which I dried and flattened using that method, that are now over 20 years old and are still as good as the day they were made.

Last edited by John King; 25th April 2015 at 09:32 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 28th November 2015, 12:08 AM
paddy's Avatar
paddy paddy is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Liverpool, UK
Posts: 414
Default

Silverprint sell archival blotting paper
Sqegee the water off the FB print, then put in first pair of blotters with something like a book on top for 20 mins, then the next set for 2 hours then the 3rd set overnight
This is my prefered way, pain in the ass but worth it
Them heated print dryers cook the print
Paddy
Reply With Quote
Reply
Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Drying FB Prints Jeff Sheff Darkroom 12 15th November 2013 09:56 PM
Do digital, colour or black and white, prints sell better than darkroom prints. Mark Burley Business Matters 51 20th September 2013 02:47 PM
MARRUTT-RC2000-PRO-RC-FLAT-PRINT-DRYER-for-print-sizes-up-to-26"x21" BIN price £50 MartyNL Auctions of Interest 0 2nd June 2013 07:21 PM
Flat negatives Richard James Darkroom 5 23rd September 2012 02:55 PM
air drying fb paper big paul Photography in general 10 7th July 2012 02:16 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 08:34 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.