How I Flatten Fiber Based Prints
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 сер 2017
- In this video I show you how I flatten fiber based papers with a cheap heat press I bought on eBay.
Here is a link to the press: ebay.to/2fpWujW
Find Me Online:
Website :: www.chrisswartwood.com
Instagram :: @chrisswartwood
Email :: chris@chrisswartwood.com
Gear Used:
Camera: Sony A6000 :: amzn.to/2mdXm9L
Lens: Sony 10-18mm :: amzn.to/2mdXplX
Tripod: Manfrotto :: amzn.to/2lOx69L
Ring Light: Newer Ring Light :: amzn.to/2mUP6iu
Fill Lights: amzn.to/2me3r62
Microphone: amzn.to/2mUK3yF
Lapel Mic: amzn.to/2me6Y4c
Audio Recorder: Zoom H4n :: amzn.to/2mUMFN4
Video Monitor: Aputure VS2 :: amzn.to/2mNCCIZ
The gear links above and any Amazon links I post are Amazon affiliate links and it helps with the time and costs associated with producing this show. Any views or opinions are my own and come from a place of honesty and sincerity. I hope you enjoy the videos and my channel and leave me your notes or feedback in a comment below. Thanks for watching!
-chris swartwood - Навчання та стиль
Tips for maximum flatness (coming from a few years of experience): keep prints in the hot press a little longer (2-3 minutes) to make sure you have brought the print and the materials around it to the peak temperature (120C in my case). Make sure no wavyness remains, only general curvyness. Then allow the print to rest untouched on the table for the moisture to stabilize. The difference in moisture between the hot print and the cool air will first re-curl the print after heating... but given some time it will stabilize and the print will come to a rest. You can actually see the curved print flatten out in 4-5 minutes. Next, you can leave the print under a cold weight to finalize.
I read this title and thought "didn't this guy just start darkroom printin" and was ready to be cynical. Not only is this a pretty clever way to do things, something I have not seen before, but you even added "i'm just letting you know how I do things and most of the things I learned just weeks prior".
I really like this attitude, and I do not find it often online. Everyone is an expert. Just bought a camera yesterday? REVIEW. I used a camera once? EXPERT.
I'm glad I subscribe to this channel.
Man, this really hits home for me. Thanks for saying that. I struggle with every edit of every video. i.e. "Does leaving this in make me look like this or that? Does saying that make me seem inexperienced and foolish? Am I being taken seriously?....do I DESERVE to be taken seriously?" That is why GRAIN's tag line is "Celebrate Imperfection". Film will always be imperfect in one form or another just as the people exposing those frames of film.
We can burn and crop and spot out the imperfections in our prints and in our lives but sometimes (most times in my experience) those imperfections are what give us character and a unique perspective. I joke with people and say, "If I edit out the mistakes I wouldn't have a video to post up!" But in a lot of ways it is true. Having you comment and tell me this as many have before in this channels short life gives me all the confidence to continue to make videos that reflect who I am as a photographer and as a person - imperfections and all. Thanks Hogarth. -chris
Totally agree, was thinking the same thing! Very helpful and great to see new and honest problem solving and offering up solutions that may or may not be the best, but it's another solution out there now for others to find, test, adapt and learn form.
Watching this as I use my dry mount press! Great video.
Great job on your videos! I just got back into wet darkroom work after about 25 years out of it and want to use FB paper, so washing and flattening are of great concern to me. I'm also working in my condo bathroom, so your print washer video was very helpful, too. Looking forward to your print mounting video. Thanks a bunch for contributing to the knowledge base. You're innovative ideas are truly inspired.
Ron, thank you SO much! I love knowing others are finding these video useful. I spend weeks sometimes (in the case of print washing) trying to find solutions to problems that are practical and comments like this make me feel really great. I have learned SO much from others that found it worthwhile to spend their freetime making videos to educate me at no cost and giving back to this wonderful community has given me deep joy. Thank you again and welcome back to the wonderfully frustrating and immensely rewarding craft of printmaking.
Five years later, Did you get back into it?
Hey, Thanks for this awesome video. Really helped me getting started with fiber based prints. I bought the same press, just a little larger. I found out that you can actually achieve more, let's say maximum flatness. I figured out that you have to wet the print a little bit before putting it into the press. I therefore use a small sponge which is a little wet (not dripping wet), I moisten the backside of the print (not much) and leave it some seconds until all the moisture is soaked into the print (you can easily see the process). The print now starts curling really bad again. That's the moment you have to put it into the press. My settings are: 90 seconds x 140°C. It won't bake, cook or anything, well preserved between the mat boards. I thought I'd share this with you because I had some issues with the paper still bending even after several press runs (I also variated the pressure, still no success). Hope it helps :)
Thanks, I'm going to try this. Prints are less 'wavey' but still bowed after following instructions in video.
Thanks for taking the time and making all of these videos, I'm really looking forward to testing out some of the same solutions as I move into an apartment and have to make-shift build up a process to dev, scan and print.
You're welcome! Thank you for watching and be apart of this community! Best of luck and let me know if you have any questions! -chris
Thank you ! These short videos are helpful! )))
Great vid, whoever thumbed down straight wank. I found a 15x15 cheap and it works great. I leave my prints in the press overnight, so I use less heat and then turn the press off after the timer goes, but leave the press down until the next day. Limits how many you can do but they come out great for me. What a beaut!
i love this idea. Thanks for this!
Totally man! Love your channel! Thanks for stopping by!
I think I heard about you through Nick Exposed, I look forward to seeing more videos.
I boutght a huge Seal 200 off ebay for $200 plus $50 shipping. This bad boy is huge and can handle 20x24" prints! I got a tacking iron for $35 off of ebay as well. It just arrived a few days ago and I'm in the process of rebuilding my darkroom, so I can't wait to start mounting my prints on some dry mount tissue and matboard. Living the dream!! ::D
This was dope. I do inkjet printing, but this was cool to see. What would be a dope follow up episode would be how you mount your prints to a backing board and apply the mat. You briefly mentioned it in this clip, but actually seeing the process would be awesome. Thanks again for all of the hard work!
Thanks Frank! And great suggestion! I think making a video on mounting the prints would be great! Stay tuned! -chris
You have any idea what the glue will do in time to your prints?
Great tips Chris. Thanks.
Yes, dry mount presses can be very expensive. Although, keeping an eye out for them on places like CraigsList can pay off. I got a really nice 13"x15" press recently for just $100. There are some good deals on used ones on eBay as well, but shipping can be very pricey.
Thankfully, I bought my dry mount press years ago when "wet" darkrooms were being abandoned, and these items were being treated as heavy, bulky nuisances.Mine's probably more than 50 years old. My only problem with it was that its power draw burned out the household circuit to which it was connected. (Really old house.) A big one is truly a luxury addition to your darkroom.
Sadly it seems I missed the boat on those! Hopefully this will suffice for the time being. I don't dry mount or anything so This will be used solely for flattening prints. Thanks for watching!
Thanks, it was helpful.
Thanks for the tip dude. I picked one up on eBay.
Is it OKay to use digital photography books to flatten fibre based silver prints? lol
Great idea for the press..
Great video.
Hey Jon! Thank you. And no, I've never had any adverse reaction from photo books - digital or otherwise...But just to be safe I used Galen Rowell books hoping that maybe some of his bright colors might gently tone my prints while cooling!
Great tip man
Thank you!!! Thanks for watching!
very helpful video, i've actually recently been trying to find a way to do it without a dry mount press as i can't even find any for sale at all nowadays
That was my problem too. Not to mention you have to find them locally or shipping would be insane!
Keep an eye out on local sites like FBM, OfferUp, or CL. I found a really nice 15x12" Seal press for just $100.
I have dry mount press that works perfectly to straighten my fiber prints but before I but it just a few months ago. Leaving my prints under heavy books worked extremely well. I print almost 100% in the 8x10 size so I don't know how it works with larger prints.
Does it has to be mat board? Will normal thick cardboards do the trick?
Hello, I do not understand how the temperature is measured in this press, could you tell me more or less what temperature is used in degrees centigrade?
Can you heat press a larger paper in sections on a smaller press?
I put my 16 X 20 inch FB prints between two heavy clean panels from a dismantled clothes chest, these have a smooth plastic covering and are flat. Leave the prints overnight. The following day they are ready for framing (use NO GLUE!).
In the old days before resin, we only had what people refer to as fiber paper. To us it wa just photo paper. Dryer face up or down on a print dryer. Down on a mirror surface for gloss with gloss paper and face up with tight canvas for all else. Some prints to this day still have some curve. Better to have a print flat or slightly concave on the back for mounting. Carry on !
Avoid RC papers as the prints are not light fast, the image eventually disintegrates in sunlight. FB papers are preferable, conclude the fixing and washing with selenium toning, which will make your prints archival. The images will then last as long as the paper, that is, several THOUSANDS of years. See also the world renowned Henry Wilhelm lab, The permanence and care of color photographs, with a chapter on B & W photos.
Avoid mounting, as you don't know what the glue will do in time to your prints.
Will your heat press work with mounting FB paper to Dry Mount Tissue ? What are the 2 heat press sides (above and below) made from ? is it steel to steel or is there like a heavy rubber/foam surface. I am thinking of buying like a 16x20 inch for doing Fiber prints... Your thoughts ?
Yeah, i tested it with mounting tissue and it works just fine. The surfaces are stainless steel and work great for mounting photos. Mine is not big enough for any serious mounting but a larger one could work nicely!
GRAIN TV Thanks for the information. I looked at your link and some others on EBay, it’s amazing that a 16x20 is like less than $200, although I’m not sure pressing it onto a backing it still might not fit, but fun to play with it and flatten those finicky FB papers. Thanks for making that video. :)
Nice.
Thanks Gregory!
You can buy the t shirt press in a larger size. I have one that’s 12x15 inches
Just a stupid question: May I know how to correctly use a normal FB paper dryer? FB paper up or down facing the iron plate? Can't find any answer on tube except "how I'm NOT using a standard dryer"...😂
I'm not entirely certain but I've only ever seen them used with the print facing up but if anyone knows definitively please chime in!
I just ordered one of these and the information I can find is that you lay the print face-down onto the chromed surface, squeegee the back, then secure the apron over the backs of the prints while they dry in a few minutes. Supposedly, glossy papers are not truly glossy until you either use one of these styles of dryers - they also come in drums, or you can use an unheated ferrotyping plate and let the print air dry after squeegeeing onto the chrome. As the soft emulsion dries onto the polished surface it becomes smoother than it would when drying normally.
ok now this is over a year old but here we go: For normal dring you face the print emulsion side up and cover it with the cotton cloth. (note that you maybe leave some patterns from the cloth on the print). option number two: you own a sheet of high gloss metal, which is used to give your fiber prints a high gloss finish (not any metal, there are sheets produced for print dryers) then the workflow as follows: first place the metal on the metal surface of the print dryer. second: place the print emulsion side down on the high glos metal foil, close with the cotton cloth again. Hope that helps anyone.
Edit… you of course have to press the picture against the gloss making sure it has overall contact. Otherwise the result could be a mix of glossy and none glossy spots.
Why don't you turn off the press and let your print cool In it?
The main reason i can see is that he does multiple prints at once. While he is cold pressing with the books he's putting a new print in already.
I bought a dry mount press on craigslist/eBay whatever. I dry mount all my RC and fiber prints, for my own strange reasons, on www.lineco.com/lineco-100-rag-gallery-mat-board1.html. (I'm not a commercial photog nor do I sell my stuff.) My work is 11x14. Despite best efforts, the dry mounted print still "curves". Immediately after dry mounting, I place the drymounted print face down on the clean melamine surface of my Ikea bookshelf (the surface is VERY flat). I also place a heavy book on top while the whole thing cools. Its kind of a cr_p shoot if the drymounted print lay flat. Never-the-less, I've noticed that its good to see which way the unheated mat board originally pre-curves before drymounting the print. I then attach the print so that the natural curve of the mat will be opposite of the natural curves of the print: one force counteracting the other. I leave the drymounted print under a book overnight. This approach sort of works and I recommend it. My earlier drymounted prints, where I didn't do the aforementioned counteracting thing, can be kind of curved, such that even re-heating them shortly in the drymount press and cooling under a heavy book does not remove all the curving in the drymounted print. I store all drymounted prints under a heavy book. I live west of Washington, DC, so this is a humid environment. I use A/C in the Summer and Heat in Winter, so humidity is lower as a consequence. Putting a drymounted print in a frame makes curving un-noticeable, naturally. My frustrating curving issues with RC are with my earlier drymounted prints and probably reflect the fact that I did not think about the aforementioned counteracting effect at the time. Some of those prints can have surprisingly stubborn curves, as the drymounted print basically supports the heavy book sitting on top of it, as if the drymounted print acts like a "bridge".
They'll curl back again. The only way to keep them flat is mount them and freme them.