VDB - a happy accident

[Michael Slade]

I found a piece of sensitized VDB paper that was underneath another print that was printed on my Epson 4000 inkjet printer. I do not know how long the sensitized VDB paper was below this other print, but my guess is months. My basement is unfinished and I have a stack of large prints and maps in the corner, somehow this sensitized paper got left under this print.

Long story short...I'm looking for some maps, and out slides this paper that has a latent image on it that I can faintly see. I'm kind of surprized, the only light in the basement comes from large uncovered window wells, and a few 100 watt lightbulbs that are off most of the time.

Anyhow, I developed the print, and it got me to thinking about making negatives.

Has anyone made digital negatives with regular printing paper? I know that there is a lot of density that would be added, and clearly there would be some paper fiber texture added, but there could be potentially some smooth paper printed on a resin substrate that might work.

The print that was on top of the VDB print was Epson proofing semimatte paper. The paper is relatively thin, has a very slight texture to the surface and clearly worked to some degree with this little happy accident.

Anyone messed around with this before? I have absolutely no idea how long the exposure was, but it's about 2-3 stops underexposed. Maybe 6 months exposure would be better.

[Jordan]

It's hard to know... but I'm reminded of the technique of using "paper negatives" in home-made pinhole cameras, etc. After processing and drying, they're meant to be contact printed face-to-face on a fresh sheet of paper.

I seem to remember reading that the recommended type of paper for this was RC glossy (with no printing on the back).