Digital interpositives

[gwatson]

Hi all

I'd like to run something by you before I waste time and money on a hopeless pursuit.

I want to enlarge 5x4 negs. Ideally I would do this by creating dig negs, but my old HP printer is just not laying down enough density (and a new printer is not currently an option). So, what if I produce a digital positive print on OHP and use this to contact print to a 10x8 sheet and counteract the lack of density in the dev stage? Does anyone know if this will work?

The dig neg (or poss) does not have enough UV density from which to print directly, but does that mean that it won't inhibit light of other wavelengths with more success?

If anyone has any ideas on how I can avoid the whole interposs/interneg deal, I wil be eternally grateful.

Many thanks

Geoff

[Kerik]

Are you printing your negs grayscale? If so, you can pick up considerable UV density by colorizing the negative. With my printer and inks, a greenish color similar to a pyro-processed film neg works well.

[gwatson]

Hi Kerik

Thanks for the response.

I have tried the whole gamut, and I have found green does provide the best UV density, however, just not enough. I have spent the last couple of months testing argyrotype and this is soooo soft with no really effective chemical intensifier. I have tried more sulfamate, but it's a poor deal really. I could probably get away with a dig neg for other processes, but argyrotype seems particularly fussy.

(BTW: I have found that a P55 redeved in pyro makes a remarkable neg for this process.)

Many thanks

Geoff

[donbga]

Hi all

I'd like to run something by you before I waste time and money on a hopeless pursuit.

I want to enlarge 5x4 negs. Ideally I would do this by creating dig negs, but my old HP printer is just not laying down enough density (and a new printer is not currently an option). So, what if I produce a digital positive print on OHP and use this to contact print to a 10x8 sheet and counteract the lack of density in the dev stage? Does anyone know if this will work?

The dig neg (or poss) does not have enough UV density from which to print directly, but does that mean that it won't inhibit light of other wavelengths with more success?

If anyone has any ideas on how I can avoid the whole interposs/interneg deal, I wil be eternally grateful.

Many thanks

Geoff

At sometime in the past Sandy King and David Harris suggested the idea of adding a fill layer using black ink using specific blending parameters. Searh the Gray Area Forum for their posts on this techniques.

[rwyoung]

You may have already tried this, but how about printing two copies of the negative and registering them together before printing.

[sanking]

At sometime in the past Sandy King and David Harris suggested the idea of adding a fill layer using black ink using specific blending parameters. Searh the Gray Area Forum for their posts on this techniques.

I actually created a blend-a-black layer that allowed adding black toi the basic emerald green color to get more UV transmission density when working with the Epson 2200. Wht I found was that you get maximum transmission density with green and that gives a DR of about 1.8, fine for carbon and palladium, but a bit low for processes like albumen, salted pape and VDB. With the 2200 the black inks actually produce a lot more UV transmisison denisty than spectral density negatives.

However, I doubt this would work with the HP printer in question because you don't get enough UV transmission density even with the black inks. I have tested several Canon and HP printers and none of them produce enough density for UV processes.

Sandy

[gwatson]

Don, Sandy: Many thanks for your time. I have tried various things; not the blended layer, of course, and have had similar results. I think I'm going to give up on the dig negs until I have the appropriate hardware. However, if I'm going down the interpos/interneg route, I will certainly try the dig interpos. I doubt it will work, but maybe if I can get enough detail into the interpos, I might be able to correct overall contrast and density during the deving of the interpos and interneg. We'll see.

Thanks RWY. To be honest, I have not tried. Registration may be tricky, but I use a point source which I guess is a plus, so I've nothing to lose, I guess.

Thanks again.

Geoff