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STEAM , STEAM , STEAM
So this is a question that is in regards to the merits of steaming prints.
We spot first then flatten , then steam, the thinking the steam allows the spotting dye to suck into the emulsion and become invisible.
We also in colour work use **in past** kodak dyes and with heat and soft spot colour tone prints .. then we would steam the prints and the dyes would suck in and be invisible as well.
John Sexton - wrote articles on steaming prints and how the steam will make the glossy fibre print look more luxurious.
Now I have never done this for one reason and one reason only, In Canada the humidity will drop to very low values and I feel the value of the steam will be lost when the humidity drops to very low values.
Ralph, Ian and others thoughts or observations, maybe John himself will chime in.
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I've read John's tips on the subject but have never tried it myself.
Why would you expect the ambient humidity to affect the results though? My understanding of the procedure is you take a dry print and steam it to slightly increase the surface gloss and then it stays that way. I had not considered whether or not low ambient humidity levels might cause this effect to reverse itself. Interesting question. I guess the best thing would be to test it with a scrap print.
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I steam FB prints regularly. I use a hand held clothes steamer to do it. It does raise the moisture level in the print momentarily, but leaves the surface with a nice sheen. Care must be taken not to burn yourself, also to avoid condensation droplets from landing on the surface of the print, as it will soak in and leave spots, and the print will have to be resteamed after drying.
Rick A
Argentum aevum
BTW: the big kid in my avatar is my hero, my son, who proudly serves us in the Navy. "SALUTE"
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
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Bob, the steaming softens and swells the gelatin surface allowing it to re-align. It's not going to reverse in a dry humidity and it would need extremely damp humid conditions to undo it.
It does help with retouching and can make spotting and knifing pretty much invisible. It works with FB & RC papers, B&W and colour.
Ian
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 Originally Posted by Bob Carnie
In Canada the humidity will drop to very low values and I feel the value of the steam will be lost when the humidity drops to very low values.
(Posted from the rainforest on the Wetcoast of Canada)
Bob:
Speak for yourself!
Matt
“Photography is a complex and fluid medium, and its many factors are not applied in simple sequence. Rather, the process may be likened to the art of the juggler in keeping many balls in the air at one time!”
Ansel Adams, from the introduction to The Negative - The New Ansel Adams Photography Series / Book 2
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Very interesting. I had not read about this technique helping with the spotting dyes becoming absorbed into the gelatin.
I shall subscribe to this thread and follow it with interest.
"...the heart and mind are the true lens of the camera".
- Yousuf Karsh
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit".
- Aristotle
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Yes Thomas, we spot before any heat is applied the spotone goes on easier and when pressed and steamed could become invisible.
The heat of a press kind of toughens the emulsion and is harder to spot.
Originally Posted by Thomas Bertilsson
Very interesting. I had not read about this technique helping with the spotting dyes becoming absorbed into the gelatin.
I shall subscribe to this thread and follow it with interest.
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Originally Posted by Ian Grant
It does help with retouching and can make spotting and knifing pretty much invisible. It works with FB & RC papers, B&W and colour.
Ian
Knifing, too? I'll have to try that sometime...
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Originally Posted by PVia
Knifing, too? I'll have to try that sometime...
A tip with knifing is to get a gummed envelope (not the self sealing type) and spot a bit of dissolved gum into the knifed area.
Ian
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FWIW, I have recently done a couple of very non-scientific "tests" of steaming prints. Not for spotting purposes but as I have no access to a dry mount press was for the dreaded "fibre paper flat" routine.
For me, so far, it has been a general success - nothing fancy - just taking my dry "curly edge" prints and holding them in the steam froma kettle; the print folds open as the emulsion expands. When the print settles to flat I pop it between two boards with the other prints and when all are finished this then gets weighted. Flatest prints I have had. Only issues have been when prints are put face to face slightly too "hot/damp" and they stick together.
I haven't noticed a grand "glossifying" of the print surface but neither any detrimental effects, my terms of success were primarily for flatness. May not help the o.p. but maybe of use! My thoughts may change and other users experiences may differ but for now I am a fan of the steam.
Sim2.
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