Digital Negatives for AZO

[fhovie]

I am not sure if this is in the archives or not so I'll just ask. The 8x10 camera is on the way - along with a lens, film and all that good stuff.

I have not yet given up hope that a decent negative can be made with an Epson 1280 and OHP Pictorico film and Photoshop. I have had some success making kalitypes and cyanotypes with the digi magic bullet but for AZO there is never enough density. I have Dan Burkholder's disk and tried unsuccessfully with white film. It seems it ought to be less difficult than this. Although I look forward to In-Camera Negs - I still want to backpack with a camera and would like to make AZO prints - as well as Kalitypes and Cyanotypes.

[bmac]

I havent even come close to a proper curve for AZO. Regular silver prints with the White film / 2200 / berger paper in dektol look pretty darn good, but no luck with AZO yet. Same problem as you have stated. Not enough density.

Brian

[Michael A. Smith]

Someone who took one of our workshops is making 8x10 negatives, digitizing them, and using the digital negatives to make prints on Azo. he said it took him a couple of tries to get the curves right, but now that he has, he feels he is making the best prints he ever made. His last comment, " I spent the day in the darkroom yesterday and am finally getting prints that are exceeding my expectations."

He has agreed to write up, as an article, what he is doing including the curves he has used. I have not seen the article, but it may be on the way now. It will be posted under "Writings about Azo: in the "Azo" section at www.michaelandpaula.com.

[glbeas]

I am not sure if this is in the archives or not so I'll just ask. The 8x10 camera is on the way - along with a lens, film and all that good stuff.

I have not yet given up hope that a decent negative can be made with an Epson 1280 and OHP Pictorico film and Photoshop. I have had some success making kalitypes and cyanotypes with the digi magic bullet but for AZO there is never enough density. I have Dan Burkholder's disk and tried unsuccessfully with white film. It seems it ought to be less difficult than this. Although I look forward to In-Camera Negs - I still want to backpack with a camera and would like to make AZO prints - as well as Kalitypes and Cyanotypes.

Is that Pictorio film clear enough to use a second sheet with only highlight density enhancements printed on it and registered to the first? May be the only way to get the density using those materials.

[sanking]

Michael,

Is the person you mention making digital negatives for AZO working with inkjet negatives or is he having them printed with an imagesetter by a service bureau? If they are being made with an inkhet printer I would love to hear what you think of the image quality, both in terms of tonal quality and apparent sharpness

I have been making digital inkjet negatives for almost two years with Epson 2000P for printing in carbon, kallitype and palladium. With kallitype and carbon I see no difference in image quality between my in-camera negatives and the digital ones, since the texture of the art and drawing papers we use with these processes is the limiting factor in final print resolution. However, with carbon printing, when I put the final image on smooth surface papers. I believe there is some slight loss of final image quality with the digital negatives compared to in-camera ones.

[Michael A. Smith]

He is making inkjet nagatives. Will let you know what I think of the quality once I see them.

[sanking]

Is that Pictorio film clear enough to use a second sheet with only highlight density enhancements printed on it and registered to the first? May be the only way to get the density using those materials.

If you have the Epson 2000P or 2200 (or another of the Epson printers that use pigmented inks) you can get plenty of density on Pictorico for AZO and Pt/Pd printing. The 1280 is another matter. I don't know of anyone who has been abole to get enough densisty with this printer on any clear substrate using the black inks. However, you can get enough UV printing density for Pt/Pd with the 1280 by making what are known as spectral negatives , i.e. you use a color that blocks UV radiation more effectively than the black inks. What some have found is that green works best for this printer for spectral negatives, even though I think that Burkholder recommends orange or orange/magenta. In theory orange should block UV light more effectively than green but in practice this does appear to be the case.

[kudzma]

I very recently began investigating inkjet negs for Pd/Pt. I’ve rapidly found that the dye based black or red ink for my Canon i960 does not give near enough UV blocking to give sufficient negative contrast. Highlights fog much too rapidly. I think Pictorico film is clear enough to use a second sheet with highlight density enhancements registered to the first, but good registration could be problematic.

Sandy King has stated above and elsewhere that he gets excellent results with his inkjet negs. Unfortunately, I have yet to personally see one of Sandy’s inkjet neg Kallitypes, but I don’t doubt this assessment. However, the key is that he uses Epson pigment-based inks. Apparently, this is absolutely required to get the proper density. Regarding pigment inks, I may be out in the cold with my Canon printer.

[sanking]

[quote="kudzma"]I very recently began investigating inkjet negs for Pd/Pt. I’ve rapidly found that the dye based black or red ink for my Canon i960 does not give near enough UV blocking to give sufficient negative contrast.

Before throwing in the towel you might try the green ink. I know for a fact that with several of the Epson printers green blocks more UV light than orange or black.

[GreyWolf]

Sandy wrote:

If you have the Epson 2000P or 2200 (or another of the Epson printers that use pigmented inks) you can get plenty of density on Pictorico for AZO and Pt/Pd printing

What some have found is that green works best for this printer for spectral negatives, even though I think that Burkholder recommends orange or orange/magenta

I have the 2200 but have yet to even begin attempting to make a digital negative. Of course I am deeply interested in doing this as I would like to use my 4x5 camera for shooting but wish to do much larger contact printing.

I would like to ask you Sandy ... Do you use the green pigment ink quite extensively when you make digital negatives? Would you recommend that an Epson 2200 owner start from the beginning by using the green ink? Should a beginner attempt to cultivate curves to match the printing process with the green ink for the type of negative desired? (i.e. pt/pd, kallitype, cyanotype)

Thanks