Digital BW, The Print

Scott,

Air borne acid?  

That may not be technically correct, and I'm not a chemist.  However, my
understanding is that acids are molecules that have, in effect, a loose H+
ion.  That ion travels by latching onto other molecules, with water vapor
being a primary "host"(?).

As a practical matter I've heard it said many times that acids "migrate."
As such, the photos we want to last should not be stored near (even in the
same file cabinet, apparently) acidic materials.

While the acids may not be affecting the image directly (yet), some of the
acidic papers, like EEM, can have very short lives -- much shorter than the
pigments on them.  Wilhelm first noted that EEM was turning yellow in "30
years" in his accelerated age testing.  This was later modified to 110
years, but I don't know why there was a change.  In a high humidity climate,
this paper deterioration could be much faster than the ideal storage
conditions I suspect Wilhelm tests reflect.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 

___________________________________

-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Graham [mailto:gebilwil@...] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 9:58 AM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Acidic Silver Prints? -- Update

I agree.  As soon as I sent the message I remembered that I had one of those
ph pens 
someplace.

Checked an archivally processed fiber based proof sheet from 1970 and indeed
it was 
acid.  The prints from then are still great and were naively mounted on acid
board.  Maybe 
the dry mounting protected them from the board?  I read once that the dry
mount glue 
forms a barrier.

And I have no yellowing at all. Still beautiful.  My recollection is that
yellowing is residual 
fixer???  of course I suppose a myiad of things could cause it.

and air borne?  acid is acid if it gets to where it hurts, whether "soaking
in" or just there 
(i.e. closer).

On the other hand, this all has (may have) nothing to do with inkjet.  The
inks either are or 
are not acid sensitive, independent of what ever silver grains are.

Scott

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@v...> 
wrote:
> 
> >The acid in the old prints probably means that they weren't washed
enough.
> 
> I don't think so.  It was more than one print, they are my prints, and I
was
> rather careful about thorough washing -- Perma-Wash, archival washer, etc.

> 
> I think the problem is air-borne acids from other sources.  This is
> consistent with what RIT has found.  It apparently doesn't take much to
> start an acidic cascade in un-buffered fiber prints.
> 
> There is also a visible yellowing that goes from the edges to the center
of
> the back of the 8x10 that was in the file cabinet.  At the center the
paper
>



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