Digital BW, The Print

What about making up an 18% (or whatever tone) gray page, and sending-through 
the previously-printed page a second time, over-printing the gray page with your 
"GLOP?"

Speaking of coatings, I've tried just about everything that comes in a spray can 
to boost D-max on matte paper. Nothing did it. However, going back to a thread 
like this of about a year ago, I bought a gallon of Hydrocote Polyshield Satin 
and applied it with a brush to PhotoRag 308. It dropped the shadows down at 
least a stop, increased color saturation, and barely touched paper whites. It 
also left some brush strokes and some tiny "fish eyes." Probably, with 
"painterly" subjects, especially on canvas or similarly-textured paper, it would 
be acceptable. Recently, I diluted it with water to about 1:3, and applied it 
with an ultra-smooth, short, "detail" paint roller. No matter how slowly I 
rolled, some foam appeared in the roller's wake, but for some reason it 
disappeared as it dried, leaving a blemish-free semi-matte surface, with all the 
previous benefits. A few hours later, I applied a second coat. The second 
application was much easier, but all it did was bring the semi-matte up to a 
semi-gloss, or "satin." The coating is super tough and waterproof. I 
single-coated the back of my test print, and then chopped it into squarish 
coasters, and put a few under the cat's food and water dishes, as well as under 
several hot cups of tea, and a cold ale or two. No problems, although I presume 
that eventually liquid would seep into the paper sandwich from the edges.


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