Digital BW, The Print

This is interesting and I might try it a couple of times. But as a father of three young kids 
I'm wondering if it's even worth the time? Fact is, i don't do any dry mounting. My prints 
are mostly filed in Itoya Art Portfolio folders and/or framed in a very simplistic fashion 
using some nice Light Impressions matte and Nielsen black aluminum frames.

This about all I have time for so I need a convenient workflow that yields above average 
results.

As I slowly learn more about inkjet printing w/ the new 2400 I will experiment with 
different papers. For now,  I'm getting what I'd consider to be good, archival prints w/ Red 
River Aurora Art paper.

Now the color that my wife insists on is really kicking my butt and the results aren't nearly 
so predictable.

Thanks for sharing your trick. In the meantime, I set two test prints in the window seal. 
One on EEM and the other on Aurora Art.





--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Laurence Campbell 
<basecamp@...> wrote:
>
>    For people who use pigment inks (i.e., waterproof) there is a sort of 
> funky way to de-acidify EEM which actually works like a charm.  Namely, 
> after printing the image immerse the paper in a solution of water and 
> baking soda.  The exact concentration of sodium bicarbonate is not 
> critical - a teaspoon of Arm & Hammer baking soda per gallon of water 
> will do nicely.  (For non-cooks this benign chemical can be found in 
> the baking supplies section of the supermarket.) The immersion time and 
> the temperature of the water are not critical, either.  One minute at 
> room temperature is fine.
> 
>    The trickiest part, and even this is not difficult, is carefully 
> removing the paper from the water so it does not tear - EEM does not 
> have the wet strength of silver gelatin photo papers.  The larger the 
> paper the more care is needed.  8x10 sheets can be hung on a line to 
> dry. 13x19 sheets are better put on a drying screen. Blotting them is a 
> good idea if you have blotting paper.
> 
>    The dried paper will have some waviness but not nearly as much curl 
> as air-dried fiber-based silver gelatin paper. This is the reason to 
> de-acidify last - it's probably not a good idea to run wavy paper 
> through your printer.  If you hot mount the print the waviness gets 
> flattened, of course.  I expected a residue of white baking soda on the 
> print but none is visible.  In any case you can give the surface a 
> clean water rinse before drying to avoid residue. To verify that you 
> are causing no harm dip and dry half a test print and compare.
> 
>    After this process the Light Impressions ph testing pen on EEM 
> (front, back, and core) shows not merely blue, meaning no acid, but a 
> brilliant blue characteristic of highly buffered paper.
> 
>     Loren Cambello
>