Digital BW, The Print

Hi,
does anyone know when Moab were supposed to have fixed the flaking problems with Entrada 300?

I've had scarcely a print that has not flaked which is getting very expensive. I wondered if I had old stock.

I had a perfect print, took it into town where a sleeve had been made to the right dimensions and by the time I'd got it there in a box, there were ten white specks in the skies.

Not good. I've had a go at retouching but it's not perfect so I now have to decide whether it's good enough to put in the gallery or not.

thanks,
Richard
--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   " am become death, shatterer of worlds." 
   --Robert J. Oppenheimer (1904-1967) (citing from the Bhagavad 
   Gita, after witnessing the world's first nuclear explosion)

I made some prints last week from a box of Entrada Bright White 300
gsm. I think I bought the box at least a year ago. I got -no- flaking
on any of the prints. I do gently wipe the paper with a soft cotton
pad then brush with a soft bristle brush before I make finished
prints. This only takes about 10 seconds, and I never see any flaking
with either the natural or bright white paper. Sometimes I just use
the brush, and I still don't see any flaking. Maybe environmental
factors like handling or low humidity can increase the possibility for
flaking?? I keep my finished prints in poly envelopes at a relative
humidity of about 50% and haven't had any problems.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard
Smallfield <r.smallfield@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> does anyone know when Moab were supposed to have fixed the flaking
problems with Entrada 300?
> 
> I've had scarcely a print that has not flaked which is getting very
expensive. I wondered if I had old stock.
> 
> I had a perfect print, took it into town where a sleeve had been
made to the right dimensions and by the time I'd got it there in a
box, there were ten white specks in the skies.
> 
> Not good. I've had a go at retouching but it's not perfect so I now
have to decide whether it's good enough to put in the gallery or not.

> 
> thanks,
> Richard
> --
> http://smallfield.vze.com
> http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
> http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
> http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 
> 
>    " am become death, shatterer of worlds." 
>    --Robert J. Oppenheimer (1904-1967) (citing from the Bhagavad 
>    Gita, after witnessing the world's first nuclear explosion)
>

At 05:17 PM Thursday 1/18/2007, you wrote:
>I keep my finished prints in poly envelopes at a relative
>humidity of about 50% and haven't had any problems.

I think that was part of the problem - mine were temporarily unprotected in a box. Never again.

What sort of shop sells an appropriate brush?

thanks,
Richard

--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature
   \ufffd Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
   --Helen Keller

I use one of those cheap 3" bristle "chip" brushes you can find in any
hardware store for about $1.50. This works great on 8-1/2x11 paper. If
you make large prints, a graphics supply shop will carry large brushes
for cleaing architectural drawings and large renderings. These may
cost in the neighborhood of $15-$20.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard
Smallfield <r.smallfield@...> wrote:
>
> At 05:17 PM Thursday 1/18/2007, you wrote:
> >I keep my finished prints in poly envelopes at a relative
> >humidity of about 50% and haven't had any problems.
> 
> I think that was part of the problem - mine were temporarily
unprotected in a box. Never again.
> 
> What sort of shop sells an appropriate brush?
> 
> thanks,
> Richard
> 
> --
> http://smallfield.vze.com
> http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
> http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
> http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 
> 
>    "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature
>    … Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
>    --Helen Keller
>

> What sort of shop sells an appropriate brush?

you can also use a microfibre cloth or one of those yellow ilford ant-
static cloths to wipe it prior to printing

Its important to note that the coating on Entrada has been improved 
(greatly!) in the last year and a half from a more flakey coating to a more flexible 
coating. So if you are getting stock from a small reseller, it might be older, 
and more prone to flaking. They newer stuff is much better about this.

C. David Tobie
Product Technology Manager
ColorVision Business Unit
Datacolor Inc.
CDTobie@...
www.colorvision.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

At 05:52 AM Friday 1/19/2007, you wrote:
>Its important to note that the coating on Entrada has been improved 
>(greatly!) in the last year and a half from a more flakey coating to a more flexible 
>coating. So if you are getting stock from a small reseller, it might be older, 
>and more prone to flaking. They newer stuff is much better about this.

Thanks ... I did two long prints (285 x 800mm) ... both had flaking. Then I wiped it down with a well-laundered cloth and ... the printer had a 'General Error' and stopped mid-print. It's getting ridiculously expensive to produce this one print.

thanks though,
Richard

--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems." 
   --Paul Erdos

At 12:28 PM Friday 1/19/2007, you wrote:

>At 05:52 AM Friday 1/19/2007, you wrote:
>>Its important to note that the coating on Entrada has been improved 
>>(greatly!) in the last year and a half from a more flakey coating to a more flexible 
>>coating. 

Just a thought - Moab have put their prices up and mine was old stock at the old price - could it be that it is the flakier version therefore?

thanks,
Richard

--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "There is only one nature - the division into science and engineering 
   is a human imposition, not a natural one. Indeed, the division is a 
   human failure; it reflects our limited capacity to comprehend the whole."
   --Bill Wulf