dring prints with blotter book

foon

foon

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Well I just got a blotter book to dry my prints, but I found the prints are sticking to the wax paper and leave mark on the print as I peel them off. :bang:

Did I do anything wrong? Should I put the emlusion side away from the wax paper? That really annoys me because I cannot get rid of those marks....
 
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I use these also, but I put the emulsion side to the thicker part, not the wax paper. Make sure the prints aren't dripping wet though. I get the bulk of the excess water off before putting them in there. I will put the back side on the thick part and blot off the extra water, then flip it over, close it and let sit.

One problem I've run into is some of the fiber from the blotter book paper will dry onto the emulsion. The only way I've solved that is to use some emulsion cleaner and give it a final wipe-down.

They are pretty handy for right now since I print at the college darkroom and I don't have to wait for everything to dry. More actual printing time!
 
tried that. Doesn't work very well. At least, not in my experience. I used a real good blotter book, bought for that purpose, and tried dring glossy 8x10s and 5x7s and failed miserably. I had to re-print the pics.
 
Well, when I was doing wet printing, I used a blotter book with some success. But as Chris said, you need to get as much water out of the prints first as possible. Definitely squeegee, and try to get at least 10 minutes on the drying screen if you can. Then place them in the book, emulsion side towards the paper, not the wax.

allan
 
By the way, the ones I use are the Adorama house brand. They seem to work very well minus the forementioned issue, with pearl RC 11x14.
 
thanks guys,
I'm probably going to give up on this thing...like shutterflower said, I think the result is too miserable
Just now I wet the blotter book and managed to save the prints from the marks, and dried them on a window thing.. it looks real curly!
I put them between a book and put most of the heavy stuff over it
I'll see what they are gonna be like tomorrow morning................... I hope they will straighten up a bit..
 
I have to admit, I did not squeegee the pics before putting them in the book. I just shook them off. I was young and stupid. That was years ago. I've grown.
 
shutterflower said:
I have to admit, I did not squeegee the pics before putting them in the book. I just shook them off. I was young and stupid. That was years ago. I've grown.
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I have squeegee them before putting in the book, but that didn't help much

maybe I will sacrifice another print squeeqeed and dried for a while in the blotter book next time and see how that works
because it'd be hard to find room to lay all the prints on the rack..
 
Hmmmm. I used to use a Kodak blotter roll -- are they still made? You'd put the prints in, roll them up, and they'd dry with a slight (and desirable) reverse curl. Never had any sticking problems. Is this solution still out there in any form?

Gene
 
I have never known anyone who used blotters. Sounds like they cause a lot of trouble. Why not just use plastic screens? I guess they may take a little more space, but they are simple and fool proof.
 
For me, blotter books are a great way to be mobile with wet prints. I currently use a darkroom at college and don't like to leave prints hanging in there for chemistry to be splashed on, etc. Also, I like to be able to head home shortly after I'm done printing instead of waiting for everything to dry. I'm going to start using my newly built darkroom in my loft here in a week or two and then I won't have use for the blotter books anymore.
 
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