Palladium Printing ?

[raytoei@gmail.com]

Hi,

Does Palladium Printing work for the 135 or 120 format ?

Is it a 2 step process ? Enlarge to create a large negative then
"print" it with Palladium ?

sorry if I sound very newbie, just watched the vimeo
video of how to transfer from digital to palladium print,
and i am very curious if it would work for small negatives ?

raytoei

 

[Calzone]

Hi,

Does Palladium Printing work for the 135 or 120 format ?

Is it a 2 step process ? Enlarge to create a large negative then
"print" it with Palladium ?

sorry if I sound very newbie, just watched the vimeo
video of how to transfer from digital to palladium print,
and i am very curious if it would work for small negatives ?

raytoei

Ray,

Contact printing is generally required. I'm figuring out how to do this with Piezography which can give me the digital negative.

Work flow-Monochrom-LR5-Quadtone RIP- Epson 3880- contact print.

With Large Format contact printing is like standard procedure. Basically I'll be doing the enlarging when I make the digital negative. I've seen a Piezography digital negative that was 13x19. WOW.

Cal

 

[rfaspen]

Yes, Pt/Pd process is a POP (Print-Out Process) and is essentially contact printing. I can't afford Pt/Pd (though I'd love to), but I do sometimes make cyanotypes. I do what was suggested above:
1. Expose film in my rangefinder camera -- hopefully a nice shot.
2. Develop film.
3. Scan film.
4. Make a negative image of scanned shot in Photoshop, save as best res TIFF or similar.
5. Print the negative on transparency sheet using a nice photo printer.
6. Coat paper with cyanotype chemistry and let dry.
7. Place negative on coated paper, cover with glass and place in a holder.
8. Expose either outside in the sun, or under a flourescent fixture with UV bulbs.
9. "Process" the print with water and let dry.
10. Marvel at all the work I just did to find that something went wrong along the way. Actually, this works rather well and my biggest problems are with the initial photographing (composition, subject, exposure) or with the exposure time under sunlight (1-10 minutes and varies).

To make Pt/Pd prints, I would just substitute Pt/Pd chemistry for the cyano chemistry in the above process. That's it. Everything else is the same. cyanotypes are nice, but nothing like Pt/Pd. Like many others, I consider the Pt/Pd print to be the ultimate. Ultimate in image quality, ultimate in archival-ness. Just plain beautiful.

Most of us film shooters have all the necessary equipment for the above process, save possibly the decent-quality photo printer. Oh, and the Pt/Pd chemistry that runs at least $50/gram. I tend to route my money toward a nicer lens and settle for cheaper printing options.

 

[Mark T]

I have seen it done with a platinum print before. A 35mm negative was exposed and developed. Then the 35mm negative was put in an enlarger and projected to a 8x10 negative. The 8x10 negative (actually sort of a positive at this point), was contact printed to another negative to make a proper negative. Then the negative 8x10 was contact printed with the platinum. I guess this process should work with palladium too.

 

[Calzone]

To make Pt/Pd prints, I would just substitute Pt/Pd chemistry for the cyano chemistry in the above process. That's it. Everything else is the same. cyanotypes are nice, but nothing like Pt/Pd. Like many others, I consider the Pt/Pd print to be the ultimate. Ultimate in image quality, ultimate in archival-ness. Just plain beautiful.

Most of us film shooters have all the necessary equipment for the above process, save possibly the decent-quality photo printer. Oh, and the Pt/Pd chemistry that runs at least $50/gram. I tend to route my money toward a nicer lens and settle for cheaper printing options.

Another POP method favored by large format shooters is contact printing Kodak AZO which is a silver cloride paper. It has been reported that the tonality rivals a platinum print. AZO has been discontinued, but a replacement seems to exceed the original AZO, but it is mucho expensive.

I like the idea of using large format technics for small and medium format.

Cal

 

[Freakscene]

Another POP method favored by large format shooters is contact printing Kodak AZO

POP processes are ones where the image appears as the sensitized surface is exposed to light, rather than in a developer. Silver chloride contact printing like you would do on AZO is not a POP process - the paper needs developing.

Some palladium and/or platinum processes are POP processes, but others require development.

http://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Eighth_Metal.html
http://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Platino-Palladiotype.html

Marty

 

[Calzone]

POP processes are ones where the image appears as the sensitized surface is exposed to light, rather than in a developer. Silver chloride contact printing like you would do on AZO is not a POP process - the paper needs developing.

Some palladium and/or platinum processes are POP processes, but others require development.

http://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Eighth_Metal.html
http://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Platino-Palladiotype.html

Marty

Marty,

Thanks for the correction. I've been reading "The Keepers Of Light" and doing a lot of research on alternative processes. Been learning a lot, but with saturated learning comes confusion.

Yesterday I stumbled into an article where a water bath is used along with the developer to get a contrast compensating effect. This can be useful because currently only Grades 2 and 3 are available and with printing on number 3 and using a water bath effectively a grade 2 1/2 is possible.

Cal

 

[1joel1]

I've only ever done 8x10 and 12x20 contact printing. I haven't tried printing out a negative and printing from that, but I hear it is getting better all the time (like the Beatles). Would love to try it again one day.

Joel

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

thanks for responses.
i can't help but think there would be a loss of
quality when a 135 format is printed on a
transparency with an inkjet and contact printed.

 

[Jan Pedersen]

I believe you can still get a good result if your 35mm negative is perfect and sharp.
Platinum prints loose a little in sharpness even contact printed with an in camera negative due to the paper surface and the coating.
The advantage of using a scanned negative or a digital capture to inkjet negative is the many possibilities you have to increase and taylor the contrast just right
Platinum/Palladium printing needs a more contrasty negative than a silver gelatin paper.

 

[charjohncarter]

This is great, I'll have to read on this.

 

[Jan Pedersen]

It's a bit expensive in chemistry to get started and you will also need a UV exposure unit but they can be build fairly easy.
If you decide to go full bore, look at your local craigslist for UV exposure units such as the Nuarc 26-1K or 1KS they can be had cheap with patience.