Treating Paper for Platinum / Palladium and other Alternative Photographic Processes

[@boarini2003]

That comparison at the end is truly stunning.

[@hkanderful]

Thank you for your great videos on the old processes. I am new into this and I am enjoying every bit of it. Love the old way of making great prints. Started photographing in the mid 70´s and have a lot of darkroom experience. Making digital negatives and then do both Cyanotype and Van Dyke is just a great fun! Keep those videos coming.... All the best from Norway!

[@mikecastles]

Excellent tutorial Bill, and great illustration of what the buffers can do with untreated paper.

[@BillSchwab]

Thank you, Mike!

[@dougschwab]

Hi Bill, I started treating paper occasionally when Ron Reeder (RIP) advised it, years ago. One interesting thing he added was 5% glycerin, which helps hold humidity in the paper. Very useful in dry winter months when indoor heating sends the humidity down to 30% in my work area.I always loved BFK for drawing and now I'm eager to give it a go with palladium. Thanks for the info.

[@BillSchwab]

Hi Doug! Great suggestion from Ron. Thanks for sharing. I'[ll put it on my list of things to try.

[@stealthvanlife6867]

Another excellent video Bill. Great job. I would love to see a video on how to dry mount a Platinum print properly.

[@BillSchwab]

Well.. that answer is easy. I never dry mount platinum or any handmade prints. I gave that up long ago as I don't like to commit a print to a piece of mount board. There are buffered mounts that are removable, but that only gets them off the board. It will damage the print to try to remove it from there. Believe me... I've tried. It's more acceptable to mount them like documents... corner mounts, rice tape or mounting strips. You give me a great idea for a segment on mounting the work. Lots to get to! I hope this helps! Thank you!

[@stealthvanlife6867]

@@BillSchwab Hi Bill, thanks for the thoughtful reply. Yes, mounting the Platinum prints is a really key point that so many overlook. I have been trying out different methods and havent found anything that I really like yet. Looking forward to your video on this topic.

[@jjualvare]

Great video, I learned so much from your videos. Can't wait to someday attend one of your workshops.

[@BillSchwab]

Juan ... Happy to have been helpful!

[@emirobinson3753]

HI. I love your video! I have a question. I dont have enough space to develop and clean the images. If it is possible to expose the negatives, and bring 10 of them bringing to the dark room to develop and clean?

[@BillSchwab]

You can expose them and put them into a dark safe box until you get them to the dark room. It should work as long as you don’t leave too much time. After a day or so, they might start to show some fogging. Thank you! I’m glad you like the videos.

[@chrislandon1467]

Bill - thanks so much for this video. I plan to treat some BFK Rives for gum over platinum prints. I have always enjoyed printing gum on this paper but only recently learned platinum. If you were to treat for this process combo , I assume you would preshrink the paper in water first before treating it (preshrinking of course to avoid registration pitfalls later)?

[@BillSchwab]

I’m sorry, Chris. I just got this message and didn’t notice it before. I do preshrink the paper when I’m treating. This is for doing any kind of overlays. What I do is start with hot water in the treatment phase. Takes care of two birds with one stone. Thank you for watching!

[@chrislandon1467]

@@BillSchwab no problem Bill. Thanks for the helpful tips!

[@davidkachel]

Bill Schwab, what you made is a 3% solution, not a 30% solution. A 30% solution means 30 grams per 100 ml. So a 30% solution would require 300g not 30g, in a liter of water (10X).

[@BillSchwab]

Yes. Caught the mistake a long time ago if you read the description. Thank you.

[@mattmarks2526]

Have you tried sulfamic acid to treat the paper? It's inexpensive, has a low Ph (somewhere around 2 I think), but is fairly gentle on the paper fibers, is less toxic than oxalic acid, and washes out easily. Its pretty easy to find too - Walmart and most hardware stores carry it as tile and grout cleaner. Just check the label because some use different cleaning agents. The brand I use to treat paper for Cyanotypes is called Aqua Mix.

[@BillSchwab]

I have and it doesn’t work so well with Palladium for some reason. Side-by-side test are much better with the oxalic. You also need less oxalic than you do sulfamic to get similar results.

[@mattmarks2526]

@@BillSchwab - That's interesting. I have not made any Palladium prints (yet) - I've only tried it with cyanotypes and its fantastic (or at least better than vinegar or dilute Hydrochloric acid.) Yes, I do use more - I use a 7% (w/v) solution for about 20 minutes. Maybe it's too acidic, or maybe the oxalate washes out better. I have to think back to HS chemistry (thanks, Mr. Savino! lol.) When I "graduate" to Palladium, I'll remember that.

[@raymondtan2415]

Don't you need to wash the acid off before drying and using?

[@lhuhnphotography]

Thanks Bill! I have always used unbuffered paper, so I have never had to do this treatment. It was good to see a demonstration. You mentioned that you would talk more about selecting the “print” side of paper but I must have missed that part. The other paper issue I have run into with platinum printing is unsized paper. In the past I only used Bergger COT 320 but then started having issues because they changed the sizing or something. It would be good to know how to treat the unsized paper for platinum printing. I am enjoying your videos.

[@BillSchwab]

Hi Larry .Thanks and thanks for mentioning that. I mentioned briefly in the video about the curl of the paper when dry. The side that curls away is the printing or non-mould side. You can best tell by viewing the paper's watermark. Right reading side is the printing side. Also, if you look with a loupe or magnifying glass, you will see a fine screen pattern on the non printing side. Thanks again!

[@fotorat]

Is 30grams into 1000ml not a 3% solution?

[@BillSchwab]

Yes. It is. Here's a good calculator you can use... www.ou.edu/research/electron/bmz5364/calc-percent.html

[@fotorat]

@@BillSchwab In the video you call it a 30% solution but it is a 3% solution. Correct?

[@BillSchwab]

fotorat Yes… Thank you for pointing that out. I hadn’t noticed. Good catch. However, when I first mentioned oxalic in the video, I do use the correct percentage. It’s written into the description for the video as well.

[@fotorat]

@@BillSchwab Excellent. Love your videos..Subscribed.

[@ShaneB666]

Just pointing out , even in the write up you say 3% but write 30 g into 100 ml which is 30%.