Printing Question...

[Michael Hiles]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Is there a printing approach that prints a digital file onto light sensitive paper at the low volume/amateur level?

 

I am aware of the Durst Lambda system that exposes light sensitive paper using a laser technology, but that is commercial level only.

 

I do almost exclusively B&W, and I like the idea of mounting and framing a sliver gelatin print. So far, that seems to be limited to exposure under an enlarger. That's fine, but I wonder if anyone has developed a digital file-to-silver paper process that is reasonably priced?

 

This would make the M Monochrom really attractive...

 

Anyone know anything?

[250swb]

Fotospeed make a digital contact film that can be used in an inkjet printer to make a negative. You would then sandwich it between glass and silver gelatin paper and expose to light. I don't know what the quality of the negative is like using the film, if the resolution is maintained, but you would be making a very large negative, so I don't see why it wouldn't be OK.

 

Steve

[Rolo]

Odyssey, the company that markets the De Vere enlargers have exactly what you need in terms of product, but not for a price you'd be comfortable with, I suspect.

 

It's a hi-tech piece of gear that takes the file from your computer and projects it onto the base board.

[Michael Hiles]

Thanks Steve. I have heard of this approach connected to making platinum/palladium prints from digital or scanned 35mm. I had forgotten about it, nut I have no realistic interest in platinum/palladium. I understand that it works in that context, so why not for sliver paper...

[erl]

Odyssey, the company that markets the De Vere enlargers have exactly what you need in terms of product, but not for a price you'd be comfortable with, I suspect.

 

It's a hi-tech piece of gear that takes the file from your computer and projects it onto the base board.

 

I investigated that years ago. You are right, the price is not what you want to talk about!

[dave_d]

Is there a printing approach that prints a digital file onto light sensitive paper at the low volume/amateur level?

 

I am aware of the Durst Lambda system that exposes light sensitive paper using a laser technology, but that is commercial level only.

 

I do almost exclusively B&W, and I like the idea of mounting and framing a sliver gelatin print. So far, that seems to be limited to exposure under an enlarger. That's fine, but I wonder if anyone has developed a digital file-to-silver paper process that is reasonably priced?

 

This would make the M Monochrom really attractive...

 

Anyone know anything?

 

What do you consider a reasonable price?

 

Here are two labs that can print on photographic light sensitive paper:

 

Digital prints on fiber base paper: Printmakers of Fine Art True B&W Photographs & Giclee Prints From Negatives Or Digital Files

 

A cheaper alternative is to have B&W prints made on color paper. I use this lab and they do a great job for a reasonable price. Their B&W prints are neutral but they don't look like a fiber based print. You can even get prints on Kodak's Metalic paper for a unique look. TopFlight Professional Lab

 

There are also inkjet papers now that look like fiber based silver paper. With a knowledgeable lab and a good printer it is hard to tell the difference form a silver fiber print unless you compare side by side.

[ismon]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Yes, there is an enlarger made by De Vere which projects a digital negative.

[Michael Hiles]

Thanks Dave - the Dalmatian site is very interesting.

[Michael Hiles]

Yes, there is an enlarger made by De Vere which projects a digital negative.

 

Yes, they have an enlarger that does this. They also have a unit that adapts to some other enlargers as a "head", which is probably cheaper. But there is no price list that I can see, and I suspect that it would all be too rich for me.

[honcho]

The only viable route would be to make contact prints onto enlarging paper from inverted (negative) inkjet prints on acetate foil. Don't expect comparable quality to good inkjet or analogue prints. I think you would quickly become bored with such a heath-Robinson process. You would have to make inkjet prints anyway, so why introduce another stage for the final output? It simply doesn't make sense, you may as well avoid the darkroom completely and perfect your inkjet printing workflow. If that isn't acceptable, avoid the M9M, computers and inkjets and use film in the darkroom!

 

A very expensive DeVere 504 would only make sense if you have identified and can acquire a niche market for fine art silver prints that would support the outlay, but you won't.

 

If you are considering an M9M, what's wrong with inkjets? With care and good profiling, your finished prints will be better quality than your darkroom prints. However, if darkroom printing is your main interest/criteria, then film is the obvious route to take.

[pico]

You might enjoy this wealth of information from Dan Burkholder.

 

honcho: The only viable route would be to make contact prints onto enlarging paper from inverted (negative) inkjet prints on acetate foil.

 

Another method is to have an imagesetter negative made. Once you get into stochastic processes, the allure is profound. It might be hard to believe, but an imagesetter negative is a dot-pattern, a very fine one suitable for very good contact prints.

[honcho]

You might enjoy this wealth of information from Dan Burkholder.

 

 

 

Another method is to have an imagesetter negative made. Once you get into stochastic processes, the allure is profound. It might be hard to believe, but an imagesetter negative is a dot-pattern, a very fine one suitable for very good contact prints.

 

You would be hard-pushed to even find a repro bureau, let alone one with an operating imagesetter these days. Most artwork is prepared in-house for print direct to plate. Even if you did find a repro bureau capable and willing, it would be a very expensive way to obtain a lith negative.

 

Halftone and stochastic screening are not continuous tone processes. Not that that is in itself a bad thing, but it would be tedious and expensive as a sole means of producing prints.

[pico]

You would be hard-pushed to even find a repro bureau, let alone one with an operating imagesetter these days. [...]

 

Not where I live. I realize that is difficult to fathom that because I live in what some call a one-horse town, but there are advantages to living in a rural area full of craftsmen all up and down the Mississippi River. On the other hand, we have no CPT here. I understand that I am enthusiastic about a process that exists and am not looking at what I do not have.

 

Halftone and stochastic screening are not continuous tone processes. Not that that is in itself a bad thing, but it would be tedious and expensive as a sole means of producing prints.

 

Tedious? Quite. It requires collaboration with the image expert, but fine quality is not to be pumped out in an instant with a desktop printer. IMHO.

 

I hope I made it clear that imagesetting is not continuous tone, and that's why I mentioned stochastic processes because it creates something other than the traditional half-tone; regardless, once you see the outcome of, for example, an 8x10" contact print you cannot tell. The negatives out-resolve the human eye by hundreds of times.

 

Oh, and contact-printing an imageset-made negative is very easy, making paper selection a joy. Just get the image right before making the negative. There are no do-overs with 'half tones' (stochastic half-tone). A general limit to the size of the negative is an issue, but our camera does 24" negatives (as do most).

[dave_d]

You can have a 35mm negative made of your digital file and make wet prints from that. This would be fun to try at least once.

35mm Digital Negatives

[pico]

You can have a 35mm negative made of your digital file and make wet prints from that. This would be fun to try at least once.

35mm Digital Negatives

 

It might be amusing to try the service, but their FAQ is largely baloney.

.

[Michael Hiles]

I have been using film and making silver prints since before the revolution. I like and prefer silver prints. I was interested whether there is a practical process to take a digital file and make a silver print myself. Clearly there is not. So if I still want a silver print, it sounds like I should stick with film and my darkroom. In fact I find that it still works very well indeed.

 

But thanks to everyone for the great information and discussion.