Platinum

Palladium Printing (PMA 385) Technical Supplement Edward Stapel Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing 1. Any method or format will work for making digital negatives as long as you make sure that your image will give you 300ppi at desired image size. Keep this in mind when processing your files, using a scanner, etc. 2. If your image is in color, desaturate it to grayscale or apply a B&W filter (or convert it to grayscale - but this sometimes throws away useful data). 3. Alter your image as you like. 4. Adjust curves to give you an image with punchy contrast. In Zone System parlance, this would be equivalent to a normal exposure with N+1 development. Basically, you want beefier midtones and some extra contrast in the highlights. You may prefer to load the platinum/palladium curve provided for your use (these curves are not fool-proof you may want to perform further tweaking). 5. SAVE your image at this point to keep all of your layer information. 6. Flatten your image 7. Go to Image > Rotate Canvas > Flip Horizontal. This will flip your image so that when you print it emulsion to emulsion it will come out oriented properly. 8. Then go to Image > Adjustments > Invert (or Apple+I). This will invert your positive to a negative. 9. SAVE this negative version of your image as well. Save you files to a flash drive, CD, etc. and then print it out onto transparency material. Pictorico OHP is recommended and can be on any nice inkjet printer (with the appropriate profile or preset). For a grittier looking image, you can also take your files to a copy shop and have them printed onto transparency material (Staples or Kinkos, etc.). OR print out a nice, clean print onto paper, head to a Xerox machine, and make copies onto transparency material. 10. Take care of your outputted materials - store them in plastic sleeves. Covering the emulsion side with a piece of plain paper is also a good idea. These materials are quite delicate and can get dings, creases, and half-moons in them very easily. Remember, these are negatives, and you should treat them carefully.

Platinum Palladium Printing Procedures Edward Stapel Mixing and coating emulsions: The chemicals used to make your Platinum/Palladium print come pre-mixed. You will use a combination of 4 solutions to make your emulsion: Sensitizer #1 (1), Sensitizer #2(2), Platinum #3(Pt), and Palladium #4(Pd). These solutions are measured in drops using a specific TOTAL number of drops for a given print size with a slightly higher number of drops of metals (Pt and Pd) than sensitizers (1and 2). For certain papers 1 drop of End Run will be added to the mixture. Contrast can be controlled by adjusting the ratio of 1 and 2 within the overall total number of drops: more 1 and less 2 DECREASES contrast and more 2 and less 1 INCREASES contrast. Be aware that increasing the ratio of 2 will result in a slower emulsion (longer exposure time) AND using too much 2 in your emulsion can result in a grainy appearance. When mixing your emulsion, use a combination of platinum and palladium to take advantage of palladiums speed and platinums depth. Your metal ratio should be a MAJORITY of palladium with a touch of platinum. PLEASE CONSERVE PLATINUM. Excessive use of platinum is wasteful and increasing its amount in your emulsion will result in a slower emulsion (longer exposure time). Please refer to the Drop Chart below for suggested emulsion mixtures. Pour you emulsion mixture onto your paper and quickly spread the liquid around with a hake brush, synthetic sable brush, or puddle pusher. Let your coated paper air dry or dry it with a hair dryer, put in a contact printer with your negative and expose. Development, clearing, and washing prints: There are a variety of developers and clearing agents that can be used for making Platinum/Palladium prints. We will be using Ammonium Citrate as our developer and EDTA as our clearing bath. Developer is pre-mixed and is used straight. Clearing bath is 1 TBS of EDTA per quart of water. After coating and exposure your print is very vulnerable. Any water or other substance that comes into contact with your emulsion will dissolve that area, resulting in a blotchy print.

1. Place exposed print in clean, dry tray. Quickly and evenly pour developer over print development is complete after 20 seconds or so. After development, carefully pour developer back into its pitcher 2. Prints are to be cleared by pouring clearing bath into the tray over the print. Prints are to be cleared in 3 successive baths of clearing agent 5 minutes each. 3. Wash prints for 15 minutes and lay on screen to dry. **

** If you are using Canson Vidalon Vellum or Bienfang 360 you should set up your own wash tray and monitor the print as it washes. These papers are very delicate and can get crumple, ripped, or creased in the wash if left unattended. Also, these papers tend to curl when they dry. If they dont want to flatten out properly, gently steam them until they soften slightly and place them between two books, taking care not to mar the print surface. FYI: the kits used in the class come from Bostick and Sullivan (bostick-sullivan.com). They include the 2 sensitizing liquids (1 and 2), the two metals (Pt 3 and Pd 4), developer, and clearing agent. Currently, they cost $198.75 and should make 35 8x10 prints.

Platinum Palladium Printing Edward Stapel Drop Chart You may use the following chart to determine your emulsion mixtures for making platinum palladium prints. Keep in mind that these are suggested starting points and that your actual mixtures may vary. Standard sizes are listed first (followed by square inches for that size different print dimensions may cover a similar area and can help determine mixtures), followed by other somewhat common sizes. You are encouraged to add your own mixes and sizes. Adding one drop of End Run to your emulsion mixture will help it spread more evenly on heavier papers (Bergger COT 320, Lana Aquarelle, Arches Platine). If you want to use Rives BFK add 1 drop of End Run and a couple of drops of distilled water (roughly 15% of the total emulsion about 3 drops for a 5x7). Hake Brush Synthetic Brush/Puddle Pusher Print size (sq. inches) 4x5 (20) 5x7 (35) 8x10 (80) 4x6 (24) 5.5x8 (44) 6x9 (54) 1 2 3(Pt) 4 (Pd) : Total 7 0 2 6 : 15 12 0 3 11 : 26 20 0 4 18 : 42 8 0 2 7 : 17 15 0 3 13 : 31 16 0 3 15 : 34 1 2 3(Pt) 4 (Pd) : Total 6 0 2 5 : 13 10 0 3 9 : 22 18 0 4 16 : 38 7 0 2 6 : 15 13 0 3 11 : 27 14 0 3 13 : 30