[Leica] Evaluating drydown

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

>>>I made a few prints this week, and I was able to make some
observations.

I have a small fluorescent fixture about two feet over the fixer<<<


Mike,
You should never use a fluorescent light to evaluate prints. Virtually
all papers use brighteners in the baryta layer (even papers whose
marketers claim they don't ). Fluorescent lights excite the brighteners
and make the highlights look brighter, or just different. That's
probably why you're having to move your print so far from the light to
evaluate it.

We evaluate brighteners in papers by looking at wet prints under a black
light. Also, most brighteners (Ilford papers seem to be one exception)
wash out of papers gradually--and unevenly--over long wash times. (The
old Ilford Galerie was one of the worst with this--I really had to
severely limit wet times in order to keep the brighteners from
streaking. This may be one reason why Ilford's scientists had to
address--and solve--this problem.)

A good viewing light is critical to evaluating prints. You can actually
recognize the effects of bad evaluation lighting when looking at prints
in galleries! If you see prints with highlights that look too much like
paper-white, and weak, unsupported blacks, it usually means the printer
was working with an evaluation light setup that was too dim. When you
see prints that have heavy, dark highlights and/or inky blacks lacking
in shadow detail too far up the value scale, it's usually an indication
that the person was using too powerful an evaluation light in the
printing stage--shine more powerful lighting on the print and it will
often look all right again! (However, prints optimaized for average
lighting look the best under the widest range of conditions.)

You can get quite fancy about it, but I find the following simple
procedure almost always works well:

1. Use an oversize, 1/4-inch-thick piece of glass (available easily from
any glass supplier) with sanded edges, leaning against the back of the
sink or the wall, and sitting in the sink or in a catch-all tray. 2.
Either from the fixer or after a brief rinse, put the print on the glass
and squeegee it. 3. Use a plain incandescent light bulb of 75-100 watts
hanging above the viewing glass at an oblique angle and about 4-5 feet
away, usually on pull chain for convenience.



 o   <---light bulb hanging from ceiling






(4-5 ft.)


                    /
                   /
                  /       <---print on glass
                 /
                /

and the most IMPORTANT thing (well, besides squeegeeing the print, which
is essential)...4. take a few minutes to really look at the print. Don't
glance at it and rush to a decision. This allows your eyes time to
adjust to the print, but it also allows you some time to let the values
register and to "calibrate" your brain.
    This was absolutely the hardest thing for me to do when I was a
custom printer, so I got myself a comfortable stool and 3-minute egg
timer. At least once during the printing process, I'd force myself to
sit staring at the print for 3 minutes--timed--either at the "guide
print" stage, or the finished print stage, or both. It sure feels like
it slows down the work when you're working hard--but it DOESN'T. It
saves time, errors, and paper in the long run.

- --Mike