Yeah, I’ve been silent on my blog. In case you’re wondering: no, I haven’t given up on anything, given my recent struggles with DAS carbon. In fact, quite the opposite! Since figuring out (at least as far as I can tell, for now) the process limits, I’ve been shifting into gear with monochrome DAS carbon and it’s been going remarkably smoothly. “I Ate’nt Dead“, as Granny Weatherwax used to write!
Continue reading “Rolling – Gearing up DAS carbon printing”Tag: pigment
Subtleties – Subbing intermediate supports for DAS carbon transfer and a note on pigment prep
In my move to DAS instead of dichromate for sensitizing carbon tissues, I ran into a highlight retention problem. Thin gelatin layers (highlights and upper mid-tones) would slide off the temporary support material during warm water development. In testing, I identified exposure unit wavelength as a critical factor. However, the problem persisted especially in very high-contrast tissues. It seems I have now identified another part of the solution: a different way of subbing the intermediate support.
Continue reading “Subtleties – Subbing intermediate supports for DAS carbon transfer and a note on pigment prep”Color carbon and digital inkjet negatives: challenges
It’s been awfully quiet on the color carbon front, hasn’t it? Well, that’s partly accurate. I haven’t done as many test strips these past two weeks as I’d been doing before, and the reason is that I’m at a crossroads with this project now. Having learned lots, it’s also becoming clearer now what I’m dealing with. The question is – how to proceed? Let’s start with exploring some of the challenges I’m currently facing, which all happen to revolve around consistency and linearity.
Continue reading “Color carbon and digital inkjet negatives: challenges”Black is the new black – Pigments for B&W carbon transfer
No, I haven’t given up color carbon just yet, but neither will I leave B&W alone. One issue I’ve been having is that of hue. After all, there’s black, and there’s black: black pigments tend to come in all sorts of hues, so there’s lots to choose from. But a satisfactorily neutral black has evaded me for quite some time – until now!
Continue reading “Black is the new black – Pigments for B&W carbon transfer”(T)issues – A note on pigment dispersion and chroma
I’ve been working with powdered pigments for a (brief) while now and as a result, I’m starting to come to grips with the pros and cons of this approach. Overall, it’s lots of fun – in fact, this is so far my favorite part of the color carbon project. But there are challenges also to this part. For instance, I recently ran into an issue of tissues that didn’t look quite as nice and shiny as they should. And that actually has implications that go far below the surface!
Continue reading “(T)issues – A note on pigment dispersion and chroma”How to ab-stain? Dichromate stain issues in carbon printing
No, I haven’t given up on the color carbon project. Yet! But there are challenges, and they can be, well, challenging. For one, I’m running into trouble with hue and chroma of the color layers and I’ve been having a hard time figuring out what happens. One probable cause is actually dichromate staining. Let me exstain. Err, explain.
Continue reading “How to ab-stain? Dichromate stain issues in carbon printing”Fairy dust – Dry pigments for color carbon
Alright, I caved. I had been ogling the website of Kremer Pigmente for a few weeks and ultimately I decided to order some pigments from them. I think it actually makes sense, despite the warnings I was given by multiple people on the forums. After all, dry pigments are challenging to work with. Or so they say…
Continue reading “Fairy dust – Dry pigments for color carbon”Fade to grey – The pigment balance problem
Open any book or web page on color printing and it’ll say at some point that all pigments or dyes used in the process should mix to a neutral grey or black – at least in theory. It’s an issue I’ve been ignoring throughout my color carbon adventures so far. Well, not exactly ignoring, but I didn’t spend sufficient attention to it, certainly not in writing. Allow me to make up for this, at least in part. In this blog, I’ll explore the issue of pigment balance and try and work out a way to determine, at least with rather coarse resolution, a usable pigment balance for color carbon tissues.
Continue reading “Fade to grey – The pigment balance problem”Couleur locale – the search for color in carbon
Technically, carbon transfer printing isn’t ‘carbon’ anymore once it becomes color. Yes, for the black/key layer (if used), a carbon pigment is generally used. But for the other colors, evidently carbon falls short. So something like ‘pigmented gelatin printing’ is more accurate. In any case, as color enters, it brings many questions, issues and concerns. Lots of fun stuff, as well. How about this one: which colors should we go for in the first place? Let’s have a look and see if we can make at least a first step.
Continue reading “Couleur locale – the search for color in carbon”