A question about archival printing.

[Stevenson Gawen]

I'm wondering what would you can suggest as a cheap, simple and quick method to get archival quality monochrome prints? Two points here - first I know very well that the first three adjectives don't normally occur together , and second, by 'archival quality' I don't necessarily mean image quality, but the durability is the important bit.

All this pondering is due to some reflection on the potential fragility of digital storage, compared the traditional media.
We have a corkboard in the living room with a sort of montage that my mother assembled from spare minilab prints that were excess to requirements for an album, and those images are still looking wonderful after 25 years of being cooked next to the wood heater, vacuumed over, and even getting (slightly ) wet when the roof leaked in a storm...
Obviously this isn't good storage, but the point is that those prints seem pretty tough.

I make a fair few inkjet prints, but they're not very satisfactory in my opinion regarding durability. My printer is a cheap model, but they look fine and the Canon inks have some sort of '100year' certificate, but the end result is just not very pleasing to my sense of 'lasting'. Certainly water sensitive...


Maybe I should just shoot more film, but I find the cost of film and lab rather hard to justify


Oh well, apologies for the long ramble, if you got this far any thoughts would be great

 

[Pete Askew]

Are you looking for archival inkjet prints or archival silver halide, Stevenson?

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

Are you looking for archival inkjet prints or archival silver halide, Stevenson?

Umm... More like silver. Or even better something outside the box I hadn't thought of!

 

[Gary Gruber]

There is nothing cheap or quick about making archival prints. I made them for over 30 years. To begin with, you need to use a two bath fixer. The print exhausts the first fixer quickly, but the second bath completes the process. You must rigorously control the time in both baths. Washing should be done in a professional grade washer that holds each print separately (and vertical) from the other. It is the only way to ensure that fixer is completely removed from the back of the paper. You also must make sure that your wash water is neither too hard or too soft. I used pro grade inline filters that neutralized my wash water. Finally, I would suggest making drying racks from plastic screen material stapled to a frame made from 1 x 2 lumber that has been epoxy clear coated.

Don't forget to test the back of each print with 'hypo-check' if you can find any. It is the only way to confirm that the print has been washed properly.

As far as the 'quick' part, a day in the darkroom to produce 8 prints from 4 different negatives usually took me 6-8 hours.

 

[Pete Askew]

A perfect summary! Nova in the UK make some excellent washing tanks if that is the way you want to go, Stevenson.

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

Thanks @Gary Gruber and Pete!
Yep, nothing quick or cheap about that. I've kind of given up on the idea for the time being... time, resources and (to some extent) money all being a little short.
But appreciate the info!
I came across an interesting website on some of the more esoteric photographic print processes recently - https://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/main.html
Some very interesting stuff there...

 

[Gary Gruber]

From my perspective there is no high silver content paper available any longer. I used Agfa Portriga Rapid (for over 20 years) until I discovered Forte papers (from Hungary), which put the German paper in the dirt. Nothing available today even comes close. I have been trying for years to track down someone who might have a lot of either that has been refrigerated, but no luck. Agfa would not even give me the time of day, regardless of the fact that I studied at their photography school in Munich a very long time ago...

Only graded paper has value for me. Multi contrast is weak by comparison. Anything you find on eBay is a waste of money.

 

[Pete Askew]

I have a book about the use of gold salts in photography by Mike Ware and he has published recently some interesting articles on anthrotypes.

 

[Gary Gruber]

I have a book about the use of gold salts in photography by Mike Ware and he has published recently some interesting articles on anthrotypes.

I'm not disputing the efficacy of anything the author may have to say. I'm only putting forth the notion that the simpler your process is, the more likely the chance of success. Back in the 60's, 70's and 80's, our goal was very simple: find the most straightforward way of producing silver prints that will last at least 125 years. We found that.

If you really want to get me started on darkroom processes, ask me the proper way to agitate roll film during processing. I was part of a group of several well known (them, not me) pro photographers who were banging our collective heads against the wall because of inconsistent high value densities during B&W processing. I found the solution and shared it with anyone who was willing to listen. It was so ridiculously simple that we were all slapping our heads so hard on the east coast that it could be heard all the west of the Rockies.

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

If you really want to get me started on darkroom processes, ask me the proper way to agitate roll film during processing. I was part of a group of several well known (them, not me) pro photographers who were banging our collective heads against the wall because of inconsistent high value densities during B&W processing. I found the solution and shared it with anyone who was willing to listen. It was so ridiculously simple that we were all slapping our heads so hard on the east coast that it could be heard all the west of the Rockies.

I'd like to hear about that!

 

[Gary Gruber]

I'd like to hear about that!

I'd have to do a video -- which is quite feasible. I just set up an old Nikon D810 for video work.