Raw & Post Processing, Printing > Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks

Workarounds for rippling in thin Awagami papers in very large prints

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StuartR:
Hello all. I have a quite specific question that I was hoping someone might be able to help with. I am doing an exhibition of very large, very delicate prints on Awagami Murakumo Kozo Select paper. The paper itself is only 42gsm, but it takes ink very well despite its size. Still, in dark areas the ink density is enough to cause ripples in the prints. The prints I am making are 170x220cm, printed across two rolls. They are wall sized...I have made one already and it looks great, but in the shadow areas there are some ripples that are visible, particularly when viewed on an angle. I did not experience this issue in my "small" test of roughly 85x65cm. If the prints were small, I would just put them in a heat press, but these are obviously way too large for that. I also did an experiment trying to iron them with a clothes iron and no steam (with a interleaving sheet between), but that did not really do anything and I did not want to push the heat too far on my glass table. I have tried reducing the color density to -30%, but it does not seem to make a huge difference, at least on the plain paper test. I have been trying not to waste the Awagami paper, as it is expensive and I can only get three prints on a roll. Does anyone have any other thoughts? I know this kind of work is somewhat Sisyphysian, but it is my MFA graduation show, and the huge, immersiveness of the large prints and ethereal qualities of the paper match my thesis topic and book very well, so I am reluctant to give up.

The smaller print was rolled up for transport for a show in Berlin, so it sat rolled up for at least a few days...I wonder if that helped remove the ripples. I read of an instance where someone rolled prints between two glassine sheets immediately after printing to help remove this sort of issue. I am willing to entertain suggestions. It is not such a big deal for the first image, but one or two of the others have large areas of black ink, where it will be much more noticeable.

deanwork:
I’ve been through this, warped  prints too big for a dry mount press.

You need to get the wetness out of them. The fastest way is using a hair dryer to do it. I was shocked when I was able to do that with ease. It will even make curled Baryta paper flatten out instantly.

If that doesn’t work try making a curve adjustment layer and reducing the black shadow max black point a tad.

Also turn up the air conditioning in your studio. If the paper and drying area is overly humid that’s going to hurt you.

If that doesn’t work find a frame shop with a big dry mount press. We have one in Atlanta.

But I do believe the hair dryer will solve it.







--- Quote from: StuartR on July 17, 2018, 09:47:12 am ---Hello all. I have a quite specific question that I was hoping someone might be able to help with. I am doing an exhibition of very large, very delicate prints on Awagami Murakumo Kozo Select paper. The paper itself is only 42gsm, but it takes ink very well despite its size. Still, in dark areas the ink density is enough to cause ripples in the prints. The prints I am making are 170x220cm, printed across two rolls. They are wall sized...I have made one already and it looks great, but in the shadow areas there are some ripples that are visible, particularly when viewed on an angle. I did not experience this issue in my "small" test of roughly 85x65cm. If the prints were small, I would just put them in a heat press, but these are obviously way too large for that. I also did an experiment trying to iron them with a clothes iron and no steam (with a interleaving sheet between), but that did not really do anything and I did not want to push the heat too far on my glass table. I have tried reducing the color density to -30%, but it does not seem to make a huge difference, at least on the plain paper test. I have been trying not to waste the Awagami paper, as it is expensive and I can only get three prints on a roll. Does anyone have any other thoughts? I know this kind of work is somewhat Sisyphysian, but it is my MFA graduation show, and the huge, immersiveness of the large prints and ethereal qualities of the paper match my thesis topic and book very well, so I am reluctant to give up.

The smaller print was rolled up for transport for a show in Berlin, so it sat rolled up for at least a few days...I wonder if that helped remove the ripples. I read of an instance where someone rolled prints between two glassine sheets immediately after printing to help remove this sort of issue. I am willing to entertain suggestions. It is not such a big deal for the first image, but one or two of the others have large areas of black ink, where it will be much more noticeable.

--- End quote ---

StuartR:
Thanks for the help. I will give the hair dryer a go...that is easy enough! As for the studio, I am in Iceland, so air conditioning is not an issue. Today is one of the nicest days of the year so far and it is still 55 degrees out.

deanwork:
Sitting down here in Georgia, Iceland was the last thing I was contemplating.

The air conditioner was for removing humidity, but sounds like you are probably a dry climate, otherwise a dehumidifier could work.

It does sound like you may still be laying down too much ink in the shadows for this thin of media. If you don’t have a rip and have gone as far as you can in the printer driver ( Epson printers in printer manage color mode will allow ink density options) all you can do is reduce  k contrast in a curve adjustment.  If you are doing black and white by all means download qtr and use that. Then you can make a decent linearization for that specific media. HP and Canon have their own workflows.



--- Quote from: StuartR on July 17, 2018, 10:19:28 am ---Thanks for the help. I will give the hair dryer a go...that is easy enough! As for the studio, I am in Iceland, so air conditioning is not an issue. Today is one of the nicest days of the year so far and it is still 55 degrees out.

--- End quote ---

StuartR:
Thanks. I tried the hair dryer and it did not work...the print is dry, so retained moisture is not the issue. I am using an Epson P9000. I have not used QTR for it yet...I had it for the 9900, but had some troubles with it for the P9000, so I have not gotten to trying. I am not sure I have time to learn it and do the linearizations before I need to finish, so I think I will need to either accept the results or find another way...

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