<Rant> Hahnemuhle German Etching

[fetish]

Ok, so I produced 30 pieces of 28x40 prints using German etching for an exhibition. I chose german etching because the soft gentle textured surface, the strength given by the weight of the paper, and nicely hand deckled edges suited the images and client's concept perfectly. They look magnificent under proper gallery lighting and the character of the paper gave a feeling of flow and continuity to the body of work.

BUT

The printing phase was a total nightmare cuz the paper FLAKES LIKE CRAZY. I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about.. Imagine after every image is printed, I'd find tiny "holes" here and there, or some fibers half sticking out, carrying along with it the pigment that was supposed to be there... UGHHHH.
Yes I do minor touchups with the PITT pigment pens but a lot of them holes have very light pastel colors that are practically irreparable.
And yes I also tried the light brushing of the unprinted surface with cotton gloved hand. That did cut down a few more holes but all I need is 1 single damn hole in a prominent area which is irreparable to drive me to tear the entire print.

I'm those type that destroys all imperfect prints, so this issues has cost me at least more than half a roll of wasted paper, not to mention ink.

Tonight I'm gonna make about 10 more of those prints for another project and i'm dreading it already.

will probably scour the net for white/black/gray/rainbow magic rituals to guard against paper flaking before i get down to it.

[aaronchan]

My silly solution is to stop to use this paper. I have had the same problem as you did and i just switched my paper to museum etching which also a great paper. Otherwise, just keep brushing the unprint paper, cross your finger and be prepare some light color pigment with a toothpick which i found it is alot easier than a triple 0 paint brush.

Good luck!
Aaron

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I'm pretty satisfied with the ColorMunki Photo. The I1 Pro may be more flexible for your needs.

Best regards
Erik

[Gene Coggins]

While German Etching paper makes gorgeous prints, the minute you place ANYTHING on top of the print, you run into the problems you described. For the reasons stated, I avoid this paper. Instead you might try the Museum Etching paper. I get excellent results and my customers love the prints.

Gene
www.longwoodartgallery.com/EugeneCoggins.html

[Jeff Magidson]

I have been using Epson Cold Press Natural as my German Etching substitute. Cold Press is a bit different but in the same rage as GE. Cold Press is a good production paper because it is widely available, priced well and the QC on the boxes/rolls I have used has been perfect.

~ Jeff
http://artslidesboston.com
 

[fetish]

Thanks for the pointers guys.

Yea I've a bunch of museum etchings here but have not tried them out yet cuz I didnt have time to experiment with it yet so I fell back to something I was totally familiar with, which was the GE. Should I have chosen them instead, I might have saved myself from this nightmare.

I've been wanted to test the Epson Cold Press but it's not readily available here in SG last I checked. I guess it's time to import some in for testing.

[Rob Reiter]

Canson Edition Etching. Although H. Museum Etching is good, I feel the texture of CEE is closer to German Etching. It's also much less prone to bent corners, a big problem I had with HGE.