I never saw any reference about printing pyro negatives with POP. Will pyro negatives that print well in Platinum be suitable to obtain good POP prints? Will I obtain good results with negatives matched for platinum/VC paper? I've just ordered POP and I'll be delighted to ear some details about this matter.

-- Manuel Gomes Teixeira (punctumgt@netc.pt), September 28, 2000

Answers

I've only dabbled in both POP and pyro, so take what I say with a big grain of salt. In general I found POP to be longer scale than traditional Pt/Pd, and even slightly longer than "Ziatype." I did successfully print a couple of pyro negs on POP that were too contrasty for Pt.

-- Chris Patti (cmpatti@aol.com), September 28, 2000.

Manuel,

I used to proof-print negatives which were eventually intended for platinum/palladium use on Chicago Albumen POP. I'm not sure if this POP is still available, I have not done much of this type of work in the last couple of years. The CA POP paper was much, much less expensive than the platinum/palladium materials, and it was very easy to work with. The gold toner was a bit pricey, though.

From everything I read, and my own limited experience, the POPs require negatives exhibiting similar density curves as platinum/palladium negatives. However, the print qualities, or the look, of the CA POP prints vs. the platinum/palladium prints are significantly different, both in color and surface texture.

Good luck, Sergio.

-- Sergio Ortega (s.ortega@worldnet.att.net), September 29, 2000.