I am looking for a method that allows me to print with a nice unsharp boundary often seen in art landscape bw and toned prints. The effect is such that the image appears to "bleed" into the paper. Does this require a particular paper? Any comments appreciated.

-- Andrew Jones (jagcra@tpgi.com.au), March 10, 2001

Answers

You're probably seeing one of two different effects.

A jagged edge: probably a hand coated emulsion, with the edges left on the paper; that is, say, paint a 7 x 9 inch area on an 8 x 10 sheet.

Soft edges where the image just blends away (from your description, I suspect this is what you want): this is called vignetting. You make a burn in card with the same proportions as your image shape, though smaller, rough edges will help (like with a pinking shears), and move the card up and down slightly (maybe + or minus an inch)over the paper while printing. A little practice and you'll have the technique down pat. No special paper or process is required.

This used to be very common for portraits of women, and other "high- key" subjects.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), March 11, 2001.