[LargeFormat] flattening of dry prints

[Les Newcomer]

On Thursday, January 9, 2003, at 08:49 AM, hairy possum wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> IF I try to dry mount them without rewetting and
> drying flat, will the emulsion crack??  Would it be
> better to just wet them again, and dry in the dryer
> flat instead??
>
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Lauvone
>
>
>

I found some nice panoramas from the San Franscisco earth quake that had 
curled beyond the point of opening them.  A conservator friend said I had 
to re-humidify them.  I found a box with a tight lid  laid some wet 
blotter paper on the bottom, put a rack above that and laid the prints on 
the rack.  In about a day they were nice and supple and I placed them 
between blotter paper and a weight and they dried nice and flat.

I don't think your prints are as dried out as mine from 90  years ago, so 
you may be able to accomplish the same thing by laying them out in the 
bath room and having every body in your family take a hot shower without 
the  fan on.

Or maybe a semi-wet sponge on the back of the print?

Les