Created my first digital negative for my cyanotype project

Audrey Hepburn.

So I bought an Epson Artisan 1430 a while back. It's a wide format printer priced at a very affordable $299. It's not the best wide format printer, but for cyanotypes it's perfect. If I wanted to I could still print on glossy photos. Epson's 13x19 glossy or matte photo paper is also cheap.

more after the jump

Getting the correct transparency film was tough though. So far, I've found only one brand that makes 13x19 overhead transparency film that:

• is 13x19
• inkjet compatible
• and is completely 100% transparent

Being completely transparent is key. A lot of over-head transparency films has a milky translucent base applied to it. The reasoning behind that is because it helps ink from inkjet printers stick better and not smudge. That's great for professors using it for over-head presentations, but I need to make a digital negative for contact printing.

Inkpress Transparencies, purchased from Adorama, is the only 100% transparent film I could find. And it's not cheap. $56 for twenty sheets. Thank god for free shipping. For that price I gotta make sure that every digital negative prints out perfectly.

Using the transparency film is easy. There's a notch in one of the corners. Since only one side is printable, that notch has to go in the upper right hand corner when placing it in the printer's paper feeder. The printer settings have to be on Premium Glossy. It's suggested to print at 1400+ dpi.