Paper is a beautiful material, especially the sort we use in alternative printing.
If you want to make old process work a really satisfying experience then
you must learn to appreciate the qualities of paper in all its forms.
The feel of good paper is exciting - from the velvet smoothness of hot
pressed Fabriano, to the roughness of hand made Indian papers, and the
soft absorbency of etching paper. When you hold up a sheet by the corner
and shake it, it rattles like stage thunder in a Christmas pantomime.
This is far removed from the world of grade three glossy or resin coated
semi-matt used by conventional photographic printers. It is not difficult
to make your own paper, but as the nineteenth century photographers bought
theirs ready made from the shop there appears to be no reason why we at
the end of the twentieth century shouldn't follow their example. It needs
a lot of practice to produce a hand made paper of a quality suitable for
most of the processes described in this manual. Photo-etching is probably
the only one that lends itself to printing on the fairly primitive papers
that newcomers to paper making usually produce.