How to make ancient-looking documents?

[Alerion]

I wander if anyone knows a good, low-cost way to make a paper document look very old. Even torn and fragile. I have tried by making very strong tea, dipping the paper there for a little while, and then letting it dry. Ok, it makes the paper look a bit older, but its still like sun-yellowed paper from a couple of months past.

The paper should remain printable though, as my handwriting with genuine ink sucks.

Any ideas? I (and many others) would be glad to hear them!

Alerion
DM (Damage Master) *grin*

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

A few such tips were collected here...

http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/TheV ... _Props.htm

it's not much, but it's all I've got.

[vipera aspis]

i am a special effects artist by trade and sometimes i get paid to do research for means to create things like these: and since this is the glorious fraternity of shadows i will share my technique used for various projects and films i have worked on.

Materials- Several sheets of paper(3-5) that will fit through your printer. Look for something absorbent but not to think(too thick and it jams). Try various sketching papers, bible paper, blank newsprint or my personal favorite; disposable paper placemats. Other materials you need are: 2.5 gallons of water, tea bags(2-3) or iced tea mix, cocco powder, ground coffee, a couple handfuls of earth, yellow food colouring, empty tea bags(1-2) and something to clip them with, two tall open top containers that could hold one gallon or more each, a small spray bottle, four small stones(i use oversized D4s) and one large stone(2-3lb) and finally two wooden boards large enough to cover your papers.

note. they drying times are often for a few hours to a day or more. I usually go to work, work on game or a random industrial nightclub inbetween steps. ie. this can be done inbetween other things.

The Process- 1.)Start by taking a single sheet of paper and printing your document on it. If your paper is too small, try attaching it to a normal printed sheet. Attach at the corners of the smaller to the larger with some scotch tape. Once printed, rejoin it with the rest of the paper. 2.) Take the tall open top containers and mix a normal tea in each(do not be concerned with tea strangth yet), using two of the 2.5 gallons of water, split so that one gallon goes in each container. You should have some water left, place it into the sm.spray bottle leaving room for around two to three table spoons of yellow food colouring. Now add the yellow food colour to the spray bottle and set it aside. 3.) Take the coffee grounds and place it in a empty tea bag and clip it. Drop it into tea container A. and let it seep. Take a fourth-cup of your powdered cocco and add it straight to tea container B. and stir. At this time lay out your paper in a row, now use your sm. spray bottle and spray back and fourth over all the sheets. Do not stop and target any of the sheets specialy, as it will look inorganic at the end. Just spray enough to have the paper dotted and be weaker in some areas, you're not going for total coverage. Now let it dry. 4.) Once dry take the paper roll it loosly and dunk it into tea container A. and depending on it's structure(you dont want mush) hold it under for a few seconds at a time up to half a minute. Repeat this with each sheet. Lay them out and let them dry. Once the paper has dryed follow suit with tea container B. Repeating and drying. Do the whole thing twice, A. to B. then A. to B. again. Most of your time is spent drying. Then begin the process once more but stopping after A. and...5.) take your wet sheet of paper and place it on your board(spinkle your board lightly with earth before you place the paper down). Then sprinkle earth ontop of the wet paper and place the second board ontop of the paper. Let it dry. While it does, run a couple of dryed sheets of processed paper through the printer with your document on it. Once the original wet sheet between the boards has dryed remove it and dust off all the dirt with your hand. Make sure nothing is stuck to it. And run it through the printer with your document on it. 6.) Take the two sheets of document emblazened processed paperfrom before and dip them in the containers(one in A. two in B.). Sprinkle earth on your base board and lay the sheet dow. Cover it with a healthy amount of earth(so the second wet sheet wont stick) and place the second sheet over it,; again sprinkle with earth but place the small stones; one at each corner of the papers now apply the top board and the large stone ontop of that. Let them dry. If you have any left over non-fully processed paper; be creative with it(i usually print it then bury it in the dirt for about a week or so). 7.) Otherwise once everything is dryed and dusted off, lay them out next to each other and pick your best one. They should all be at least slightly different, from the first one that was printed after the first yellow spraying on to the ones that had airflow in the final step. Some will be easier to read then others, but thats half the fun.

Hope this was helpful.

[Alerion]

Whow! Now there's advice indeed. It will probably take a few days to complete the process. Do you know if it is good or bad to accelerate the drying phases? I also think that a laser printer should be used instead of my inkjet? :p

I will have to store some earth for the winter, no point in trying to dig through frozen ground. My girfriend will probably think I'm nuts.

Thank you very much for the advice!

Alerion

[LordGodefroi]

You can also transfer photocopies on to all sorts of materials.

You can, for example, take a good fresh dark photocopy and transfer it to aluminum foil with a simple clothes-iron. Simply place the photocopy face down and iron it on to the foil at high heat.

Also, you can take a mirror-image print out (like a map) from your computer, photocopy it (fresh & dark again), place the copy face down on your chosen surface (like, say, a gesso'd canvas), coat the back of the photocopy with citristrip (a citrus based wood stripper), and you'll have a correct-reading document on whatever material you desire.

Keep in mind that some materials work better than others. (For example, non-porous lineoleum doesn't work so well.) So, you may have to experiment a bit. Don't forget that citristrip removes varnish, so anything that requires varnish after transfer will need to be rinsed clean and that may rinse off the photocopy toner if the transfer doesn't take.

[vipera aspis]

speeding the drying prosess only gives you more variables in the end. which is exactly what you need. try the sun, the oven, a hairdryer and if it's summer try a aquarium over the sheet directly in the sun.

[Guardian of Twilight]

Back in high school, we had to keep a Civil War diary for our U.S. History class. My teacher (one of the best ever) told us that a great way to make paper take on an aged look was to pour coffee (the cheap stuff obviously) into a bowl and take the paper you're going to use and let it soak for a couple of minutes. Then take it out and let it dry. I've used this to great affect over the years. Hope this helps.

[lostboy]

If you have access to photshop you can produce some decent attempts at old parchment graphics which you then print et voila!

Check this link for a simple walkthrough:
link

[LordGodefroi]

If you have access to photshop you can produce some decent attempts at old parchment graphics which you then print et voila!

Check this link for a simple walkthrough:
link

Unfortunately, that's only step one of the process if you want to make prop-quality handouts. A print out looks like a print out regardless of the snazzy effects you can do in Photoshop.

Even if you do start with an inkjet prinout, you still have to age the paper its printed on. And if you use the tried-and-true tea/coffee immersion method, you run the risk of obliterating important details on your handout. (You can, of course, age your paper first and then print on it. But it has to be 100% dry (at least three days drying time) before printing otherwise your ink might not take.)

This is why I suggested using photocopy transfer in my previous post in this thread. This way, you can age your materials first and then transfer the photocopy onto it. Plus this method allows you to use materials other than paper. Want to hand your group an old canvas pirate map ? You can do it with this method.

PS: BTW, don't use a microwave or home oven to dry tea/coffee soaked documents. That's too much of a fire hazard. Hair dryers and the very good aquarium-in-the-sun suggestion work better. . . they're just slower.