Thank you for contacting us. As you may know the surface size of each paper determines the recommended soaking time for copperplate etching. Since Somerset has no surface sizing you do not need to soak the paper for as long as you would with something like an Arches Watercolor.
Our advice is if you have never used Somerset for etching before, experiment with several options for wetting the paper before printing. Soaking in a bath is one: misting the paper with an atomizer is another and lastly placing the sheet between damp/wet blotters.
Below is a link to a comprehensive book on traditional and digital printing techniques. They recommend soaking Somerset for roughly 30 minutes. The book is free as a pdf and has over a 4 star average review on Amazon.
Thanks again for reaching out and feel free to contact me if you have any more questions.
Modern Printmaking: A Guide to Traditional and Digital Techniques By Sylvie Covey https://books.google.com/books?id=JkfZCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=somerset+paper+soaking+time+for+copperplate+etching+bath&source=bl&ots=A4nLcpzopY&sig=ystWdQgQ4RwbdnL0L5hedwTv6Ss&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikrNPoxMbZAhUjwlkKHcIMBbsQ6AEIOzAC#v=onepage&q=somerset%20paper%20soaking%20time%20for%20copperplate%20etching%20bath&f=false
Thank you for contacting us. As you may know the surface size of each paper determines the recommended soaking time for copperplate etching. Since Somerset has no surface sizing you do not need to soak the paper for as long as you would with something like an Arches Watercolor.
Our advice is if you have never used Somerset for etching before, experiment with several options for wetting the paper before printing. Soaking in a bath is one: misting the paper with an atomizer is another and lastly placing the sheet between damp/wet blotters.
Below is a link to a comprehensive book on traditional and digital printing techniques. They recommend soaking Somerset for roughly 30 minutes. The book is free as a pdf and has over a 4 star average review on Amazon.
Thanks again for reaching out and feel free to contact me if you have any more questions.
Modern Printmaking: A Guide to Traditional and Digital Techniques
By Sylvie Covey
https://books.google.com/books?id=JkfZCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=somerset+paper+soaking+time+for+copperplate+etching+bath&source=bl&ots=A4nLcpzopY&sig=ystWdQgQ4RwbdnL0L5hedwTv6Ss&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikrNPoxMbZAhUjwlkKHcIMBbsQ6AEIOzAC#v=onepage&q=somerset%20paper%20soaking%20time%20for%20copperplate%20etching%20bath&f=false