Whatman paper is rough and the pigment does not stick to the paper uniformly. It is also too hard, and the rough surface cannot be made smooth with the baren. Since these papers are too hard, when the pigment is pressed, it spreads on the surface instead of sinking into the paper. Foreign paper shrinks and expands very greatly with moisture. It is at that time that bad spots occur on the prints.
Spots generally come when the dosa gets spoiled.
Cheaper ones have their edges trimmed. Silk mounted on paper has been tried, but found unsatisfactory. Silk has a sheen of its own even with pigment applied and this prevents the sheen of the colour from showing to advantage. Somehow colour does not look well on silk. Pigments I t has been said that the pigments used in the Edo regime were better than ours and that some of them are no longer obtainable.