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Title: The Art and Practice of Silver Printing
Author: Abney, Capt., Robinson, H. P.
Language: English
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[Illustration: A Specimen of Woodburytype Printing.]
THE ART AND PRACTICE OF SILVER PRINTING.
BY
H. P. ROBINSON & CAPT. ABNEY, R.E., F.R.S.
THE AMERICAN EDITION,
NEW YORK:
E. & H. T. ANTHONY & CO., NO. 591 BROADWAY.
1881.
PREFACE.
Silver printing has been often doomed, but it still survives. Other
processes of photographic printing have been introduced, nearly all of
them having their individual merits, especially that of permanency, but
all lacking in two essential qualities--ease of production and beauty
of result. In these particulars no process has ever approached the one
to the working of which this little book is devoted. The one defect of
silver printing is the possibility of its results fading; but surely
it is better to be beautiful, if fading, than permanent and ugly. It
is better to be charmed with a beautiful thing for a few years, than
be bored by an ugly one for ever. But is silver printing necessarily
a fading process? We have in our possession a large number of silver
photographs produced from twenty to twenty-five years ago, which are
as perfect in tone and colour as when they were produced. Carefully
prepared, and properly kept, a silver print should be as permanent as
any other. That silver prints should be permanent as well as beautiful,
has been the object of
THE AUTHORS.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--Preliminary Experiments 1
II.--Preparation of Albumenized Paper 6
III.--The Sensitizing Bath 13
IV.--How to Keep the Sensitizing Bath in Order 20
V.--Silvering the Paper 26
VI.--Washed Sensitive Paper 31
VII.--Cutting Paper 36
VIII.--Printing-Frames 42
IX.--Preparing the Landscape Negative 45
X.--Printing the Landscape 49
XI.--Preparing the Portrait Negative 57
XII.--Vignetting 60
XIII.--Printing the Portrait 69
XIV.--Combination Printing 74
XV.--Toning 85
XVI.--Fixing the Print 92
XVII.--Washing the Print 95
XVIII.--Printing on Plain Paper 99
XIX.--Printing on Resinized Paper 100
XX.--Printing on Gelatino-Chloride Emulsion Paper 103
XXI.--Drying the Prints 105
XXII.--Mounting Photographs 110
XXIII.--Defects in Prints 115
XXIV.--Encaustic Paste 117
XXV.--Enamelling Prints 119
XXVI.--Cameo Prints 121
Appendix 123
CHAPTER I.
THEORY OF SILVER PRINTING.
Perhaps it may be wise, first of all, to give the reader some account
of the manner in which the subject of silver printing is to be treated,
before entering into very minute details, so that it may be followed
as a whole, instead of being studied in fragments, a course which is
sure to lead to failure, from a want of comprehending what may have
been skipped. To understand "the why" and "the wherefore" of every
detail is an essential in most occupations, and it is wonderful that
photographers are satisfied with the results of rule-of-thumb formulæ,
instead of reasoning out their utility. In the following pages most of
the theoretical considerations will be brought out in such a manner that
everyone will be able to understand them, provided only that there is a
slight acquaintance with the name and properties of the chemicals which
are dealt with.
PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS.
Into a glass beaker put a couple of pinches of common salt, which must
be dissolved in a little water.
In a test-tube[1] dissolve about an equal amount of silver nitrate
(AgNO_{3}), and add it to the salt solution. We shall find that we
have an immediate precipitate, for chloride of silver will be formed
by what is called double[2] decomposition, and there will remain in
solution a soluble salt known as sodium nitrate. When the silver
chloride has settled down, decant off the liquid, and add water to it
once or twice, draining off each time. Divide the chloride into four
parts, placing each part on a strip of glass. On two of them pour a
little common salt solution, and on the other two pour a little solution
of silver nitrate; take one of each pair, and place it in a dark
cupboard (if warmed, the quicker will be the operation) to dry. Take
the other two moist portions of chloride into the open air, and expose
them to daylight, and note the results. It will be seen that one of
these will darken very rapidly to a violet colour, whilst the other will
remain much lighter, though perceptibly blackening. After a time the
latter will appear to grow deeper, whilst the former will become a deep
black. The one that blackens most rapidly will be found to be that one
on which the silver nitrate was poured. Divide the slightly blackened
chloride on the strip of glass into two portions, and over one pour a
little beer, and over the other a weak solution of potassium nitrite,
and again note the difference. It will be found that here the blackening
commences anew, but proceeds much more rapidly on that portion over
which the nitrite was poured. Here are the experiments. What do they
teach?
Potassium nitrite, and silver nitrate, are both inorganic salts, and
they both have an affinity for--that is, tend to combine with--any
of the halogens (by which are meant such bodies as chlorine, iodine,
bromine, and fluorine). In the former case we have silver chloride
formed with a little hypo-chlorous acid; in the latter we have a more
difficult decomposition: the potassium nitrite is decomposed into
hydrochloric acid and potassium nitrate.[3]
We can tell that chlorine is liberated by the action of light on silver
chloride, since if we prepare some as above, well wash it, and expose it
to light in pure water, we shall find that the latter contains chlorine,
since a few drops of silver nitrate poured into it after exposure give a
white precipitate.
If we make the same experiments with the dried portions of silver
chloride as we did with the moist, we shall obtain the same results,
with the exception that with the dried, in which there is excess of
salt, there will be hardly any discolouration. The experimentalist
should also note that if the darkened chloride be broken up, the
interior retains its white colour in all its purity. This tells us that
the discolouration is _almost_ confined to the surface, hence it is
useless, for printing purposes, to have such a mass of chloride as would
be opaque, since all but a very thin film would be unacted upon.
If the darkened chloride be examined closely, it will be seen that
the colour varies, being bluer in the case of that which has silver
nitrate in contact with it (either moist or dry) as compared with that
which is darkened in contact with the potassium nitrite. We have the
best of reasons for believing that the blue colour is really due to a
combination between the sub-chloride and the oxygen contained in the
water or in the air. The true colour of the sub-chloride is that which
is exposed beneath an oxygen absorbent such as the nitrite.
Practical printers are aware that albumenized paper containing a
chloride is employed for producing silver prints, and the probability is
that the albumen must exercise some kind of influence on the resulting
picture. Let us examine this, and see what effect it can have. Carefully
break an egg, and separate the yolk from the white, pouring the latter
into a beaker. Beat up the white with a bundle of quill pens, allow the
froth to subside, and then filter it. Pour a little of the filtered
albumen (the white of egg) into a test-tube, and add a little silver
nitrate solution to it, and expose the precipitate which falls to light.
It will be seen that it darkens rapidly, assuming a foxy red colour.
Take a couple of glass plates and coat them with plain collodion, wash
under the tap, and whilst still moist flow albumen over them two or
three times, and set them up to dry. When thoroughly dry, plunge them
for a few seconds into a weak solution of silver nitrate (30 grains
to the ounce of water will suffice), wash one under the tap, and then
allow both to dry again. Take both plates out into the light, and note
the results. The one from which the silver nitrate has not been washed
will darken very rapidly, the other will take some time to start; but if
the exposure be sufficiently prolonged, it will gradually assume a hue
equally as dark as the other.
If we repeat these experiments with gelatine, which is used as a sizing
in some papers, we shall find very much the same nature of things taking
place, the differences being so slight, however, as not to require
detailed notice.
So far, then, we have considered the darkening properties of the silver
compounds which are to be used by the printer, but it remains to be
seen what _permanency of darkening_ they possess. If we treat the
darkened silver chloride solution exposed with the silver nitrate or
the potassium nitrite to a solution of hyposulphite of soda or ammonia,
both of which are solvents of the white chloride, we shall find that
a residue of metallic silver is left behind. If we treat the darkened
albuminate of silver with the same agents, we shall find that very
little change is effected by them.
From this we may gather that the action of light on them is of a totally
different nature.[4] This is also most marked if we treat the two with
hydrosulphuric acid solution (sulphuretted hydrogen[5]). It will be
found that the colour of the darkened silver chloride becomes more
intense, while the other is bleached, or, rather, becomes of a yellow
tint. This last effect has an important bearing on the permanency of
silver prints, as will be more fully explained when considering the
subject of fixing the print.
CHAPTER II.
PREPARATION OF ALBUMENIZED PAPER.
In printing on albumenized paper we must divide the operations, and give
a detailed account of each. In case the reader may desire to prepare his
own paper, we give the following formula and directions.
To prepare the albumen, procure a sufficient number of eggs, remembering
that the white of a large egg will be about a fluid ounce; have a cup
to collect the yolks, and a four-ounce measure at hand. Give the centre
of the egg a smart blow against the top of the cup. The shell can now
be readily pulled in two, the yolk remaining unbroken with part of the
albumen in one half, and the rest of the albumen in the other half of
the shell. Take the halves, one in each hand, and pour the albumen from
one to the other, holding them over the small measure. As the operation
continues, the yolk will gradually separate, the white falling into the
vessel below. If conducted with care, the whole of the latter will be
collected without breaking the yolk. If the yolk break, some will be
sure to find its way into the measure along with the white, and this,
together with the white speck known as the tread, must be rigorously
taken out by means of a spoon. The _uncontaminated_ white is then poured
into a large jar. If the operator carefully collects the white of each
egg into the four-ounce ounce measure first, he will find his labour
much diminished, as it is awkward to get out the small pieces of yolk
from a large quantity of albumen. The eggs are thus broken, and the
white collected till there is a sufficient quantity for the purpose
in hand. Suppose we are going to make up 20 ounces of solution, then
about 18 ounces of white of egg must be found in the jar. One point
to settle is the amount of salt to be used to each ounce of albumen.
It must be recollected that a medium quantity is the best for medium
negatives; anything between 20 and 40 grains per ounce may be used.
We prefer ourselves about 25. Supposing this quantity to be used, we
proceed to dissolve 500 grains of chloride of ammonium in 2 ounces of
water, and add it to the albumen. It has been proved that as regards
colour of the picture, it does not matter what chloride is used. To
prevent crystallization, it is better to use ammonium, which contains
a greater amount of chlorine than do sodium or potassium chlorides. It
must now be beaten up till it is in a froth. This breaks up the fibrous
matter, and on subsidence the liquid will be found to be limpid. The
most convenient implement with which to beat up the albumen is the
American egg-beater. Three or four minutes' work is quite sufficient
to make the whole into a froth. An ordinary culinary whisk, such as is
used in the kitchen, may also be put into requisition, or, in default
of that, a bundle of quill pens. A lesson in producing a froth can be
learnt from the cook of the establishment. When the salted albumen has
settled it must be filtered, which, perhaps, is best effected through
a sponge, though glass-wool is a capital substitute. In either case a
small, loosely-fitting plug is placed in the neck of an ordinary funnel,
and, after rinsing with cold water, the albumen is poured in, and
allowed to filter through slowly. It is advisable to avoid bubbles as
far as possible, and the accompanying arrangement will be found to avoid
their formation. The funnel is placed in the position shown (fig. 1);
the capillary attraction between it and the glass will cause the drops
to trickle down the side, and collect, without bubbles, at the bottom.
This little contrivance will be found of use in other operations besides
that of silver printing, and should be made a note of. The albumen may
also be filtered through one, two, or three thicknesses of muslin,
according to its fineness, tied over the mouth of a bottle or beaker of
which the bottom has been removed. The albumen is placed in a vessel
slightly larger than the filter, which is allowed to sink gradually.
When full it is withdrawn, and the fluid poured into the dish. By this
plan upward filtration is established. The fluid may be poured into the
filter itself, and used in the ordinary manner.[6]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 1.]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 2.]
On a larger scale, white of eggs in a fresh condition can be obtained
from egg merchants who utilize the yolks by selling them to the grocers
and confectioners. Albumen can be obtained by the gallon in this
condition, according to the price of eggs. It will be evident that
there is considerable economy in taking the whites wholesale. As a
rule, about three gallons of albumen will coat two reams of albumenized
paper. Mr. England (to whom we are indebted for so many of our remarks
on albumenizing paper) procures about the latter quantity at a time, and
beats it up mechanically in a large vat holding some fifty gallons, in
order to allow space for the froth. He allows the albumen to rest four
days before employing it, and filters it through three thicknesses of
flannel.
The quality of paper to be used varies considerably with the custom of
the printer. Thus, in some countries, we find a much thinner paper used
than in England. The great desideratum is that it should be perfectly
opaque to transmitted light. A good test of this is to make a couple of
black ink marks on a piece of white paper, and then press down firmly
the paper it is proposed to employ over this. If the black ink marks are
indistinguishable, the paper will do as regards this quality, as the
light reflected from the surface which gives the impression of whiteness
to the eye is much stronger than the light which penetrates through it,
and is absorbed by the black lines. As to quality, it is best to trust
to the manufacturer, those known as Saxe and Rives papers answering
better than any other that we know of. The Rives is, when moist, a paper
which is more easily torn than the Saxe, and, consequently, we recommend
that the former be employed for small work, such as portraits, and the
latter for large landscape prints.
In regard to the sizes to be albumenized, it must be left to the
operator to say what will be the most useful to him. It is rarely
advisable to albumenize less than a half sheet of paper, the whole size
of which is about 22 by 18 inches; 11 by 18 is not an inconvenient
size to manipulate. At any rate, a dish larger each way by a couple of
inches than the paper must be procured, and put on a level table. The
temperature of the room should be at least 90°, in fact, the hotter
it is the more glossy will be the resulting paper. The solution, free
from bubbles, is poured in, and should be of a depth of at least 1/2
an inch. Suppose the smaller size to be coated, before commencing, the
paper is taken by the two opposite corners, the hands brought together,
and the convex side brought on to the surface of the fluid; the hands
are then separated, and the paper will gradually float on the surface.
One corner should be gradually raised to see that all air-bubbles are
absent. If there be any, they should be broken with the point of a glass
rod, and the paper again lowered. Bubbles can usually be seen through
the paper, and, instead of raising it, a few gentle taps with the finger
over the spot will generally move the bubble to the edge of the paper.
In practice, some have found it well to moisten the surface of the paper
with a damp sponge, and when quite surface dry to albumenize it. This
should, however, be unnecessary. The sheet should remain on the albumen
a little over a minute, when it could be gently raised by one corner and
allowed to drain over a basin; it is then caught by a couple of American
clips and hung up to dry.[7]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 3.]
Supposing a whole sheet is to be coated, it will be found more
convenient to take the sheet by the corners of _one end_, one in each
hand, and to lower the surface near the end of the dish, and gradually
draw the paper over the side of the dish till the whole surface is flat.
Bubbles can be got rid of as shown above.
Two large dishes are usually employed, and by the time the second sheet
is floated in the second dish, the first sheet of paper is ready for
removal from the first dish. The sheets, when slowly removed from the
bath, are allowed to drain a few seconds, and then thrown over wooden
rods of some two inches in diameter, which are removed to a rack,
and placed near a trough to collect the drainings.[8] When drained
sufficiently the rods are removed to other racks, and the paper allowed
to dry spontaneously.
It is the practice of some albumenized paper manufacturers to hang the
sheets over a line, uncoated side next the line; but this is a mistake,
as it will nearly always be found, on sensitising the paper and exposing
it, that a mark is left across the paper corresponding to the part where
the string touched the back of the paper.
In practice we have found that each sheet of paper takes up about 1/3
oz. of solution, and, of course, its equivalent quantity of salt. The
principal difficulty in albumenizing paper is the occurrence of lines
on the paper in the direction in which it was placed on the surface of
the albumen. Any arrest of motion in floating the paper will cause them,
but more usually it is due to imperfect beating up of the solution. Some
papers are not readily coated with albumen, in which case the remedy
given above may prove effectual; or a little solution of oxgall may be
equally well applied. A want of gloss in the dried albumen may be due to
too long a floating on the fluid, or to floating and drying the paper
in too low a temperature. The explanation of the first cause is that
albumen, when fresh, has an alkaline reaction, due to the presence of a
small quantity of soda, which may be said to be its base, and any alkali
will dissolve the gelatinous sizing of a paper. When the sizing is
dissolved, instead of remaining on the surface, the albumen sinks into
the paper, and thereby the gloss is lost.
When albumen is stale it no longer possesses this alkaline reaction, but
has an acid reaction quite visible on the application of blue litmus
paper to it; the blue colour disappears and is replaced by a red tint.
When in the alkaline state, the paper is much more difficult to coat,
but an acid condition means the production of inferior tones.
_Rolling the Paper._--The paper, when dried, is often rolled with a
heavy pressure to improve the gloss; a copper-plate press is found
to answer admirably, placing the albumenized side next the bed. This
rolling should not be necessary if attention be paid to the temperature
of the preparation room. The higher the temperature the finer will be
the gloss, as we have already said.
CHAPTER III.
THE SENSITIZING BATH FOR ALBUMENIZED PAPER.
To render albumenized paper sensitive to light it has to be treated with
a solution of silver nitrate, and the most convenient method of applying
it is to float it on a dish containing the silver salt in solution. The
first point to consider is the strength of the solution. If we float
albumenized paper (face downwards) on a solution of 10 grains of silver
nitrate to the ounce of water, we shall find, what at first sight may
seem to be remarkable, that the albumen will be dissolved away from the
paper, and that there will be a precipitate left in the silver solution.
Why is this?
It must be remembered that albumen is soluble in water: it is coagulated
or insoluble in water when combined with silver nitrate. The fact
is that the quantity of silver nitrate in the solution we have been
experimenting with is too small. The water dissolves the albumen first,
and then the silver has time to act upon it to form the insoluble
albuminate. If we soak paper in common salt, and treat it in the same
way with the same strength of solution, we shall find that this is not
the case: the silver chloride will remain on the paper. From this we
learn two facts.
1st. That the silver solution has a greater affinity for the chloride
than for the albuminate, and that in an equal mixture of the two more
chloride would be formed than albuminate; in other words, that the
ammonium chloride would be totally converted into silver chloride long
before the silver albuminate was formed.
2nd. That a certain strength of silver nitrate is necessary to prevent
the albumen dissolving from off the paper.
This last fact has fixed the lowest strength of any sensitizing solution
to be thirty grains to the ounce, and even if this be taken as a limit,
it is necessary that the water should be rendered less active by holding
some other soluble matter in its embraces. This is usually effected by
adding some other neutral and inactive nitrates. There does not seem to
be any theoretical limit to the amount of silver nitrate in solution,
but practically it rarely contains more than 80 grains to the ounce,
though occasionally we have heard of it being used of a strength of 100
grains to the ounce.
The important point now presents itself. How are we to fix the strength
of the bath? What principles must we follow?
To answer these questions we extract a passage from another work of this
series.[9]
"If a paper be coated with albumen (say) in which has been dissolved
a certain quantity of a soluble chloride, and floated on a silver
solution, both chloride and albuminate of silver are formed. It depends,
however, on the strength of the solution as to what proportions of each
are present, owing to the fact that the organic compound is much slower
in formation than the chloride, and has less affinity for the silver.
If the silver solution be not sufficiently strong, the chloride may rob
that portion of it with which it is in contact of all the silver before
any (or, at all events, sufficient) albuminate has been formed, the
molecule being composed almost entirely of silver chloride. The stronger
the silver solution the more 'organate' will it contain; whilst if it
be very weak, very little will be present. Hence it is with albumenized
paper which is weakly salted with a silver chloride a weak sensitizing
bath may be used, whilst if it be rich in the chloride it must be of
proportionate strength."
It will now be seen that the proportion of chloride to albumen has
to settle the point. We next have to consider the time during which
the silver should be in contact with the paper when the floating is
commenced. Let us take the case of a strong silver solution, and
consider the action that will follow. Immediately the paper is placed in
contact with the solution, silver chloride is formed, and the amount of
the silver nitrate in the layer of fluid in immediate contact with the
surface being scarcely diminished by the formation of silver chloride,
the albuminate is formed almost simultaneously, forming a film which is
to a great extent impermeable to the liquid. But even before this layer
is coagulated, the next layer of chloride will have been formed, so that
we may say we have one layer of albuminate and chloride of silver, and
one layer of chloride of silver alone.
The further penetration of the silver solution will be very slow; hence,
for fully saturating both the albumen and the salt with silver, the time
of flotation must be prolonged. For some purposes, however, this is not
necessary, as will be seen presently.
Next let us trace the action of a weak solution, not weak enough to
dissolve the albumen off the paper, but of the minimum strength. The
solution, as before, would immediately form the silver chloride, but
before the albumen had coagulated at the surface, the solution would
penetrate to the interior of the film, and then the formation of the
albuminate would proceed nearly equally throughout the whole of the
interior. Evidently, then, in this case, the contact of the silver
solution would be less prolonged than in the former case. If the
floating be prolonged the silver solution in the interior will become
weakened, and partially dissolve the albumen and be carried by the
water into the interior of the paper; it will also partially dissolve
off the surface, and a negative printed on such a paper would have all
the appearance of being dead in lustre, and existing in the paper itself
instead of on the surface.
We may thus summarize:--
1. A paper floated on a strong solution may require long floating.
2. A paper floated on a weak solution requires short floating.
3. And the strength of the solution may be between the 30 grains and
80 grains to the ounce of silver according to the amount of soluble
chloride dissolved in the albumen on the paper when the negative is
really good as regards opacity and delicacy.
The knowledge of the amount of chloride in the paper supplied by dealers
has to be arrived at somehow, and the following method will answer. Cut
up a quarter sheet of the paper into small pieces, and place them in a
couple of ounces of methylated spirit. This will dissolve out most of
the chloride, and should be decanted off. Another two ounces of spirit
should be added to the paper, and, after thoroughly soaking, should be
decanted off, and added to the other spirit. The spirit containing the
chloride may then be placed in a glass vessel standing in hot water,
when it will evaporate and leave the chloride behind. It may be weighed;
but since it is better to know how much silver chloride (AgCl) would be
formed, the residue should be dissolved in a few drops of water, and a
little silver nitrate added. The silver chloride will be precipitated,
and should be carefully washed with water, and then be filtered, the
paper being opened out and dried before the fire on filter paper. The
chloride is then detached and weighed; 3-1/2 grains of silver chloride
would show that a weak bath should be used, whilst 10 grains would show
that a strong bath was required.
With most brands of albumenized paper directions are issued as to the
best strength of silver nitrate solution for sensitizing, and a fair
estimate of the chloride present can be gained from such directions.
A weak solution loses much of its strength by each sheet of paper
floated, much more proportionally, in fact, than a strong solution,
since the same amount of fluid is absorbed by the paper in each case,
whilst the amount of silver abstracted from the _whole_ is also equal,
which reduces the strength per ounce more with the former than with
the latter. A weak sensitizing solution, therefore, requires much
more attention than a strong one: crystals of silver nitrate must be
constantly added to the former. In practice and for general work, then,
we recommend a moderately strong bath, the method of making up of which
we shall describe.
To make up 2 pints of solution with a strength of 50 grains to the
ounce, we shall require 2,000 grains of silver nitrate. This is
carefully weighed out in the scales, a piece of _filter paper being
placed in each pan_. By adopting this plan freedom from all impurities
that may cling to the pans will be avoided, and the silver nitrate
will be perfectly pure. Place the silver salt in a large clean bottle,
and add half-a-pint of water to it, and shake it to dissolve it. The
best water for the purpose is distilled water; but filtered rain, pure
spring, or river water answers well. If the water contain any chlorides,
it will be shown by a milkiness due to a formation of silver chloride.
This must be filtered out when the remaining pint and a-half of water
is added. The solution is now ready for use, and, being of the simplest
character, is not to be excelled, though the addition of some soluble
salts may be advantageous, particularly in dry climates or in very dry
weather. Such salts are found in sodium nitrate, or ammonium nitrate, as
much as equal weights of either of these substances being added. Thus
our formula would stand as follows were these additions made:--
_Original Solution._
1.--Silver nitrate 50 grains
Water 1 ounce
_Modified Solution._
2.--Silver nitrate 50 grains
Ammonium nitrate or
sodium nitrate 50 "
Water 1 ounce
The reason of the addition of the ammonium or sodium nitrate is that
prints are better obtained on paper which is not absolutely free from
water. When very dry, the liberated chlorine (see page 32) is apt to
attack the albuminate, whereas it is deprived of much of its activity
when it is able to be absorbed by water, which, in the presence of
light, is decomposed into hydrochloric acid and oxygen.[10]
Hydrochloric acid can attack the silver nitrate present in the pores
of the paper, and produce fresh silver chloride. If the paper were
quite dry, the liberated chlorine would scarcely be able to attack
even the silver. Moisture, though very little, is desirable. In the
excessively dry climate of India, &c., in the summer, one or other of
these deliquescent salts should be invariably present for the purpose
indicated, unless fuming be resorted to.
The sensitizing bath should also never be allowed to be acid with nitric
acid, since the resulting prints would invariably be poor.
The best way of securing this neutral state is by keeping a little
carbonate of silver at the bottom of the bottle in which the solution is
kept. A few drops of a solution of sodium carbonate added to the bottle
over-night will secure this. The reason why nitric acid is to be avoided
is shown by placing a print in dilute nitric acid. It is well known that
darkened silver chloride is unaffected by it; but the print will be
found to change colour, and to become duller and redder than if washed
in water alone. The nitric acid evidently attacks the albumen. Nitric
acid decomposes the carbonate of silver (which, be it remembered, is an
insoluble body), forming silver nitrate, and liberating carbonic acid.[11]
Alum in the printing bath has also been recommended for preventing the
bath from discolouring, and it is effective in that it hardens the
surface of the albumen; but the ordinary explanation of its effect is
defective. If a solution of common alum be added to the silver nitrate
we get silver sulphate (which is best out of the bath, and it is
slightly soluble in the solution), and aluminium nitrate is formed.[12]
The same effect would be produced if aluminium nitrate were added to the
bath solution. We, however, give a means of adding it as recommended by
some writers. When filtering the solution, put a small lump of alum in
the filter paper, and pour the solution over it, or add one grain of
alum to every ounce of solution, and then filter.
CHAPTER IV.
HOW TO KEEP THE SENSITIZING BATH IN ORDER.
Experience tells us, however strong we may make the bath solution to
coagulate the albumen on the paper, that a certain amount of organic
matter will always be carried into it. At first this is not apparent,
since it remains colourless in the solution; but after a time, after
floating a few sheets of paper, the organic silver compound gradually
decomposes, and the solution becomes of a brown or red tint, and if
paper were floated on it in this condition there would be a dark surface
and uneven sensitizing. It is, therefore, necessary to indicate the
various means that may be employed to get rid of this impurity. The
earliest, if not one of the best, is by the addition of white China
clay, which is known in commerce as kaolin. A teaspoonful is placed in
the bottle containing the solution, and well shaken up; the organic
matter adheres to it, and precipitates to the bottom, and the liquid can
be filtered through filter-paper or washed cotton-wool, when it will
be found decolourized. Another mode of getting the liquid out of the
bottle is to syphon it off by any syphon arrangement, and this prevents
a waste in the solution from the absorption of the filtering medium. The
accompanying arrangement (fig. 4) will be found useful for the purpose,
and can be applied to other solutions where decantation is necessary. A
is a wide-mouthed bottle holding the solution. B is a cork fitting the
mouth, in which two holes have been bored to fit the two tubes, D and C,
which are bent to the form shown. When the kaolin has subsided to the
bottom, air is forced by the mouth into the bottle through C, the liquid
rises over the bend of the tube D, and syphons off to the level of the
bottom of the tube inserted into the liquid, provided the end of D,
outside the bottle, comes below it.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 4.]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 5.]
To bend a tube, a common gas flame is superior to a Bunsen burner. The
tube is placed in the bright part of the flame in the position shown; by
this means a good length of it gets heated, and a gentle bend is made
without choking the bore, which would be the case were a point of a
flame used.
Another method of purifying the solution is by adding a few drops of
hydrochloric (muriatic) acid to it. Chloride of silver is formed, and
when well shaken up, carries down with it most of the organic matter,
but leaves the bath acid from the formation of nitric acid.[13] This
must be neutralized unless a little silver carbonate is left at the
bottom of the bottle as described at page 20. A camphor solution may
also be added for the same purpose. Make a saturated solution of camphor
in spirits of wine, and add a couple of drachms to the solution, and
shake well up. The camphor will collect the albumen, and it can be
filtered out. In case the first dose does not decolourize it, another
one must be added.
Another plan is to add potassium permanganate (permanganate of potash)
to it, till such time as the solution takes a faint permanent rose
tint. The theory is that the organic matter is oxidized by the oxygen
liberated from the permanganate, and falls to the bottom. It is not
strictly true, however, and the solution will never be as free from
organic matter as when the other methods are employed.
The final and best method is to add a small quantity of sodium carbonate
(say 5 grains), and expose it to daylight. When the organic matter
becomes oxidized at the expense of the silver nitrate, the metallic
silver with the oxidized organic matter will fall to the bottom. This
plan answers admirably when time is no object, but in dull weather the
action is slow. When once the precipitation fairly commences it goes on
quickly, and if a little freshly precipitated metallic silver be left at
bottom of the bottle the action is much more rapid. This is a wrinkle
worth remembering in all photographic operations where precipitation is
resorted to.
We have hitherto supposed that the only contamination of the bath is
organic matter, but it must be borne in mind that each sheet of paper
floated on the solution transfers a certain amount of nitrate of the
alkali[14] with which the albumen is salted.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 6.]
It will thus be seen that in an old bath there will be no need to add
the soluble nitrates given in page 17, since they will be already
formed. When they are in excess the best plan is to precipitate the
silver by some means,[15] but we select one which is easy of application,
since it requires no watching. Evaporate the solution to half its
bulk, and slightly acidify it with nitric acid (10 drops to the pint
of solution will suffice); throw some ordinary granulated zinc into
the jar or bottle containing it; the silver will now be rapidly thrown
down in the metallic state, and in the course of two or three hours
the action will be complete. Next carefully pour off all the fluid as
close as possible to the residue. Pick out all the lumps of zinc, and
add a little dilute hydrochloric acid to dissolve up all the small
particles of zinc which may be amongst the precipitated silver. Filter
the solution away, and wash the residue once or twice with water. Take
out the filter paper, and dry it before a fire, or in an oven, and then
detach the silver, and transfer it to a small crucible, which place,
with its contents, over a Bunsen burner or spirit lamp flame till it is
red hot. The heat will destroy all organic matter, leaving a residue of
carbonous matter behind, which, after subsequent operations, will be
eliminated by filtration. Next cover the silver with nitric acid,[16]
and in an evaporating dish slightly warm it over a spirit lamp or
Bunsen burner. Red fumes will appear, and when all action has ceased,
more acid must be added till such a time that very nearly (but not
quite) all the silver is dissolved up. Then evaporate off all the fluid
and allow it to cool, when water can be added to such an extent that
it is _over strength_ for the bath. Now measure the whole bulk of the
solution in a glass measure, and test by the argentometer for strength.
An argentometer is, in reality, an instrument for taking the specific
gravity of a liquid. It is as shown in the figure. A B is a glass tube,
inside of which is a graduated scale showing grains; C is a hollow
glass cylinder, which has a little glass ball filled with mercury. When
immersed in water, the instrument sinks till the scale reads 0--that
is, A B is deeply immersed. When any soluble salt is dissolved in the
water, the stem rises further. If the soluble salt be silver nitrate,
the scale is made to read grains per ounce. It is then evident, if the
bath contains any other soluble salt besides the nitrate of silver, the
readings will be untrustworthy. Supposing you have a total quantity of
10-1/4 ounces of solution, and the argentometer tells you it is of a
strength of 105 grains to the ounce, you must make a small calculation
to see how much water you must add. In 10-1/4 ounces of solution there
will be 10-1/4 × 105 or 1076-1/4 grains of silver nitrate. If you want
to make the bath 40 grains to the ounce, you must divide this quantity
by 40, which is very nearly 27. The original amount of fluid (10-1/4
ounces), when deducted from this number of (27) ounces, will give you
the amount (16-3/4 ounces) of water that is to be added to give you a
bath of the required strength. When the water is added, the solution
should be filtered from the carbonaceous matter, and the bath, after
neutralizing with sodium carbonate, will be ready for use.
CHAPTER V.
APPLYING THE SILVERING SOLUTION TO THE ALBUMENIZED PAPER.
As each piece of paper takes somewhere about five minutes to sensitize
and hang up to dry, it is evident that the larger the piece of paper
sensitised the greater will be the saving in time in this operation.
Practically a whole sheet of paper, which is about 22 inches by 18, is
the maximum ordinary size, whilst it may be convenient to float a piece
as small as 3-1/4 by 4-1/4. There is not much difficulty in floating
either one or the other if ordinary care be taken, but it is no use
disguising the fact that large sheets are sometimes faultily sensitized
even by experienced hands, if the solution be not in a proper state. The
great enemy to success is the formation of bubbles on the surface of the
solution, and if it be at all contaminated with organic matter they are
more liable to be met with than if the bath be new. It may be taken as a
maxim that no paper should be floated if, to commence with, the bath be
not purified. A flat dish of about 2-1/2 inches in height, and an inch
larger in breadth and length than the paper to be floated, is used, and
the solution poured in to a depth of 1/2 inch. The paper is grasped by
the two hands as shown at page 10, so that a convex albumen surface is
formed downwards, which is placed diagonally across the dish and lowered
on to the surface of the solution; the hands are at the same time
separated outwards, so that the whole surface of the paper is caused
to float on it without any arrest. By this means all air is forced out
before the paper, and no bubbles should be beneath. To make assurance
double sure, the paper is raised from the corners which were not grasped
by the hands, and if by any chance a small bubble should be found, it
is immediately broken by the point of a clean quill pen or glass rod.
Before floating the paper the surface of the solution should be examined
for scum or bubbles, both of which may be removed by passing a strip of
clean blotting-paper across it. The dish employed should be scrupulously
clean, and in cold weather it is a good plan to warm both it and the
solution before the fire previous to use. In warm weather, the albumen
of the paper may be in a very horny condition, which increases the
liability to form bubbles. The writers have found that if the sheet of
paper be exposed to the steam passing from a kettle of boiling water for
a few seconds (moving it so that every portion shall come in contact
with it) just before sensitising, the surface becomes more tractable,
and in a better condition for sensitizing; keeping the paper in a moist
atmosphere effects the same end.
The length of time for floating the paper depends on the subjects to be
printed, _but, as a rule_, three minutes with the 50-grain bath will
be found to answer for the majority of negatives. When the proper time
has elapsed, a corner of the paper is raised from the solution by means
of a glass rod, and grasped by the thumb and forefinger of the right
hand. It is then raised _very slowly_ from off the solution till another
corner is clear, when that is grasped by the forefinger and thumb of the
left hand; and it is finally withdrawn entirely, and drained a minute
from the lowest corner into the dish. It is next hung up to dry by a
corner which should be fastened to an American clip (fig. 7) suspended
from a line stretched across the dark room, taking care to keep the
corner which last left the solution the lowest. A piece of _clean_
blotting-paper about one inch long by 1/2 an inch wide is brought in
contact with this latter corner, and adheres to it from the moisture.
This collects the draining from the paper whilst drying, and prevents a
loss of silver, since it can subsequently be detached and placed amongst
the residues for burning.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 7.]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 8.]
There is another mode of floating large sheets of paper, which is
sometimes recommended. One corner is turned up about a quarter of an
inch. This is held by the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, and the
opposite corner of the diagonal held by the right hand. The first corner
is brought on the solution near the opposite corner of the dish to that
towards which it will eventually be near. The sheet, having assumed a
convex form, is drawn by the left hand across the dish, the right hand
being gradually turned to allow the whole surface to come slowly in
contact with the solution. Air-bubbles are said to be avoided by this
means, though for our own part we see no practical advantage in it over
the last method.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 9.]
Some operators also, when lifting the paper from the dish, pass it
over a glass rod placed as in the figure, in order to get rid of all
superfluous fluid from the surface. This is a poor substitute for
withdrawing the paper slowly from the dish, since capillary attraction
is much more effective and even in its action than this rude mechanical
means. By those who do not possess patience, however, it may be tried.
Some practical photographers also "blot off" the excess of silver,
but this is a dangerous practice unless there is a certainty that no
"anti-chlor" has been used in preparing the blotting-paper. For our own
part we recommend the usual mode of draining the paper. When surface
dry, it can be dried in a drying box. The following is a kind which has
been adopted by one eminent photographer, and is excellent in principle.
Over a flat and closed galvanized iron bath erect a cupboard. Fig. 10
gives the elevation, and fig. 11 the section. A is the bath, D the
cupboard, which may conveniently be closed with a roller shutter,[17] B,
passing over _c c_, and is weighted by a bar of lead, so as to nearly
balance the weight of the shutter when closed. A couple of Bunsen
gas-burners, E E, heat the water in A; the steam generated is carried
up the flue F, which also carries off the products of the combustion of
the gas. The paper may be suspended from laths tacked at the top of the
cupboard by means of American clips.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 10.]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 11.]
CHAPTER VI.
WASHED SENSITIVE PAPER.
For some classes of work sensitized paper may be washed with advantage
previous to drying, and there is much economy in this plan, particularly
in hot weather, since it keeps of a purer white for a much longer
period than where the silver nitrate is allowed to dry on the surface.
It may not be out of place to call attention to the action of silver
nitrate on the paper. If a stick of lunar caustic be applied to the
skin when dried, there is a peculiar burning effect produced, and even
in the dark the cuticle becomes discoloured, though not black. In the
albumenized paper we have albumen and the gelatine sizing, and these
substances behave somewhat like the skin. The gelatine particularly will
become oxidized at the expense of the silver, a reddish organic oxide
being formed; and again, if the silver nitrate be alkaline or strictly
neutral, we have the same action occurring as when we precipitate
metallic silver by means of an alkali, and an organic body such as sugar
of milk. The gelatine takes the place of the latter. When the free
silver nitrate is removed, the tendency for the spontaneous darkening
of the paper is much diminished, since the chloride and albuminate of
silver are much less readily reduced than the nitrate. The following
plan is adopted for washing the paper:--The paper, after floating,
is drawn twice rapidly through a dish of rain or distilled water,
and, unless some other substance which can absorb chlorine be added
to the last wash water, care should be taken not to soak out all the
free nitrate, as then the paper would produce flat prints. It is then
hung up to dry as before. Immediately before use it must be fumed with
ammonia, in order that the prints may be "plucky," and free from that
peculiar speckiness of surface which is known to the silver printer as
"measles." We can readily trace the "measles" to their source. Suppose
all free silver nitrate is washed away, and the paper be then exposed to
light, the chloride is rapidly converted into subchloride, and chlorine
is given off (see page 5); if there be nothing to absorb it at once it
will attack the albuminate, which is blackened at the same time, and
fresh chloride will be formed in little minute spots. These discolour,
and are of different tint to the rest of the print, and give rise to
the appearance of measles. This, of course, is not so marked when a
little free silver nitrate is left in the paper; but as what is removed
is principally removed from the surface, it may still be unpleasantly
discernible. Fuming obviates it entirely if properly performed, for
chlorine and ammonia combine to form finally ammonium chloride, a
neutral and inactive salt.
Any other chlorine absorber may be substituted; thus citric acid,
potassium nitrite, and many others are effective, and cause vigorous
prints to be produced. Perhaps the easiest way of giving the paper the
necessary amount of ammonia is that recommended by Colonel Wortley. This
is to place overnight the pads of the printing-frame, if they be of
felt, into a closed box in which is placed a saucer containing a couple
of drachms of liquor ammoniæ, and to withdraw them as required for the
printing-frames. The pads will be thoroughly impregnated with the vapour
of ammonia, and a couple or more prints, in succession, may be made
before it is necessary to change them.
The ordinary method of fuming is that used in America. Hearn describes
a box, which is very convenient and simple in construction. He says:
"Take any common wooden box, large enough for the purpose, and make a
door of suitable size for it, which, when shut, will totally exclude
all light. Make a false bottom in this about six inches, or so, from
the real one, and perforate it with holes of about the same size that
a gimlet would make. These holes should be very numerous, and at the
centre there should be, if anything, a smaller number of them, because
the saucer containing the liquor ammonia is generally placed at the
centre of the real bottom of the box."
For our own part we dislike the false bottom as constructed, and
recommend one of fine gauze, and, instead of placing half-an-ounce of
ammonia in the saucer as Hearn directs, we prefer to soak half-a-dozen
sheets of blotting-paper in ammonium chloride solution, about 20 grains
to the ounce, and the same number of sheets soaked in lime water; one
sheet of each are placed together, and ammonia is liberated by double
decomposition; calcium chloride being also formed.
This method is excellent in hot, dry weather, since it imparts a certain
amount of moisture to the paper. In damp weather it is a good plan to
dry the vapour by sprinkling on the gauze calcium chloride, which will
rapidly absorb the aqueous vapour, and will allow the ammonia to pass
on unimpeded. The sheets of paper are held at the top of the box by
American clips, suspended from laths about three inches apart, and it
is not a bad plan to fasten a lath on to their bottom edge by the same
means, to do away with their curling. To fume a single piece of paper
it may be pinned up to the inside of the top of the lid of a box, and a
drachm of ammonia sprinkled on cotton wool distributed at the bottom.
The point to be attended to is that the fuming shall be even, and it is
evident that the ammonia should rise equally from any part of the bottom
of the box. In the plan of the box given above, the bottom of the sheet
is apt to get a little more ammonia than the top. The time of fuming
depends on so many things that a rule can scarcely be given for it;
twenty minutes may be considered about the extreme limit.
If this sensitizing bath be acid, the time must evidently be longer than
when it is strictly neutral or slightly alkaline; and if the negative be
hard, it will require to be less fumed than if it be of a weak nature,
since the action of ammonia is to cause rapid darkening in the deep
shadows. In hot weather the fuming should be shorter than in cold, since
the ammonia volatilizes much more rapidly when the temperature is high.
On the whole, we recommend Colonel Wortley's plan of fuming the pads in
preference to fuming the paper.
Another mode of preserving the paper from discolouration is to add
citric acid to the printing bath, which is effective owing to the fact
given at page 32. The following formula is a good one, and has answered
with the writer. It is--
Silver nitrate 50 grains
Citric acid 20 "
Water 1 ounce
The paper is floated for the ordinary length of time, when it is dried
thoroughly and placed between sheets of pure blotting-paper. It will
keep in its pristine state for months, if excluded from the air. It is
better to fume this paper strongly before use, or the toning becomes a
difficult matter.
Ordinary sensitized paper may be preserved for a considerable time if,
when dry, it is placed between sheets of blotting-paper saturated with a
solution of carbonate of soda, and dried.
Washed sensitized paper is also improved in sensitiveness by floating it
for a few seconds on--
Citric acid 20 grains
Potassium nitrite 10 "
Water 1 ounce
It can be fumed, when dried, in the usual manner.
In the YEAR-BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY for 1880 Mr. A. Borland
recommends the following modification:--
He floats the paper on nitrate of silver, as usual, and after it has
drained surface dry, blots off any drops that may remain at the edges,
and then floats the _back_ of the paper for about three minutes on the
following bath:--
Nitrate of soda 1 ounce
Distilled water 16 ounces
This is rendered slightly acid by a little solution of _freshly_
prepared citric acid in water. The degree of acidity is regulated by
litmus paper (the blue specimen), which should be slightly reddened
by it. After this solution has been mixed about ten minutes, it is
filtered, and the paper floated. Mr. Borland says the paper keeps well,
and prints the same as ordinary paper, and any tone may be produced.
CHAPTER VII.
CUTTING PAPER.
We have often come across operators who have no really definite plan on
which they cut up their paper for a day's work, and they have little
idea of the most economical place of dividing the sheets. The following
remarks by Mr. Hearn, which appeared in the PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS,
1874, will be useful to the printer, and, being so extremely well
described, we take the liberty of reproducing them.
"In cutting up the paper for printing, due regard should be given to
the materials employed. In the first place, the fingers should be free
from anything that will stain or soil the paper, and they should never
touch the _silvered_ side, but always the _back_. The hands should be
perfectly dry, free even from any perspiration, for if this is not
strictly regarded in the handling of the paper, 'finger stains' will
appear on those parts of the paper with which the fingers come in
contact. To guard against this, a rough towel should be suspended in a
convenient place, and the hands wiped upon it as often as may be found
necessary--say once in every five or ten minutes. An ivory newspaper
cutter, about eight inches long and an inch wide, together with a
suitable sized pair of shears, will be all of the instruments necessary.
"In cutting the paper for very large prints, such as 13 by 16, 14 by 18,
16 by 20, &c., the beginner had best (to obtain the right size) lay over
the sensitive paper the proper sized mat that is to be placed over the
print when finished, and then cut accordingly. Considerable paper can be
saved in this way, and printed in card size.
"There should always be an assortment of different sized mats in the
printing room; one of each size will do, which should be kept expressly
for this purpose.
"In cutting the paper for an 11 by 14 print, the length of the sheet
is generally placed before the printer, and the paper bent over to the
further edge of the sheet, and then creased, and thus cut into two equal
pieces, one of which can be used for the contemplated print. I would
recommend that instead of taking exactly one half of the sheet of paper,
as described above, to take about _an inch more_ than the half, so as to
allow for any slight tear that may happen along the edges of the paper
during the washing, toning, &c., and also so as to be sure of having the
paper wide enough for the different sized mats.
"I have seen some nice prints printed upon the exact half of a sheet of
paper, which, when taken from the final washing (and the edges trimmed,
being slightly torn), were then too narrow to be covered with the proper
sized mats, and had to be rejected; whereas, if in cutting this paper
allowance had been made for this final trimming, the prints would have
been saved. The rest of the sheet can be cut very well into sixteen or
eighteen carte pieces.
"In cutting cabinets out of a sheet, fifteen is all that can very well
be obtained, and to get that number lay the sheet on a wide table, or
printing bench (with the length of it running from right to left), and
divide it into three equal parts. By laying the cabinet glass on these
strips of paper, and cutting the paper a little wider than the glass,
five cabinets can be obtained from each strip, and fifteen out of the
whole. These pieces will be plenty large enough, both in length and
width; besides, this is a very convenient and economical way to cut the
paper without waste.
[Illustration:
22 inches
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
18 inches. | | | | | |
| | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |4-2/5| 6 | | |
| |inch.| inch| | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
_Fig._ 12.]
"By a glance at the cut (fig. 12) it will be seen that the size of the
pieces will be 4-2/5 by 6 inches, and consequently there will be more
room for the width than there will be for the length. The edges of the
width side of the paper can be trimmed a little, as there is usually
some little tear, or some other defect, that can thus advantageously be
got rid of. Often, when there are only a few cabinets to be printed,
I take a quarter-sheet, and bend over the length of it to about
three-quarters of an inch of the opposite side, crease it, and then
cut with the paper-knife. You thus obtain a large and small piece; the
smaller one of these can be cut into four cards, and the larger one
can be cut in two, and thus obtain two generous size cabinets; or the
printer can use the larger of the two pieces for printing the 4 by 4
size. This is the way I obtain my 4 by 4 pieces when I wish them.
"The beginner must remember that in bending over the _length_ of a sheet
of paper 18 by 22 inches in size, the divided paper will be 11 by 18
inches in size, which is termed, in the language of the printing room,
half-sheet.
"To obtain the quarter-sheet, the _length of the half-sheet_ is cut
equally in two pieces, and then the size will be 9 by 11 inches.
"A glance at fig. 13 will show that either a generous size 4 by 4, or a
couple of nice cabinet pieces, together with four cartes, can be easily
obtained from a quarter-sheet.
"To obtain thirty-two cartes, quarter the sheet, and divide each quarter
into eight equal pieces.
[Illustration:
9 inches.
+-----+------+
| | 4×4 |
|Cab. | |
| | Cab. |
+-----+------+
11 inches. | | |
| 1 | 2 |
+-----+------+
| | |
| 3 | 4 |
+-----+------+
_Fig._ 13.]
[Illustration:
9 inches.
+-----+-----+-----+
| | | |
| | 3×3 | |
+-----+-----+-----+
11 inches. | | | |
| | | |
+-----+-----+-----+
| 3×9 inches, |
| Stereoscope. |
+-----+-----+-----+
_Fig._ 14.]
"To obtain thirty-six pieces out of a sheet, it is necessary, for
convenience, to first quarter it, and then divide it into three equal
strips (fig. 14) taken from the _length_ of the paper. The pieces, as
thus cut, will measure 3-2/3 by 9 inches, which will answer admirably
for the stereoscopic size. Each one of these strips of paper can be
cut into three good sized cartes, making nine out of a quarter, and
thirty-six out of a whole sheet.
"Forty-two cartes can be obtained very neatly by laying the sheet before
you (fig. 4), and dividing the length into seven equal parts; when done,
each strip should measure 3-1/7 by 18 inches in size. The whole number
of pieces will be forty-two. It will be seen that the size of the carte
pieces (3 by 3-1/7 inches) only allows very little room for waste paper
in trimming after printing, and thus it will be found necessary to
exercise some care in placing these pieces on the negative for printing.
[Illustration:
18 inches.
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
22 inches. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
_Fig._ 15.]
"To obtain the forty-two carte pieces from the sheet without waste,
great care is required in sensitizing the paper to prevent tearing, and
also to prevent silver from getting on the back of it; in cutting it
either the shears or the paper-knife should be used with care. _Do not
tear the paper with the hands_, as is very often done, especially when
the printer is in a hurry.
"In making out the above, I have considered the sheet of paper to be 18
by 22 inches in size, but it is seldom that the sheet measures _exactly_
this, for the _length_ often measures from one quarter to one inch more,
but never less, while the width is invariably the same. When this is the
case, a little better margin is allowed in cutting the sheet up, which
is a good thing, especially when a large number of small pieces are
to be obtained from the sheet. Forty-two pieces is all that should be
obtained from a sheet of paper which measures 18 by 22 (or 18 by 22-1/2,
&c.) inches, because the pieces of paper are now as small as they
should be with safe results to the prints, on account of bad edges, &c.,
which it is often necessary to trim after printing. There is a way to
obtain forty-eight, and even fifty-two pieces of paper from the sheet,
but I would not advise any of my readers to try to obtain that quantity,
as there are many disadvantages connected with it that more than
neutralize the benefits. The paper is sometimes cut up to the _exact
carte size_, and then printed up as it is, thus saving the trimming of
the prints after printing. This is, perhaps (?), a good way, but for
the beginner it is very risky, because the paper will have to be placed
_exactly on the negative_, or else the print will be worthless. Even to
the experienced printer this is very difficult, because the greatest
care and skill are required to do it _as it should be done_; then the
_inexperienced_ printer could not hope to do it successfully."
CHAPTER VIII.
PRINTING-FRAMES.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 16.]
There are a variety of printing-frames in the market, each of which may
have something to recommend it; and yet, as a rule, the simpler and
more uniform the frames are, the more handy are they for the printer,
since he rapidly becomes accustomed to handling them, and knows their
peculiarities. The simplest pattern is one introduced by Meagher, as
shown in fig. 16. The negative rests on india-rubber strips which line
a framework of its exact size, and a folding back, as shown, covers
it. The paper is pressed on to the negative by a pad, and the back on
that by means of two brass springs. This is a very excellent pattern
for cabinet pictures and cartes, but we can scarcely recommend it for
anything larger, since even if it were possible to supply sufficient
pressure to secure proper contact of the paper, the negative would be in
danger of being cracked.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 17.]
For all sizes above cabinet, the printing frame as given in the figure
is the best. The construction will be seen at once. In the front part of
the frame is a piece of thick plate glass (depending for its thickness
on the size of the frame). On this the negative rests, and over this
again are the necessary pads and backboard, which is clamped down by
means of two cross-bars, on which springs are fixed. An increase of
pressure may be given by increasing the thickness of the pad (which
may consist of smooth felt) next the negative, or by sheets of thick
blotting-paper quite free from all folding marks.
Sometimes the back of the frame is hinged in three pieces,[18] and this
is almost essential for large prints (say 2 feet by 1 foot 6 inches),
since every part of the picture should be capable of examination during
the progress in printing. With a simple single hinged backboard this is
impossible.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 14.]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 15.]
When large negatives are to be printed, the plate glass front should
always have at least an inch clear all round. For smaller negatives
(say 12 by 10 and under) half-an-inch clear is sufficient. This allows
a certain latitude in the position of the negative, and enables the
fingers to get at the paper without inconvenience. In the frames in
which the front of the negative is unsupported this cannot be the
case, and for this reason (as well as those given above) they are not
recommended for large prints.
CHAPTER IX.
PREPARING A LANDSCAPE NEGATIVE FOR PRINTING.
Landscape negatives are rarely ever in perfect harmony for printing,
and much may be done by judicious doctoring of the best of negatives
to secure the best of prints. With moderate negatives it is absolutely
essential that they should be improved. Let us take the example of a
hard landscape negative, which if printed so that the deep shades should
show detail, would show none in the high lights.
A piece of thin tissue paper (the kind known as _papier minerale_ is
the best), of the size of the negative, is damped evenly with a sponge,
and carefully pasted on the back of the negative. The negative is then
held up to the light, and the high lights carefully traced with a
faint line by means of a pencil. These are then cut out by means of a
sharp penknife, and a trial print taken in the shade. If it be found
that the shadows still print too deeply when the detail in the high
light is visible, another thickness of tissue paper may be applied,
cutting out this time, perhaps, the high lights and the half tones.
Another trial print will show whether the object is attained. If still
not satisfactory, crayon in powder from the scrapings of a stick of
crayon, or blacklead, may be applied by a stump to the parts requiring
it. It may happen that the effects of the tissue paper may be seen in
the print by the light penetrating beneath it, and causing the edges
of the shadows to print too dark. In this case, which may arise from
the negative being taken on a thin glass plate, the parts covering the
high lights, and which were cut out, should be indented with a jagged
edge such as this, the dotted line showing where the cut would come if
it had been cut out in a clean sharp line. Another mode which we have
sometimes found successful, though care is required in employing it, is
to coat the back of the plate with a very dilute emulsion of a quarter
the ordinary consistency, then to expose it, through the negative, and
develop with one of the ordinary alkaline developers (we prefer the
ferrous oxalate),[19] and then fix. This last film may be protected with
a layer of albumen 1 part of albumen to 25 parts of water. By this means
the shadows become subdued and the contrasts diminished, and there is no
danger of any sharp demarcations in the shades being apparent.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 16.]
There is one way of improving a hard negative, if taken on a gelatine
plate, which would probably be dangerous in the hands of a novice, but
which is most effective when used with skill and judgment, but must be
applied before the plate is varnished. One of the most popular methods
of reducing the density of an over-intensified gelatine negative is with
a very weak solution of perchloride of iron. The writers have found that
the reducing agent may be applied locally. Let us suppose the case of a
figure in a landscape in a light dress, which produces a white patch in
the print. The negative should be placed in a dish of water, then lifted
up until the part to be reduced is just above the level of the water;
a solution of perchloride of iron should then be applied to the part
with a camel's-hair pencil, care being taken that it does not spread
over the edges or run down the negative. When this is found to be taking
place, the plate should be allowed to fall into the water; it can then
be lifted again, and the operation proceeded with. It is not easy to
give any strength for the solution of perchloride of iron, but it is
best to begin weak, and strengthen as required. A saturated solution has
been used in an obstinate case without any mischief being done, but this
required very careful watching.
For landscapes, Mr. England has successfully used a strong solution
of cyanide of potassium with the same object. He moistens the parts
of the gelatine plates which require reduction with water applied by
a paint-brush, and afterwards, with another, applies the cyanide. The
reduction can be watched as it progresses, and by a judicious use of the
brush no sharp line of demarcation between the reduced and unaltered
parts is visible.
With a thin negative the tissue paper may be applied as before, only
in this case the shadows are left bare, the half tones have one
thickness of tissue paper over them, the highest lights two or three. An
emulsion may be used in this case as well, only instead of fixing the
transparency which is at the back, the precipitated silver is dissolved
away by nitric acid, and the developer applied again. By this means,
the density in the high lights may be doubled if required. It must
again be repeated, that in all cases the use of emulsion requires great
care, seeing that if any get on the varnished surface, markings are
sure to occur. It sometimes happens, especially with gelatine plates,
that the corners of one side of a negative print too dark. This is very
visible in sky and sea pictures. The careful application of blacklead
on the tissue paper on the back of the plate may often save a beautiful
negative that would be otherwise useless.
In most landscape negatives there is a want of atmosphere (by which
we mean the haze always present in the air) in the distance and middle
distances, and we have found that by applying one piece of tissue-paper
to the back of the negative to cover the middle distance and distances,
and another to cover the distance alone, atmospheric effect is produced.
The effect of atmosphere is usually shown by grey tones as compared
with those of the foreground, and the greyer they are the more distant
should the objects be away in nature. This effect is accomplished by the
tissue-paper. It must, however, be remembered that the lights of distant
objects are greyer than those of the foreground, hence the tissue paper
must be used with judgment to prevent the distant lights from appearing
too white. This sometimes is effected by giving _the lights in the
foreground_ a covering of tissue paper. We very much doubt if there
exists any landscape negative which would not be improved by the use of
tissue paper, since photography often tends to do away with atmosphere.
We have, in some cases, strengthened the high lights on the film side
with the paint-brush and Prussian blue. This requires skill, and should
be done very sparingly. It may be objected that when these artifices
are resorted to, that the photograph must of necessity fail in regard
to truthfulness. The answer to this objection is quite easy to give.
If a photograph were true in itself, they should never be resorted to,
but since it always falls short of the truth, it is quite legitimate to
give it the effect that a perfect process would do, by which we mean one
in which the intensity of the negative is exactly proportional to the
intensity of the light producing it.
It has been shown in the PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS of 1877, that the
gradations of a negative are never perfect, and the use of the tissue
paper, &c., makes it more nearly in accord with nature.
These remarks, of course, have reference only to what we might call "a
good printing negative;" the advisability of doctoring poor negatives
is scarcely open to argument. Improve as much as you like, but be very
careful not to overdo it.
CHAPTER X.
PRINTING THE LANDSCAPE PICTURE.
A trial print from a negative should first of all be taken, to enable
the operator to gauge as to how much is required to be done to it.
A piece of sensitized paper of the exact size of the plate is taken
and examined by transmitted light in the dark room. If there be any
appearance of markings due to bubbles, or of star-like metallic spots,
probably due to small particles of iron being in the albumen, it need
not be rejected altogether. Should there be any of these defects, the
sheet should be placed on one side to cut up into smaller sizes. We will
suppose that we are going to print a 15 by 12 negative. A strong frame
(of the description given at page 44) must be employed, and the thick
plate glass carefully freed from all dust, grit, or stains. The back
of the negative is then placed in contact with it, so as to occupy the
centre of the frame. The piece of sensitive paper is placed over it, and
the back placed loosely over it, and is then carried face downward into
the place where the printing is to be done, and the frame is placed face
downwards on the floor, and left for a few minutes. By this artifice the
paper takes the same degree of humidity as the atmosphere, and there
will be no danger of any cockling, and consequent (as it is termed) want
of contact, between the paper and the negative. This is only necessary
when there is any very great difference in the temperature of the drying
room and the place where the prints are to be exposed, and in some
establishments the difficulty is met by carrying the whole supply of
paper in a closed box into the latter place, and allowing it to absorb
any moisture that it can take up. In any case, the paper is next to be
placed in absolute contact with the negative, and we strongly recommend
the use of sheets of blotting-paper cut to the proper size (about four
thicknesses will be sufficient), and backed by a thick pad of closely
woven and very smooth felt. These latter are rather expensive, but are
very durable if ordinary care be taken of them. The blotting-paper is
useful in causing contact, and also because any accidental presence
of silver nitrate solution on the back of the sensitive paper is
immediately detected, and there is, consequently, no danger of carrying
it to another print and spoiling it, which it might do were it absorbed
by the felt pad.
The back of the frame is then placed _in situ_, and the hinged
cross-piece brought down and secured by the fasteners. If the springs be
sufficiently strong, the film of the negative should now be in absolute
contact with the sensitive paper. If there be any grit on the plate
glass, or adhering to the back of the negative, it is highly probable
that the glass plate will crack, and if the plate on which the negative
is taken be very curved,[20] the same disaster may be expected. Suppose
the day to be bright, and the negative fairly dense, the frame may
be placed for the trial print facing away from the sun (if there be
any) so that it receives merely skylight, and no direct rays. When the
transparent parts of the negative seem to have taken a fairly black or
brown colour, the print should be examined. In practice we have found
(supposing the printing room be away from the dark room) that a cloth
of thin yellow calico is a useful adjunct during the examination.
The cloth is large enough to cover the frame and also the head of the
operator. One half of the back is loosened and raised, the half pieces
are pulled back, and the paper will probably be found adhering to the
negative, and may require a little manoeuvring to separate it. A very
thin slip (of the size of a toothpick) of soft wood, sharpened at one
end, is a good implement to employ, as by inserting it the paper can be
separated at one corner, and then be raised by the fingers. We have seen
some printers blow against the paper, as if they were separating the
leaves of a book from one another, but this method is to be deprecated,
since particles of saliva are apt to be carried on to the paper with
the breath, and to cause spots, which often appear unaccountable.
Should the print appear slightly deeper than it is required to remain,
it is probably ready to be withdrawn from the action of light, but the
remaining half of the paper must next be examined to see whether such is
the case. To do this the first half of the pressure-board of the frame
which is loose must be pressed down once more into position, the frame
reversed end for end, and the other half of the board opened.
If the print is large (say 15 by 12) it is not advisable to look at much
of it at once, or for a longer time than can be avoided. It constantly
happens that on a warm day the paper contracts during the short time
necessary for a proper examination of the print; the consequence is,
that the paper does not fall on the same place on the negative when
reflected, and the result is a double print on the paper.
The printing being judged to be complete, the paper is withdrawn by
taking off pressure-board and pads, and put away for the further
operations of toning and fixing. In one establishment we are acquainted
with, the prints when taken from the frame are placed in a box the lid
of which is pierced by a hole covered with a dark cloth; whilst others
keep them in a press of blotting-paper. The great point to attend to,
however, is to keep them away from all actinic light; and we should
say, further, from all light, since darkened silver chloride becomes
oxidized in light which is usually considered to be non-actinic.
No doubt every printer is aware that the prints produced from the
same negative and on the same sample of albumenised paper similarly
sensitized vary considerably in richness and depth on different days.
For instance, when the light is bad, and when, consequently, the
printing takes a long time, the colour of the darkened surface will
be found to be much duller than on a day when the light is powerful.
Silver albuminate is much less sensitive to feeble light, whilst in
bright light the difference in sensitiveness is not nearly so marked,
and this may account in a certain degree for the difference; but if any
one takes the trouble to expose sensitised albumenized paper to bright
light so as to darken, and then to cover up half, leaving the other half
to be exposed to the light coming through ruby-glass, it will be found
that there is a difference in colour between the two portions, and on
toning the differences will be still more marked. In dull weather the
red and yellow rays bear a greater proportion to the blue and violet
rays (all of which enter into the composition of white light) than
they do on a bright day. It is the blue and violet rays that reduce
the silver chloride to the state of sub-chloride, and then oxidize the
latter; yet it must be remembered that the red and yellow also oxidize
the sub-chloride without being able primarily to produce it. Hence on
a bright day, when the printing is quick, the red and yellow rays have
but little time to do any work, whilst on a dull day they have plenty
of opportunity of oxidizing the sub-chloride as fast as it is formed.
The oxidized image is always more difficult to tone than one which is
unoxidized, hence the advantage of printing in a good light if possible.
The writers believe that one of the principal causes of the variation in
tone of silver prints, which is only too often to be seen, is caused by
this difference in length of exposure to the light.
The operator must now be supposed to be cognizant of the operations of
toning and fixing which are to be described in subsequent chapters,
and that he has the finished trial print of the particular landscape
negative before him. He sees whether the middle distance or far distance
is obtrusive, and notes which portions require to be softened down by
tissue paper, or to be brought nearer by strengthening the high-lights,
and eventually forms a picture of it as it should be, centring his
imagination in it as built up round the point of principal interest. He
endeavours to see whether the sweeps of light and shade lead up to this
principal object in the view, and whether, if light, it is in contrast
with an immediate dark part of the picture, or _vice versa_.
Knowing that this is one of the laws of art, he next should endeavour
practically to give effect to his imaginative picture by the judicious
manipulation of tissue paper, the crayon, and the paint, such as
described in Chapter IX. The next point to attend to is as to whether
the picture requires clouds or not, and if he have a stock of cloud
negatives of the right size, he must endeavour to pick out one, a
portion of which will compose well with the lines of the picture,[21]
and at the same time be correct as regards light and shade. When such
a negative is selected, it remains to print it in. A white sky is an
abomination, and a plain tinted one without gradation is nearly as bad.
If, therefore, the operator has the heart and means to do this double
printing, he should never neglect to do it.
But we would here remind him that when a sky-negative has been used
with a particular view, it should always be devoted to that landscape.
Nothing could be in worse taste, or further from nature, than to use
the same sky with different landscapes. We once saw a frame of sixteen
views, thirteen of which were backed with the same sky; this was bad
enough, but the absurdity went further, and in the same exhibition were
landscapes by another photographer with the same sky! The inference is
that both these photographers bought their sky negatives, printed them,
and exhibited them as their own--a proceeding to which a harsh name
might be given. To use a cloud negative properly, the reader should
consult the chapter on "Combination Printing."
There is another artifice, however, that does away with the blank sky.
It is practised by some of the leading photographers in England, and may
be put in requisition instead of the more elaborate double printing. In
order to do this, a not quite opaque sky--that is, one which "prints
in" a little--is necessary. Very effective clouds may be produced by a
paint-brush and lamp-black, Indian ink, or gamboge, by painting them
artistically _at the back of the negative_. It matters not if the clouds
so formed show sharp lines and dots, since, if the printing be done in
diffused light, the thickness of the glass plate on which the negative
is taken shades these off, and gives them the soft edges which are
natural to clouds. The clouds may take any of the usual shapes as seen
in nature, and the paint should not be applied too strongly, but should
have a certain amount of transparency. In some negatives we have seen
taken on dry plates, the sky was very transparent, and, when printed
in the ordinary manner, showed a good deal more than perceptible tint.
Yet, by a judicious masking, fleecy clouds floating in a light sky were
produced, which deceived the greatest connoisseurs in such matters.
We will now describe how such a negative should be prepared for printing.
Black varnish should be carefully run round the sky-line on the face
of the negative, for about a quarter of an inch. On the back of the
negative the medium should cover the sky to within one-eighth of an inch
of the sky-line, and by this means a sharp but _slightly softened edge_
of the distant landscape was projected. The breadth of the black varnish
border on the back was slightly greater than that on the film side of
the negative, being about an inch. A piece of cardboard was also roughly
cut out to the sky-line, and left sufficiently broad so as to more than
cover the sky when laid flat on it. The negative with the clouds painted
on it was now placed in the pressure-frame, with the sensitive paper in
contact with it. Outside the frame, and corresponding with the sky-line,
the edge of the cardboard was placed, a small bar to act as a weight
was placed across it as shown in the figure, and the top end supported
by a couple of wooden pegs. The printing took place in diffused light.
When the picture was withdrawn from the frame, the sky, being shaded
gradually by the card, was printed in lightly, whilst the remaining
portion of the negative received the full light; the sky, as is right it
should be, was darker near the zenith than toward the horizon, where it
was, in fact, white; but since the clouds were printed in at the top,
the baldness of the white sky was avoided.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 20.]
Excellent clouds may also be produced by the stump and crayon on tissue
paper, many of the effects of delicate clouds being capable of being
produced in this manner. A certain amount of skill is required in
producing them, but nothing beyond that which a little practice can give.
We may add that, instead of using this cardboard shade, some printers
prefer first to entirely mask the sky and print in the landscape, than
to mask the landscape, and to use a movable screen over the negative,
drawing it backwards and forwards during exposure, taking the precaution
that the top of the sky receives the most exposure. The method of
using the cloud negative, we have already said, will be found in the
chapter on "Combination Printing." Above all things, the printer must
bear in mind that if there be any _distance_ in the picture, the sky,
when it meets the margin, must be only very delicately tinted. Let it
be remembered that a picture is often spoilt by printing in clouds too
heavily. The clouds for an effect should be most delicate, with no heavy
massive shadows which overwhelm those of the landscape itself. We are
only talking of the ordinary landscape when the effect of storms is not
desired. It is not within the scope of this work to show how a landscape
and a sky negative may be printed into one plate to form a transparency
from which a new negative may be made; suffice it to say that, by using
collodio-chloride, or by the use of a slow dry plate and exposing to
candle light, the former may be produced in almost the same way that the
print is produced, and a negative may then be produced in the camera or
by a dry plate.
CHAPTER XI.
PREPARING THE PORTRAIT NEGATIVE.
So much has been written on the subject of what is called "retouching"
the negative, that it would be a waste of space to enter very fully
into details here. It is now generally admitted that working on the
negative is not only legitimate, but that it is absolutely necessary,
if a presentable portrait is to be printed. The only question is, where
to stop. Professional retouchers, in too many cases, do too much, and
by doing so they "overstep the modesty of nature," and turn the lovely
delicacy, softness, and texture of living nature into the appearance
of hard and cold marble statuary. Everything that is necessary to do
to a portrait negative is very simple; it should be corrected, not
remodelled. Freckles and accidental spots should be stopped out, high
lights may be strengthened, and shadows softened. We may here briefly
indicate the technical methods of performing these operations.
Some operators pour a solution of gum over the negative after fixing,
and when it is dry work upon the surface of the gum; but it is better
and safer to retouch the negative after it has been varnished. The
varnish must be allowed to become thoroughly hard before any working
upon it is attempted. A negative varnished at night should be ready to
be retouched the next morning. If very little has to be done to the
negative, it may be done at once without preparation; but it is often
advisable to prepare the surface of the varnish to take the lead pencil,
with which the greater part of the work is done. This is done with
"retouching medium."
Several preparations under this or similar names are sold by stock
dealers, all of them giving, as far as we have tried them, equally good
results. If the photographer prefers to make his own medium, he may
do so by diluting mastic, or any similar varnish, such as copal, with
turpentine. Apply the medium to the parts that it is intended to work on
with the finger, and allow to dry, which it does in a few minutes. Place
the negative on a retouching desk, and commence to fill up with the
point of the pencil all spots that are not required, such as freckles or
uneven marks. Some operators begin at the top of a face and work evenly
downwards. This is a bad plan, and usually results in a mechanical
flattening of the face; it is better to fill in here and there as
necessity appears to arise. The high lights may now be strengthened,
taking care not to make them violent or spotty. The shadows of the face
will be found to require softening, but the general shape of the shadows
must not be altered, and in modifying lines--such as the lines in the
forehead and under the eye--take care not to remove them altogether. An
old man without wrinkles is an unnatural and ghastly object--the "marble
brow" of the poet should be left to literature. The best pencils to
use are Faber's Siberian lead, the hard ones in preference. HH and HHH
are the sorts usually employed. The pencils must be kept very finely
pointed. To ensure this, a piece of wood covered with glass cloth should
be kept always at hand on which to grind the leads to a point.
Sometimes there are portions of a negative that require more filling
up than can be done with a pencil; in this case water-colour must be
employed. Indigo or Prussian blue is, perhaps, best for the purpose,
because these pigments allow a more appreciable or visible quantity
to be laid on without becoming opaque than any of the warm colours.
Sometimes parts--such as the arm of a child--will print too dark when in
contrast with a white dress; in this case it will be necessary to paint
over the part on the back of the negative, or to cut out a piece of
_papier minerale_ to the shape, and paste it over the dark part, also on
the glass side of the negative.
CHAPTER XII.
VIGNETTING
Of the many varieties of small portraiture, the vignette is, perhaps,
the most popular, and, when well done, is certainly the most refined
and delicate. Two things are to be especially avoided in vignetting.
The form of the vignette should not follow the form of the figure
closely, as it is too often made to do, and dark backgrounds should
not be employed. The qualities to endeavour to attain are softness of
gradation, and an arrangement of the forms of the vignette that shall
throw out the head and figure, and the resulting print should somewhat
resemble a sketch, finished if you like, but sketchy in effect. Although
the background should be light, it ought not to be white, but of a
tint that would just throw up the white of a lady's head-dress. If the
background screen could be painted so that a little shade should appear
over the shoulders of a sitter for a head, or rather darker behind the
lower part of a three-quarter figure, so much the better would be the
effect. It would be difficult to find a case where gradation could not
be of advantage in a background; however slight, it conduces especially
to relief.
Having stated what should be aimed at in vignettes, we now come to the
technical methods of producing them.
In many cases vignetting is considered to be a merely mechanical
operation, and very often looks like it. Perhaps the trade have more to
answer for than the printer, since the qualities of the wares advertised
for the use of the vignetter are often exaggerated to such a degree that
they are supposed to be suitable to any pictures. Vignette glasses are
not so common as they used to be, but they certainly are useful in some
instances; we almost think that the methods of producing vignetting
apparatus which will be described shortly, superior to them. In case the
printer should wish, however, to use these glasses, here is a method by
which he may produce them. Have a piece of orange glass, flashed on one
side only, rather larger than the size of the picture to be vignetted.
Take a rough print, and trace round, in the proper position on the
glass with an ink line, the point to which the picture should extend.
This should be marked on the unflashed surface of the glass--that is,
the surface on which the glass is uncoloured. Place the plate so marked
on a white surface, flashed side uppermost, and make a solution of
hydrofluoric acid and water, 1 part of the former to 3 of the latter,
in a gutta-percha dish or bottle.[22] Make a pad of flannel and cotton
wool at the end of a stick, about the size of a large nut, and drop
this into the solution. Dab this on the coloured surface of the glass
in the central portions where the print is to be completely printed in,
gradually working out to the inked line. Always work from the centre to
the edges, and dilute the acid with a little water as it approaches the
margins. By degrees the flashing will be dissolved away in the centre,
and, if properly performed, the colour will gradually be eaten away,
till the glass is colourless in the centre, and keeping its full shade
of orange at the ink lines. The glass is then washed, and is ready for
use.
The most popular plan of vignetting is with cotton-wool. We believe that
the greater part of the vignetting done in England is by this clumsy,
costly, and difficult method. It requires more time and attention than
any other way of producing the same results. Its advantages are, that it
is more "elastic," and allows the operator more scope for attention than
other methods. In the hands of a person who has very great skill, taste,
and patience, it is undoubtedly most useful; but when used by anything
lower than the highest skill, the results are almost always hard and
inartistic. The operation is thus performed. A hole is cut in a piece
of cardboard, which is placed over the negative. Under the edges of the
cardboard is placed cotton-wool, which is lightly pulled out, so as to
slightly shade the vignette, and produce the vignetting gradation.
The next methods of vignetting are dependent on simple laws of optics.
Suppose you cut a round hole in a card, say, half-inch in diameter, and
so arrange it that all the light getting to a sensitive paper comes
through this hole, and that the card is for our experiment placed
half-an-inch from the paper. Now place the hole so as to face the sky,
but so as the sun has no direct rays falling through the hole. It will
be found that the greatest darkening will not occupy a space exactly
opposite the hole, but be _away from the side on which the light is
brightest_. The dark round patch will be shaded gradually off till
a line is reached where, practically, the light has no effect--that
is, if the surface of the card next the paper be blackened. It will
be noted, however, that the shading is not equal on both sides, but
that the gradation is most extended away from the side on which the
light is brightest. A good example of what is meant will be to try the
experiment of placing the paper and card flat on the ground in the
angle between two walls, both of which are in shadow. It will be seen
that the brightest gradation takes place in the direction exactly away
from the angle of the walls. Next repeat the experiment, making the
hole point to the sky, which is equally illuminated and pointing well
away from the sun. It will be found that the gradations are equal, and
the greatest darkening exactly opposite the hole. Raise the card next
to the height of one inch, and the gradations will be found to be more
extended and softer. The reason of this can be well understood by a
glance at the figures. In both, suppose A B to represent the section of
the card, and C D the hole in it, and the dotted circle the sky, and E
F the paper. Take the points _a_, _b_, and _c_ on the paper, and let us
in the three instances see what relative illumination they will receive.
_a_ is opposite the hole, and receives the light from a circle of sky of
which _d e_ is diameter, and _b_ from an ellipse of which _h k_ is one
diameter, and _e_ from an ellipse of which _f g_ is one diameter. In the
first case, where the card is 1/2 inch from the paper, _h k_ is about
one-fifth of _d e_, and _g f_ about one-third of _d f_, and since the
ellipses vary as their two diameters multiplied together, the point _b_
would receive only one-twenty-fifth the light that _a_ received, and _c_
about one-ninth.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 21.]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 22.]
In fig. 21 the card is raised one inch from the paper, and here _f g_ is
about three-quarters of _d e_, and _h k_ about two-fifths; therefore,
in this case, the light on B would be only four-twenty-fifths, or about
one-sixth of that acting on _a_, and about nine-sixteenths or one-half
nearly on _c_. It is thus evident that the further away the card is,
the more extended will be the gradations. Again, suppose, in the last
figure, the bit of sky at _g f_ was twice as bright as at _d e_, then
the amount of light acting on _c_ would be the same as that acting on
_a_. It will thus be seen how important it is for proper gradation that
the hole in the card should be exposed to an equally illuminated sky,
or that some artifice should be employed to render the illumination
equal. If we paste a bit of tissue paper over C D, this is accomplished,
for then it becomes the source of illumination, and it is illuminated
equally all over, since on every part it receives the light of the whole
sky; but this is not the case if it is transparent to diffused light,
and is never the case if it is exposed to direct sunlight, since a
shadow of the hole is always cast on the paper beneath. If you choose to
put another piece of tissue paper, (say) one inch above the hole, and
extending over the whole length of the card, this difficulty is got rid
of, and this last piece of tissue paper illuminates that pasted over the
hole C D, and the gradations will then be nearly perfect.
Now to apply the above to forming a vignetting block.
Suppose we have a one-inch head to vignette and to show the shoulders
and chest, to be of the size of a carte-de-visite, that the background
is about a half-tone between black and white, and that but a trace of
it shall appear above the head. To make a good vignette, the graduation
from black to perfect white should lie within a limit of half an inch
for a carte size portrait. The question then arises at what distance
from the plate should a vignetting card be cut to help this object,
and what shape should be made the hole in the card. We take it that
one-fifth of the light necessary to produce a full black tone would
hardly produce any effect on the sensitised paper; knowing this and the
size of the aperture, we can calculate exactly what height the card
could be raised. Take the breadth between the shoulders that is to be
fully printed as 1-1/2 inches, then by constructing a figure similar
to figures 18 or 19 we shall find that the necessary height is about
one-third of an inch.[23]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 23.]
By judiciously cutting out an aperture in the card and vignetting,
defects in a background may often be entirely eliminated from the
print. Proceed in this way: Take a print of the portrait, and cut out
the figure in such a way as to get rid of the defective background,
and then place this on a piece of thick card (we prefer a thick card,
since it will not sag easily, and thus alter the gradation), and cut out
an aperture corresponding to it. The outsides of most carte-de-visite
frames are raised from the glass about one-third of an inch; place the
card on the front so that the aperture corresponds to the figure on the
negative, and tack it on to the frame. The dotted lines (fig. 23) show
the card fastened on to the frame, and the opening left. This latter
may be covered with tissue paper, and the frame placed in diffused light
from the sky. In some cases it may be necessary to use a larger printing
frame than the ordinary carte frame, in which case the operator should
be able to make a vignetting apparatus raised at a proper height from
the glass. Suppose it is required to raise the opening half an inch
above the glass, and that the card is 4-1/4 by 3-1/2.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 24.]
Take the card and rule rectangles as shown (fig. 24), the inner one
being 4-1/4 by 3-1/2 inches, the next one 1/2 an inch outside that,
and the third 1/2 an inch outside that again. Cut out the outer
rectangle entirely, so that we have a piece of card of the size ABCD.
Take a needle point, and prick through the card at the points EFGH and
join these points at the back of the card by lines. Now take a sharp
penknife, and, having laid a flat edge along, cut the card half through
its thickness along KL, LM, MN, and NK. Turn the card over, and cut
along the lines corresponding to EH, HG, GE, and FE, also half way
through the thickness of the card. Turn the card over once more, and
cut out the shaded pieces at the corners. Now bend the card along the
cuts, and a raised block will result of this shape. The corners are
held together by pieces of gummed or albumenized paper, and the block
is ready for an aperture to be cut in it according to the portrait to
be printed. Wooden grooves may be glued along the top of the vignetting
frame, into which cards containing other apertures can be slipped.[24]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 25.]
The most practical method of vignetting, a modification of the above,
and the one we always prefer in our own practice, is as follows:--
[Illustration: _Fig._ 26.]
Take a piece of soft wood, half an inch thick for a cabinet size--a
thinner piece should be selected for a smaller picture--of a larger
dimension than the negative; in the centre of this cut a hole of the
shape of, but much smaller than, the desired vignette. One side of the
hole should be very much bevelled away, as represented in this section
(fig. 26). Place this block on the glass of the printing-frame, bevelled
side under, the hole being exactly over the part of the negative from
which the vignette is to be printed. The hole must now be covered with
tissue paper or ground glass, and the frame placed flat on a table to
print. The size of the hole in relation to the size of the vignette
will be easily ascertained by a little experience without the labour of
elaborate calculations. On dull days the tissue paper or ground glass
may be omitted.
This method is very simple and effective. A quantity of vignetting
blocks of various sizes and shapes could be made by a carpenter, or by
the printer, and should be always at hand.
A vignetting block should never be less than a quarter of an inch away
from the glass, otherwise the gradations will be too abrupt.
CHAPTER XIII.
ARTISTIC METHODS OF PRINTING THE PORTRAIT.
Having described in the last chapter the various mechanical arrangements
by which a simple vignette is produced, we will now proceed to give some
account of how that and other forms of printing can be turned to the
most artistic account in portraiture.
The idea that printing is a mere mechanical operation was exploded long
ago. It is now recognized that the final result owes a good deal of its
artistic effect to the way in which the negative is dealt with after it
is varnished, and especially to its treatment by the printer. There are
many varieties of vignettes, and the method is useful in various ways.
_Plain Vignettes._--The usual vignetted portrait is that which
represents a good-sized head and shoulders in the space allotted to the
picture. For a carte-de-visite, a head measuring about 1-1/4 inches
from the top of the head to the chin is a good proportion. Larger sizes
are often made, but they look coarse and vulgar, as if the photographer
had tried how much quantity he could give for the money, regardless of
quality; and even if the quality is good, the vulgar effect is still
there. For a cabinet size a head of 1-3/4 or 1-7/8 inches is quite large
enough. A very pretty style is that in which the gradation is carried
out so gradually as only to end with the edge of the paper.
_Three-quarter Length Vignettes._--A three-quarter length figure of a
lady, either standing or sitting, makes a pretty picture; for gentlemen,
a three-quarter vignette is not so good, although it is admissible. It
is difficult to make the legs look anything but awkward when they are
vignetted into empty space at the knee. For three-quarter vignettes a
light, sketchy landscape background may be used with effect.
There are many varieties of what may be called "fancy printing," in
which the vignette takes a conspicuous part. The first style that we
will consider is that of
_Vignettes on a Tinted Ground._--Print a vignette in the usual way.
Take it out of the frame, and place it on a board covered with velvet
or flannel, to prevent the paper shifting. Cover the print with glass,
and place over the printed part a piece of black paper roughly torn to
the shape, and rather smaller than the vignette. Place the whole in
the light until the white margin is slightly tinted, or "blushed," as
it is sometimes called. The edges of the black mask should be slightly
turned up or kept moving to prevent the junction of the tinting and the
vignette being visible.
The above method represents a vignetted head on smooth grey paper,
and is useful to show up the high lights on the face; but there is a
modification of this effect, in which the appearance of a sketch on
rough drawing-paper is produced.
_Vignettes on Rough Drawing-paper._--If, instead of placing a piece of
plain glass over the masked print, a thin negative of some diaper or
pattern had been used, the design could have been printed on the paper
instead of the even tint. A very good negative for this purpose is
made as follows:--Obtain a sheet of the roughest drawing-paper, take
a camel-hair brush dipped in thin sepia, and brush it evenly over the
paper; the colour will fall into the depressions of the paper, and make
the roughness still more visible. This should now be placed where a side
light falls upon it, and photographed. A very thin negative is all that
is required. This negative should be used in place of the plain glass,
and, if not printed too dark, the effect of the delicate vignette inside
the rough tint is very pleasing. It is better when using negatives for
this purpose to place them in pressure-frames, instead of merely placing
them or the print on the velvet board, to print, or perfect contact may
not be obtained.
_Medallions._--Medallions of oval and other forms are now a good deal
used for small portraits. These are simply produced by gumming a mask,
made of black or yellow paper, with an oval or other-shaped aperture,
on to the negative, the mask preserving the part it covers white. These
masks can be bought from the dealers cheaper and better than they can be
made. Eccentric shapes are, usually, in bad taste; the oval and dome are
quite sufficient for all purposes. If, instead of leaving the outside
of the print--that protected by the mask--white, it could be tinted,
the lights in the picture would have greater value, and the effect
be improved. To do this, the printed part should be covered with a
black-paper disc corresponding with the mask used in printing, the print
covered with glass, and exposed to the light until printed the required
depth. In performing this operation it will be found convenient to gum
the disc to the covering-glass. If texture could be added to this tinted
margin, then another element of beauty would be added. This may be done
in a similar manner to that described for vignettes, by using a negative
made from rough drawing-paper; but, in this case, there is opportunity
for a greater choice of objects from which to make the tinting negative,
such as grained leather, marble of various kinds, paper-hangings--when
suitable patterns can be obtained--and from the borders of old prints.
In this, as in many other things connected with photography, there is
a good deal of room for bad taste, which the photographer must try to
avoid. He must remember that all these surrounding designs should assist
the portrait, and not distract the attention from it.
_Vignettes in Ornamental Borders._--The writer has lately produced some
effects that have given much pleasure by using designs specially drawn
for the purpose. The designs principally consist of an oval in the
centre for the portrait, and a tablet underneath, on which the original
of the portrait may sign his name. These forms are surrounded by flowers
and other objects conventionally treated. The spaces for the portrait
and name should be stopped out with black varnish, so as to print
white. The easiest way to use these ornamental border negatives is as
follows:--First print the border negative; you will then have a print
with a white oval space in the centre. Place this print on the portrait
negative, taking care that it occupies the proper position in the oval.
This is easily ascertained by holding the print and negative up to the
light. It should then be placed in the frame and printed, care being
taken that the vignetted gradation does not spread beyond its limits
over the border.
There is a good deal of variety to be got out of the combination of the
mask and vignette. Here is one of them.
_Combination of Medallion and Vignette._--Vignette a head into the
centre of the paper; when this is done, place over it a black paper oval
disc, taking care that the head comes in the centre under the mask.
Place a piece of glass over the whole, and print. When the disc is
removed, the print will represent a vignette surrounded by a dark oval.
Many variations may be made of this form of picture, and there is much
scope for skill and taste.
Any of the tinting negatives above described may be used, or they can
be made from designs drawn on paper as we have already stated, or from
natural objects. But if our reader has followed us clearly thus far, he
is now in a position to form combinations for himself. This we recommend
him to do, for there is an additional beauty in anything in art that
indicates a distinctive style or shows thought and originality. There is
too much tendency in portraitists to run in grooves, which the universal
prevalence of the two styles, card and cabinet, help to promote. But
we must caution the young photographer against the mistake of making
changes for the sake of change. The "loud," and the bizarre, may attract
foolish people, but it is only the beautiful that will secure the
attention of the cultivated and refined.
CHAPTER XIV.
COMBINATION PRINTING.
The scope of photography is wider than those who have only taken a
simple portrait or landscape suppose. It is almost impossible to design
a group that could not have been reproduced from life by the means our
art places at our disposal. We do not mean to assert that such subjects
as Michael Angelo's Last Judgment, or Raphael's Transfiguration, for
instance, have ever been done in photography; but it is not so much
the fault of the art, as of the artists, that very elaborate pictures
have not been successfully attempted. It has not been the failing of
the materials, unplastic as they are when compared with paint and
pencils; it has been the absence of the requisite amount of skill in
the photographer in the use of them, that will account for the dearth
of great works in photography. The means by which these pictures could
have been accomplished is Combination Printing, a method which enables
the photographer to represent objects in different planes in proper
focus, to keep the true atmospheric and linear relation of varying
distances, and by which a picture can be divided into separate portions
for execution, the parts to be afterwards printed together on one paper,
thus enabling the operator to devote all his attention to a single
figure or sub-group at a time, so that if any part be imperfect, from
any cause, it can be substituted by another without the loss of the
whole picture, as would be the case if taken at one operation. By
thus devoting the attention to individual parts, independently of the
others, much greater perfection can be obtained in details, such as the
arrangement of draperies, the refinement of pose, and expression.
The most simple form of combination printing, and the one most easy
of accomplishment and most in use by photographers, is that by which
a natural sky is added to a landscape. It is well-known to all
photographers that it is almost impossible to obtain a good and suitable
sky to a landscape under ordinary circumstances. Natural skies are
occasionally seen in stereoscopic slides and very small views; but I am
now writing of pictures, and not of toys. It rarely happens that a sky
quite suitable to the landscape occurs in the right place at the time
it is taken, and, if it did, the exposure necessary for the view would
be sufficient to quite obliterate the sky; and if this difficulty were
obviated by any of the sun-shades, cloud-stops, or other inefficient
dodges occasionally proposed, the movement of the clouds during the
few seconds necessary for the landscape would quite alter the forms
and light and shade, making what should be the sky--often sharp and
crisp in effect--a mere smudge, without character or form. All these
difficulties are got over by combination printing, the only objections
being that a little more care and trouble are required, and some thought
and knowledge demanded. The latter should be considered an advantage,
for photographs, of a kind, are already too easy to produce. Of course,
when a landscape is taken with a blank sky, and that blank is filled up
with clouds from another negative, the result will depend, to a very
great degree, upon the art knowledge of the photographer in selecting
a suitable sky, as well as upon his skill in overcoming the mechanical
difficulties of the printing. It is not necessary here to enter into
a description of the art aspect of the matter, as that has often been
discussed; so we will confine ourselves to the mechanical details.
The landscape negative must have a dense sky, or, if it be weak, or have
any defects, it must be stopped out with black varnish. In this case, it
is better to apply the varnish to the back of the glass; by this means
a softer edge is produced in printing than if painted on the varnished
surface. With some subjects, such as those that have a tolerably level
horizon, it is sufficient to cover over part of the sky while printing,
leaving that part near the horizon gradated from the horizon into white.
It may here be remarked that in applying black varnish to the back of a
negative, occasions will often be found where a softened or vignetted
edge is required for joining, where a vignette glass or cotton wool
cannot be applied; in such cases the edge of the varnish may be softened
off by dabbing slightly, before it is set, with the finger, or, if a
broader and more delicately gradated edge be required, a dabber made
with wash-leather may be employed with great effect.
[Illustration]
When an impression is taken, the place where the sky ought to be will,
of course, be plain white paper; a negative of clouds is then placed in
the printing-frame, and the landscape is laid down on it, so arranged
that the sky will print on to the white paper in its proper place;
the frame is then exposed to the light, and the landscape part of the
picture is covered up with a mask edged with cotton wool. The sky is
vignetted into the landscape, and it will be found that the slight
lapping over of the vignetted edge of the sky negative will not be
noticed in the finished print. There is another way of vignetting the
sky into the landscape, which is, perhaps, better and more convenient.
Instead of the mask edged with cotton wool, which requires moving
occasionally, a curved piece of zinc or cardboard is used. Here is
a section of the arrangement. The straight line represents the sky
negative, and the part where it joins the landscape is partly covered
with the curved shade. Skies so treated must not, of course, be printed
in sunlight.
It is sometimes necessary to take a panoramic view. This is usually
done, when the pantascopic camera is not employed, by mounting two
prints together, so that the objects in the landscape shall coincide;
but this is an awkward method of doing what could be much better
accomplished by combination printing. The joining of the two prints is
always disagreeably visible, and quite spoils the effect. To print the
two halves of a landscape, taken on two plates, together, the following
precautions must be observed: both negatives must be taken before the
camera-stand is moved, the camera, which must be quite horizontal,
pointing to one half of the scene for the first negative, and then
turned to the remaining half of the view for the second negative. The
two negatives should be obtained under exactly the same conditions of
light, or they will not match; they should also be so taken that a
margin of an inch and a-half or two inches is allowed to overlap each
other; that is to say, about two inches of each negative must contain
the same or centre portion of the scene. It is advisable, also, that
they should be of the same density; but this is not of very great
consequence, because any slight discrepancy in this respect can be
allowed for in printing. In printing vignettes with cotton wool, or a
straight-edged vignette glass, the edge of the left-hand negative on
the side that is to join the other, taking care to cover up the part
of the paper that will be required for the companion negative; when
sufficiently printed, take the print out of the frame, and substitute
the right-hand negative; lay down the print so that it exactly falls on
the corresponding parts of the first part printed (this will be found
less difficult, after a little practice, than it appears), and expose
to the light, vignetting the edge of this negative, also, so that the
vignetted part exactly falls on the softened edge of the impression
already done. If great care be taken to print both plates exactly alike
in depth, it will be impossible to discover the join in the finished
print. If thought necessary, a sky may be added, as before described,
or it may be gradated in the light, allowing the horizon to be lighter
than the upper part of the sky.
Perhaps the greatest use to which combination printing is now put is
in the production of portraits with natural landscape backgrounds.
Many beautiful pictures, chiefly cabinets and card, have been done
in this way by several photographers. The easiest kind of figure for
a first attempt would be a three-quarter length of a lady, because
you would then get rid of the foreground, and have to confine your
attention to the upper part of the figure and the distance. Pictures
of this kind have a very pleasing effect. In the figure negative,
everything should be stopped out, with the exception of the figure,
with black varnish; this should be done on the back of the glass when
practicable, which produces a softer join; but for delicate parts--such
as down the face--where the joins must be very close, and do not admit
of anything approaching to vignetting, the varnish must be applied on
the front. A much better effect than painting out the background of
the figure negative is obtained by taking the figure with a white or
very light screen behind it; this plan allows sufficient light to pass
through the background to give an agreeable atmospheric tint to the
distant landscape; and stopping out should only be resorted to when the
background is too dark, or when stains or blemishes occur, that would
injure the effect. An impression must now be taken which is not to be
toned or fixed. Cut out the figure, and lay it, face downwards, on the
landscape negative in the position you wish it to occupy in the finished
print. It may be fixed in its position by gumming the corners near the
lower edge of the plate. It is now ready for printing. It is usually
found most convenient to print the figure negative first. When this has
been done, the print must be laid down on the landscape negative so
that the figure exactly covers the place prepared for it by the cut-out
mask. When printed, the picture should be carefully examined, to see if
the joins may be improved or made less visible. It will be found that,
in many places, the effect can be improved and the junctions made more
perfect, especially when a light comes against a dark--such as a distant
landscape against the dark part of a dress--by tearing away the edge of
the mask covering the dark, and supplying its place by touches of black
varnish at the back of the negative; this, in printing, will cause the
line to be less defined, and the edges to soften into each other. If the
background of the figure negative has been painted out, the sky will be
represented by white paper; and as white paper skies are neither natural
nor pleasing, it will be advisable to sun it down.
If a full-length figure be desired, it will be necessary to photograph
the ground with the figure, as it is almost impossible to make the
shadow of a figure match the ground on which it stands in any other way.
This may be done either out of doors or in the studio. The figure taken
out of doors would, perhaps, to the critical eye, have the most natural
effect, but this cannot always be done, neither can it be, in many
respects, done so well. The light is more unmanageable out of doors,
and the difficulty arising from the effect of wind on the dress is very
serious. A slip of natural foreground is easily made up in the studio;
the error to be avoided is the making too much of it. The simpler a
foreground is in this case, the better will be the effect.
The composition of a group should next engage the student's attention.
In making a photograph of a large group, as many figures as possible
should be obtained in each negative, and the position of the joins so
contrived that they shall come in places where they shall be least
noticed, if seen at all. It will be found convenient to make a sketch
in pencil or charcoal of the composition before the photograph is
commenced. The technical working out of a large group is the same as for
a single figure; it is, therefore, not necessary to repeat the details;
but we give a reduced copy, as a frontispiece to this volume, of a large
combination picture, entitled "When the Day's Work is Done," by Mr. H.
P. Robinson, a description of the progress and planning of which may be
of use to the student.
A small rough sketch was first made of the idea, irrespective of any
considerations of the possibility of its being carried out. Other small
sketches were then made, modifying the subject to suit the figures
available as models, and the accessories accessible without very much
going out of the way to find them. From these rough sketches a more
elaborate sketch of the composition, pretty much as it stands, and of
the same size, 32 by 22 inches, was made, the arrangement being divided
so that the different portions may come on 23 by 18 plates, and that the
junctions may come in unimportant plates, easy to join, but not easy
to be detected afterwards. The separate negatives were then taken. The
picture is divided as follows:--
The first negatives taken were the two of which the background is
composed. The division runs down the centre, where the light wall is
relieved by the dark beyond it. These two negatives were not printed
separately--it is advisable to have as few printings as possible--but
were carefully cut down with a diamond, and mounted on a piece of glass
rather larger than the whole picture, the edges being placed in contact,
making, in fact, _one_ large negative of the interior of the cottage,
into which it would be comparatively easy to put almost anything. The
next negative was the old man. This included the table, chair, and
matting on which his feet rest. This matting is roughly vignetted into
the adjoining ground of the cottage negative. The great difficulty at
first with this figure was the impossibility of joining the light head
to the dark background; no amount of careful registration seemed equal
to effect this difficult operation; but if it could not be done, it
could be evaded. Several clever people have been able to point out the
join round the head, down the forehead, and along the nose, but we have
never been able to see it ourselves, because we know it is not there.
This is how the difficulty was got over. The figure was taken with a
background that would print as nearly as possible as dark as the dark of
the cottage. The join is nowhere near the head, but runs up the square
back of the old woman's chair, then up the wall, and across the picture,
over the head in an irregular line, and descends on the old man's back,
whence it was easy to carry it down the dark edge of his dress and the
chairs till it comes to the group of baskets, pails, &c., that fill
up the corner. On the other side, the join runs along the edge of the
table, and finds its way out where the floor coverings come together.
The old lady was then photographed, and is simply joined round the edge;
so also was the group in the corner, and the glimpse of the village seen
through the window.
At first sight, it will appear difficult to place the partly-printed
pictures in the proper place on the corresponding negative. There are
many ways of doing this, either of which may be chosen to suit the
subject. Sometimes a needle may be run through some part of the print,
the point being allowed to rest on the corresponding part of the second
negative. The print will then fall in its place at that point. Some
other point has then to be found at a distance from the first; this may
be done by turning up the paper to any known mark on the negative, and
allowing the print to fall upon it; if the two separate points fall
on the right places, all the others must be correct. Another way of
joining the prints from the separate negatives is by placing a candle
or lamp under the glass of the printing-frame--practically, to use a
glass table--and throwing a light through the negative and paper; the
join can then be seen through. But the best method is to make register
marks on the negatives. This is done in the following manner. We will
suppose that we wish to print a figure with a landscape background from
two negatives, the foreground having been taken with the figure. At the
two bottom corners of the figure negative make two marks with black
varnish, thus |_ _|; these, of course, will print white in the picture.
A proof is now taken, and the outline of the figure cut out accurately.
Where the foreground and background join, the paper may be torn across,
and the edges afterwards vignetted with black varnish on the back of
the negatives. This mark is now fitted in its place on the landscape
negative. Another print is now taken of the figure negative, and the
white corner marks cut away very accurately with a pair of scissors.
The print is now carefully applied to the landscape negative, so that
the mark entirely covers those parts of the print already finished.
The landscape is then printed in. Before, however, it is removed from
the printing-frame, if, on partial examination, the joins appear to be
perfect, two lead pencil or black varnish marks are made on the mark
round the cut-out corners at the bottom of the print. After the first
successful proof there is no need for any measurement or fitting to get
the two parts of the picture to join perfectly; all that is necessary
is merely to cut out the little white marks, and fit the corners to the
corresponding marks on the mask; and there is no need to look if the
joins coincide at other places, because, if two points are right, it
follows that all must be so. This method can be applied in a variety of
ways to suit different circumstances.
It is always well to have as few paintings as possible, and it
frequently happens that two or more negatives can be printed together.
For instance, the picture we have been discussing--"When the Day's
Work is Done"--is produced from six negatives, but it only took three
printings. The two negatives of which the cottage is composed was, as
already explained, set up on a large sheet of glass, and printed at
once; the old man was also set upon another glass of the same size, with
the negative of the glimpse through the window; and the old woman was
printed in like manner, with the corner group of baskets, &c. So that
here were practically three negatives only. These were registered with
corner marks so accurately that not a single copy has been lost through
bad joins.
There are one or two things to consider briefly before concluding this
subject.
It is true that combination printing--allowing, as it does, much
greater liberty to the photographer, and much greater facilities for
representing the truth of nature--also admits, from these very facts,
of a wide latitude for abuse; but the photographer must accept the
conditions at his own peril. If he finds that he is not sufficiently
advanced in knowledge of art, and has not sufficient reverence for
nature, to allow him to make use of these liberties, let him put on his
fetters again, and confine himself to one plate. It is certain (and this
we put in italics, to impress it more strongly on the memory) that _a
photograph produced by combination printing must be deeply studied in
every particular, so that no departure from the truth of nature shall
be discovered by the closest scrutiny_. No two things must occur in
one picture that cannot happen in nature at the same time. If a sky
is added to a landscape, the light must fall on the clouds and on the
earth from the same source and in the same direction. This is a matter
that should not be done by judgment alone, but by judgment guided by
observation of nature. Effects are often seen, especially in cloud-land,
very puzzling to the calm reasoner when he sees them in a picture;
but these are the effects that are often best worth preserving, and
which should never be neglected, because it may possibly happen that
somebody will not understand it, and, therefore, say it is false, and,
arguing still further on the wrong track, will say that combination
printing always produces falsehoods, and must be condemned. A short
anecdote may, perhaps, be allowed here. Some time ago a photograph of
a landscape and sky was sent to a gentleman whose general judgment in
art was admitted to be excellent; but he knew that combination printing
was sometimes employed. In acknowledging the receipt he said, "Thank
you for the photograph; it is a most extraordinary effect; sensational,
certainly, but very beautiful; but it shows, by what it is, what
photography cannot do; your sky does not match your landscape; it must
have been taken at a different time of day, at another period of the
year. A photograph is nothing if not true." Now it so happened that
the landscape and sky were taken at the same time, the only difference
being that the sky had a shorter exposure than the landscape, which was
absolutely necessary to get the clouds at all, and does not affect the
result. Another instance arose in connection with a picture representing
a group of figures with a landscape background. Four of the figures
were taken on one plate, at one operation; yet a would-be critic wrote
at some length to prove that these figures did not agree one with
another; that the light fell on them from different quarters; that the
perspective of each had different points of sight; and that each figure
was taken from a different point of view! These two cases are mentioned
to show that it is sometimes a knowledge of the means employed, rather
than a knowledge of nature--a foregone conclusion that the thing must
be wrong, rather than a conviction, from observation, that it is not
right--that influences the judgment of those who are not strong enough
to say, "This thing is right," or "This thing is wrong, no matter by
what means it may have been produced."
CHAPTER XV.
TONING THE PRINT.
If a print on albumenized paper be fixed without any intermediate
process, the result is that the image is of a red, disagreeable tone,
and unsightly. Moreover, it will be found that, if such a print be
exposed to the atmosphere, it rapidly loses its freshness, and fades. In
order to avoid this unsightliness, resort is had to toning, the toning,
in reality, being the substitution of some less attackable metal for
the metallic silver which forms a portion of the print. The usual metal
used for substitution is gold applied in the state of the ter-chloride.
It is not very easy to tell precisely how the substitution is effected;
the question is, at present, sub judice, and, therefore, we propose
to omit any theory that may have been broached. It is sufficient to
say that it is believed the first step towards the reduction of the
gold is the production of a hydrated oxide, and never metallic gold.
Be that as it may, if a finely-divided silver be placed in a solution
of chloride of gold, the silver becomes converted into the chloride,
and the gold is quickly reduced to the metallic state; and since gold
combines with more chloride than does silver, it is manifest that when
the substitution takes place,[25] the metallic gold deposited must
be very much less than the silver. The colouring power of gold is,
however, very great, when in the fine state of division in which we have
it, being an intense purple to blue colour, and a very little of this
mixed visually with the ruddy or brown colour of the albuminate which
has been discoloured by light gives, after fixing, a pleasing tone. A
picture, when toned thus, is composed of silver subchloride, metallic
gold, and an organic compound of silver. If a print be kept in the
toning bath too long, we are all aware that the image becomes blue and
feeble, and the same disaster happens when a toning bath is too strong,
_i.e._, is too rich in gold solution. The reason of this is, that too
much gold is substituted for the silver in the sub-chloride, and there
is in consequence too great a colour of the finely-precipitated gold
seen. To make a toning bath, the first thing is to look after the gold.
There is a good deal of chloride of gold sold, which is, in reality, not
chloride of gold, but a double chloride of gold and of some such other
base as potassium, and if it be paid for as pure chloride of gold, it
is manifest that the price will be excessive. It is best to purchase
pure chloride of gold, though it may be slightly acid, since subsequent
operations correct the acidity. In our own practice we get fifteen-grain
tubes, and break them open, and add to each grain one drachm of water,
and in this state it is convenient to measure out. Thus, for every grain
of gold to be used, it is only necessary to measure out one drachm
into a measure. In delicate chemical operations, this would rightly
be considered a rough method; but for a practical photographer it is
sufficiently precise.
Now if chloride of gold alone were used, it would be found that the
prints, after immersion in a dilute solution, were poor and "measley,"
and practice has told us that we must add something to the solution to
enable it to act gradually and evenly. First of all, the gold solution
must be perfectly neutral, and we know no better plan than adding to it
a little powdered chalk, which at once neutralizes any free acid. It
is not a matter of indifference what further retarder is added, for
the reason that the more you retard the action, the more ruby-coloured
becomes the gold, and less blue. A well-known experiment is to dissolve
a little phosphorus in ether, and add it to a gallon of water, and then
to drop in and stir about half a grain of chloride of gold. Phosphorus
reduces the gold into the metallic state, but when so dilute the
reduction takes place very slowly. The gold will, however, precipitate
gradually, but it will be in such a fine state of division that it is
a bright ruby colour. A very common addition to make to a toning bath
is acetate of soda, and if the gold be in defect, the same appearance
will take place in the solution. If chloride of lime, however, be added
instead, and a commencement of precipitation of gold be brought about,
the gold will be of a blue colour, having a slight tendency to purple.
In this case, the grains of gold deposited are larger than when it is in
the ruby state. The tone of the print then depends in a large measure
on the degree of rapidity with which the gold is deposited. The quicker
the deposit, the larger and bluer the gold, whilst an extremely slow
deposition will give the red form. It often happens that no matter how
long a print is immersed in a toning bath, it never takes a blue tone.
The reason will be obvious from the above remarks.
We now give some toning baths which are much used.
No. 1.--Gold tri-chloride 1 grain
Sodium carbonate 10 grains
Water 10 ounces
This bath must be used immediately after mixing, since the gold is
precipitated by the carbonate. The tones given by this bath are purple
and black. The prints should be toned to dark brown for the purple tone,
and a slightly blue tone for the black tone.
No. 2.--Gold tri-chloride 2 grains
Saturated solution
of chloride of
lime 2 drops
Chalk a pinch
Water 16 ounces
The saturated solution of chloride of lime is made by taking the common
disinfecting powder, and shaking a teaspoonful up in a pint bottle.
When the solids have settled, the clear liquid can be decanted off, and
corked up till required. This is the solution used above. It is as well
to keep this solution in the dark room.
The water with this bath should be hot (boiling better still), and the
bath may be used when it is thoroughly cool. It is better, however, to
keep it a day before using, since, when fresh, the action is apt to
be too violent, and the prints are readily over-toned. The tone with
this bath is a deep sepia to black. To get the first tone a very short
immersion is necessary; the prints should be almost red. For a black
tone the prints should be left in the solution till they are induced to
be of a purple hue.
No. 3 is made as follows:--
Sodium acetate 1 drachm
Gold trichloride 5 minim
Distilled water 12 ounces
This bath is a most excellent one in many respects, and should not be
used under a week to get the best result. As this is a long time to keep
a bath, it is as well to have two always on stock. It keeps indefinitely
if proper care be taken of it. This produces a purple or brown tone,
according to the length of time the print is immersed in it.
Now, as to toning the print. After the day's printing is done, the
prints should be placed in a pan of good fresh water, in order to
dissolve out all or a certain amount of silver nitrate that is
invariably left in them. A puncheon, such as is used in dairies, is
very convenient. It should be filled with water, and the prints placed
in one by one, taking care that no one sticks to its neighbour, as this
would be a fruitful source of unequal toning. Most water contains a
little carbonate of lime and chloride of sodium, &c.; the water will
therefore become milky. When the prints have been in the first water
for ten minutes, they should be removed to another vessel of water, one
by one. The first wash water should be placed in a wooden tub, with
a tap let into it about six inches above the base, together with a
little common salt. The salt forms chloride of silver, which gradually
precipitates, and the clear water is then drawn off on the next day, and
the sediment is left undisturbed.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 27.]
It now remains to see which toning bath is to be used. If No. 1 or 3,
the whole of the free silver should as far as possible be washed away,
which may entail three or four changes of water; the last two washings
it will hardly repay to place in the tub; the second washing should
certainly be added to it. If No. 2 toning bath be used, a little free
silver should remain in the print; in fact, the washing should be
confined to two changes of water.
When toning operations are commenced, the toning solution is poured
off from any sediment that may be in the bottle containing it into a
dish a couple of inches wider each way than the largest print which
has to be toned. If big prints have to be toned, it is inadvisable to
place more than a couple in the dish at the same time, since there is a
certain awkwardness in judging of the amount of tone given to a print
which is (say) between two or three. The prints should be placed face up
in the solution, and great care should be taken that liquid separates
each print from the next one to it, otherwise there will be patches of
unequal toning. The dish containing the prints in the solution should be
gently rocked to secure a proper mixture of the solution which may have
been robbed of its gold in those strata next surface of the prints. The
rocking is also advisable to cause any adhesion between two deep-toning
prints impossible. If the prints be of small size, a dozen or more may
be toned at one operation. Each print should be frequently brought to
the surface of the liquid, and examined in order to see how the toning
action is progressing. When one print is judged sufficiently toned, it
is removed to a dish containing pure water, and another untoned print
placed in the dish in its stead. This operation is continued till all
the prints are toned. We have heard that it has been suggested to place
the prints in water containing a little acetic acid or common salt, in
order to stop the toning action continuing from the solution which may
be held in the paper. The former is most undesirable, acetic acid, as we
shall see presently, decomposing the fixing bath.
As to the addition of common salt, we can scarcely give a favourable
opinion regarding it. The addition of a chloride does, in truth, alter
the colour of the deposited gold (see _ante_), and it may be this that
gives rise to the opinion that it corrects toning action. Of one thing
we have little doubt, however, and that is, that the addition of any
large amount of common salt will tend to turn the albumenate of silver
into chloride, which in fixing will materially weaken the print. When
giving the formula of the toning baths, we have indicated the depth to
which toning should take place. One great point to attend to is, that
a print should not be a slatey colour when fixed, and that can only
be avoided by stopping the toning action when the print arrives at a
blue-purple stage.
The toning bath, when used, should be replaced in the bottle, and we
recommend that it be kept in a dark place, otherwise any chloride of
silver which finds its way into the solution will darken and be a
nucleus for the precipitation of gold from the solution. The energy of
the toning bath would, in consequence, be wholly gone. It will be found
that in very cold solutions formed in winter the toning action is much
slower than in summer, and we need scarcely point out that this due to
the fact that cold invariably retards chemical action. This retardation
is not advantageous, and it will be found positively hurtful as to the
colour of the precipitated gold. We therefore recommend that the toning
solution and the dish in which it is to be poured should be warmed
before the fire, the former to a temperature of about 70°F., and the
latter a little higher. By this means the toning action will take place
as rapidly as in warm weather, and the same tones be produced. It must
be remembered we are writing for all; not for those alone who have
an elaborate arrangement for keeping their operating rooms at a good
temperature in all weathers, but also for those who cannot afford the
luxury. It is for this reason that we have given the above directions.
CHAPTER XVI.
FIXING THE PRINT.
Sir J. Herschel was the first to point out that hyposulphite of soda
would dissolve chloride of silver, and subsequently it has been found
that it dissolves almost every organic salt of silver. In our early
chapters we gave some examples of this. When we add hyposulphite to a
salt of silver, such as the chloride, we get one of two reactions, the
formation of a nearly insoluble double hyposulphite of soda and silver,
or a readily soluble one.
Silver Sodium
Chloride and Hyposulphite
AgCl + Na_{2}S_{2}O_{3}
form
Insoluble Double Sodium
Hyposulphite of and Chloride.
Silver and Sodium
AgNaS_{2}O_{3} + NaCl
And
Silver Sodium
Chloride and Hyposulphite
2AgCl + 3Na_{2}S_{2}O_{3}
form
Soluble Double Sodium
Hyposulphite of and Chloride.
Silver and Sodium
Ag_{2}Na_{4}3(S_{2}O_{3}) + 2NaCl
The first insoluble double hyposulphite is formed when there is only
a small quantity of sodium hyposulphite present; the soluble kind
when the sodium hyposulphite is in excess. Since it is the soluble
kind which we wish to form, it is manifest that the presence of a
sufficiency of hyposulphite in the fixing bath is necessary. If not,
we have left the insoluble form on the paper. If either of these two
kinds of hyposulphite be made in a test-tube, we can readily simulate
the effect of atmospheric exposure. If slightly acid water be added
to the hyposulphite, it will be seen, when chloride of silver has
been dissolved by the hyposulphite, that the precipitate or solution
commences to blacken, sulphide of silver being formed. On the other
hand, if we take albumenate of silver, and dissolve it in hyposulphite
of soda, we shall find that the addition of acid gradually causes a
yellow-looking compound to separate out, and it is probably this body
formed in the paper which causes the gradual yellowing of the whites of
silver prints.
What is taught us, then, by this observation is, that by thorough
washing we must try and eliminate all traces of hyposulphite of silver,
and, indeed, of the hyposulphite of soda, since the latter decomposes as
rapidly in the presence of acid as does the silver compound.
The formula for the fixing bath which we recommend is:--
Sodium hyposulphite 4 ounces
Water 1 pint
Ammonia 1/2 drachm
The addition of the ammonia prevents any possibility of an acid reaction
arising, and otherwise softens the film of albumen and the size of
the paper, causing more rapid fixation and more thorough washing.
Another thing the ammonia does is, that it prevents, in a great
measure, blistering of the film of albumen, which is common in some
highly-albumenized paper.
Experience has shown that one ounce of solid hyposulphite will fix with
safety three sheets of paper, so that an idea can be formed of how much
must be used for a day's printing. The hyposulphite bath which has been
used one day should never be used the next, since it invariably contains
the germs of decomposition in it from some cause or another. Indeed, the
appearance of the solution indicates this is so, since it is usually of
a yellow or brownish appearance.
The time required for fixing a print varies with the thickness of
the paper used. As a rule, prints on the medium-sized paper require
ten minutes' soaking in the bath, whilst thick-size requires fifteen
minutes. Whilst toning, the dish containing the hyposulphite should
be kept in a gentle rocking motion, as in toning, and for the same
reasons. Prints may be examined from time to time, to see how the
fixing progresses. When a print is not quite fixed, small spots of dark
appearance will be seen when it is examined by transmitted light. The
operation of fixing should be continued after these disappear for at
least three or four minutes, in order that the hyposulphite of soda in
the dish may get impregnated with the double silver and sodium salt
which is in the print, and thus render washing more effectual. It should
be noted that the dish for fixing should be at least as long and wide
as the dish used for toning; that it should be deeper when, as a rule,
all the prints are fixed at one time. Care should be taken that dishes
which are used for sensitizing, toning, or fixing, _should not be used
for anything else_. The glaze of porcelain dishes is often soft, and
frequently absorbs a certain amount of the solutions used. Thus, if
a porcelain dish be used for a solution of any aniline dye, it will
often be found that it is permanently stained. Colour in this last is
merely indication of what happens with any other solution. It will thus
be seen that it is a mistake to use a dish for fixing when the glaze
is cracked, since old hyposulphite must find its way into the body of
the fresh solution that may be used, and thus institute a spontaneous
decomposition, and a consequent want of permanence in the print. For
our own part, we believe that a gutta-percha dish is a safer dish to
use than any other, since it is impervious to any solution, and can be
well scoured after fixing, and before being again brought into use. We
believe that much of the fading of prints may be traced to the use of
unsuitable dishes for fixing.
CHAPTER XVII.
WASHING THE PRINT.
There are very many apparatus designed for washing prints; but
we believe that, where few prints have to be treated, careful
hand-washing is as superior to machine-washing, as hand-made paper
is to machine-made. In our own practice we take the prints from the
fixing-dish, and immerse them in a large puncheon of water, and allow
them to soak for five minutes, after which we carefully pour off all
the water, and replenish with fresh, in which we leave them for a
quarter-of-an-hour. After that we take the prints and place them on a
glass slab, and, with a squeegee, squeeze as much water as possible out
of each separately; this we repeat twice. After two more washings of a
quarter-of-an-hour, we then wash for half-an-hour, and, with a sponge,
dab them as dry as possible, and again immerse for half-an-hour. After
repeating this operation twice, we allow a stream of running water
to pour into the puncheon for a couple of hours, carrying the stream
through an india-rubber pipe, at the end of which is a glass tube, to
the bottom of the puncheon, and so that the pour of water goes against
the side. By this means there is a constant stir in the water, and the
water flows over the edge of the puncheon. It is convenient to cut a
notch in the top rim of the puncheon, so that the water may find an exit
before reaching the level of the rim. The prints are then taken out,
sponged once more, and dried. By this arrangement we have got prints
which are perfectly unfaded, though they have been in existence eighteen
years, and have been to the tropics, and in the dampest climates. This
method of washing, though tedious, should be applied to all prints; but,
in the present day, it can hardly be hoped that it can be immediately
adopted, on account of the attention it requires; we therefore describe
an apparatus which can be used. It was designed by Mr. England,
and consists of a working trough, as shown in the figure, which is
automatically worked by an overshot wheel. We need not enter into the
details of the invention, as they are self-evident.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 28.]
This washing arrangement causes the prints to be alternately soaking
in water, and draining. Whilst in the water they are perpetually being
shaken apart by the movement of the tray, and thus every part of the
print gets washed, and it is almost impossible for two prints to stick
together. In all washing apparatus there is a danger of air-bells
forming on the surface of the prints while in the water, but in this
form there is the advantage that whilst draining the air-bells must
break, and so water on rising to the level of the prints can obliterate
any of the evil effects which would be caused by their being perpetually
remaining on one spot. It is useless to attempt to describe other forms
of the apparatus, since there are so many; we have chosen one which
appears to us to be a satisfactory form.
The following tests for the elimination of hyposulphite are taken from
another work of this series.[26]
"The following is a most delicate test.
"Make the following test solution:--
Potassium permanganate 2 grains
Potassium carbonate 20 "
Water 1 quart
"The addition of a few drops of this rose-coloured solution to a pint of
water will yield a slightly pink tinge. If there be any trace of sodium
hyposulphite present, this colour will give place to one of a greenish
hue.
"If the permanganate be not at hand, the following well-known starch
iodide test may be adopted:--
"Take about two drachms of water and a small piece of starch about the
size of a small pea; powder and boil the starch in the water till the
solution is quite clear; add one drop of a saturated solution of iodine
in alcohol to this clear liquid. It will now become dark blue. Of this
solution drop two drops into two clean test tubes, and fill up one with
distilled water and the other with the water to be tested; a faint blue
colour should be perceptible in the first test tube. In the second
test tube, should hyposulphite be present, this blue colour will have
disappeared, the iodide of starch becoming colourless in its presence.
The best mode of comparing the two waters is by placing a piece of white
paper behind the test tubes.
"It frequently occurs that though sodium hyposulphite cannot be detected
in the washing water, it may be present in the paper itself. The paper
on which most prints are taken being sized with starch, if a _very_
weak solution of iodine be applied with a brush across the _back_ of a
print, a blue mark will indicate the _absence_ of the hyposulphite. Care
must be taken that the iodine solution is _very_ weak, otherwise a part
of the iodine will first destroy the trace of the salt, and then the
remainder will bring out the blue re-action."
We finish this chapter by quoting our maxims to be observed in printing.
"_Maxims for Printing._
"1. The prints should have the highest lights _nearly_ white,
and the shadows verging on a bronzed colour before toning.
"2. Place the prints, before toning, in the water, face
downwards, and do not wash away too much of the free nitrate of
silver.
"3. The toning solution must be neutral or slightly alkaline,
and not colder than 60°.
"4. Tone the prints to purple or sepia, according as warm or
brown prints are required.
"5. Move the prints, in both the toning and fixing solutions,
repeatedly, taking care that no air-bubbles form on the surface.
"6. Take care that the fixing bath is not acid.
"7. Use fresh sodium hyposulphite solution for each batch of
prints to be fixed.
"8. Wash thoroughly after and before fixing.
"9. Make a sensitizing bath of a strength likely to give the
best results with the negatives to be printed.
"10. Print in the shade, or direct sunshine, according to the
density of the negative."
CHAPTER XVIII.
PRINTING ON PLAIN PAPER.
Prints on plain paper are sometimes of use; for instance, they form an
excellent basis on which to colour. They are of course duller than an
albumenized print, since the image is formed more in the body of the
paper than on the surface. The following formula may be used:--
Ammonium chloride 60 to 80 grains
Sodium citrate 100 "
Sodium chloride 20 to 30 "
Gelatine 10 "
Distilled water 10 ounces
Or,
Ammonium chloride 100 grains
Gelatine 10 "
Water 10 ounces
The gelatine is first swelled in cold water, and then dissolved in hot
water, and the remaining components of the formulæ are added. It is
then filtered, and the paper is floated for three minutes, following
the directions given on page 10. If it be required to obtain a print on
plain paper in a hurry, a wash of citric acid and water (one grain to
the ounce) may be brushed over the back of ordinary albumenized paper,
and, when dried, that side of the paper may be sensitized and printed in
the ordinary manner. For cold tones the wash of the citric acid may be
omitted.
The toning and fixing are the same as described in Chapters XII. and
XIII.
CHAPTER XIX.
PRINTING ON RESINIZED PAPER.
The following is taken from another volume of this series.[27]
To Mr. Henry Cooper we are indebted for a valuable printing process,
founded on substituting resins for albumen or other sizing matter. The
prints obtained by this process are very beautiful, and lack that gloss
of albumen which is often called vulgar and inartistic.
The following are the two formulæ which Mr. Cooper has communicated to
the writer:--
Frankincense 10 grains
Mastic 8 "
Calcium chloride 5 to 10 "
Alcohol 1 ounce
When the resins are dissolved in the alcohol, the paper is immersed in
the solution, then dried and rolled. The sensitizing bath recommended is
as follows (though the strong bath given at page 126 will answer):--
Silver nitrate 60 grains
Water 1 ounce
To the water is added as much gelatine as it will bear without
gelatinizing at 60° Fah.
The second formula gives very beautiful prints, soft and delicate in
gradation.
The paper is first coated with an emulsion of white lac in gelatine,
which is prepared as follows:--
3 ounces of _fresh_ white lac are dissolved in 1 pint of strong alcohol,
and after filtering or decanting, as much water is added as it will bear
without precipitating the lac; 1 ounce of good gelatine is soaked and
dissolved in the pint of boiling water, and the lac solution is added
with frequent stirring. If, at any stage of this operation, the gelatine
is precipitated, a little more hot water must be added. The pint of lac
solution ought, however, to be emulsified in the gelatine solution.
To use the emulsion, it is warmed, and the paper immersed in or floated
on it for three minutes. When dry, the coated surface is floated in the
following for a couple of minutes:--
Ammonium chloride 10 grains
[28]Magnesium lactate 10 "
When dry, it is sensitized on a moderately strong bath (that given on
the last page will answer).
If more vigour in the resulting prints be required, it is floated on:--
Citric acid 5 grains
White sugar 5 "
This last bath improves by use, probably by the accumulation of silver
nitrate from the sensitized paper.
Any of the toning baths given in Chapter XII. will answer, though Mr.
Cooper recommends:--
Solution of gold tri-chloride
(1 gr. to 1 dr. of water) 2 dr.
Pure precipitated chalk a pinch
Hot water 10 ounces
2 dr. of sodium acetate are to be placed in the stock-bottle, and the
above solution filtered on to it. This is made up to 20 ounces, and is
fit for use in a few hours; but it improves by keeping.
In commencing to tone, place a few ounces of water in the dish, and add
an equal quantity of the stock solution, and if the toning begins to
flag a little, add more of it from time to time.
With the resin processes over-toning is to be carefully avoided.
Resinized paper may be obtained from most photographic dealers,
we believe, and for some purposes is an admirable substitute for
albumenized paper.
CHAPTER XX.
PRINTING ON GELATINO-CHLORIDE EMULSION PAPER.
Mr. W. T. Wilkinson has recently brought forward the notion of using
gelatine instead of albumen as a medium for holding the silver chloride
in printing. He uses the following formula:--
Barium chloride 2,440 grains
Gelatine 2,000 "
Water 20 ounces
The gelatine is allowed to swell in the water, and, by the aid of heat,
is dissolved; the barium chloride is then added. Next he prepares--
Silver nitrate 1,700 grains
Water 5 ounces
and adds this to the former, little by little, in a large bottle with
much shaking, or pours it slowly into the former in a large jar,
stirring briskly the whole time. This makes an emulsion of silver
chloride, and is used without washing. When required for use, the
gelatine, which will have set when cold, is swelled by placing the jar
containing it in hot water, and is then transferred to a dish. The dish
should be kept warm by being placed, supported on small blocks, in a tin
tray (about two inches larger in dimensions every way than the dish)
filled with hot water, the temperature of which should be about 150° F.
to commence with. Saxe or Rive paper may be coated by rolling the sheet
face outwards, and placing the edge of the roll upon the gelatine. The
two corners of the paper in contact with the solution are then taken
hold of by the fingers, and raised. The paper will unroll of itself, and
take up a thin layer of the gelatine emulsion. The sheet of paper is
then suspended to dry. All these operations are, of course, conducted
in the dark room. The behaviour of the paper in the printing-frame is
precisely the same as albumenized paper, and the washing and toning are
conducted in the same way. For a fixing bath is used--
Sodium hyposulphite 2 ounces
Water 20 "
The washing after fixing is more rapid than with albumenized paper. It
is washed in ten or twelve changes of water for ten minutes, and then
placed for five minutes in an alum bath made as follows:--
Potash alum 5 ounces
Water 20 "
The print is washed in a few changes of water, and the prints are ready
for drying and mounting. The advantage of the alum bath is that the
hyposulphite is destroyed into harmless products, and the gelatine is
rendered insoluble by it. In the formula given there is large excess
of chloride, and we recommend that instead of using 2,440 grains of
barium chloride, 2,050 grains be used. (Mr. Wilkinson has used that
amount of the barium salt that would be required exactly to convert
1,700 grains of silver nitrate into silver chloride, if the formula for
barium chloride were BaCl_{3} instead of BaCl_{2}.) It will be seen
that whichever formula is used, there is no silver left to combine with
the gelatine, and hence the image will be entirely formed by metallic
silver, and not an organic salt of silver.
CHAPTER XXI.
DRYING THE PRINTS.
In many establishments the prints are taken direct from the washing
water, and hung up by American clips, and thus allowed to dry. When this
is done, the prints curl up as the water leaves the paper, and they
become somewhat unmanageable. If prints have to be dried at all before
mounting--and they must, unless they are trimmed before toning--a better
plan is to make a neat heap of some fifty or sixty of the same size (say
cartes), place them on blotting-paper, and drain for a time, and then in
a screw-press (such as is used to press table-cloths, for instance) to
squeeze out all superfluous water. After a good hard squeeze the prints
should be separated, and the plan adopted by Mr. England carried out. He
has frames of light laths made, of about 6 feet by 3 feet, and over this
frame is stretched ordinary paperhanger's canvas. The prints are laid
on this to dry spontaneously, and they cockle up but very little. The
frames, being light, are easily handled. After the squeezing is done,
supposing the room in which they are placed be not very damp or very
cold, the prints will be ready for trimming and mounting in a couple of
hours. To our minds there is nothing superior to this mode of drying,
since the squeezing in the press tends to eliminate every slight trace
of hyposulphite which might be left in them.
_Trimming the Prints._--Perhaps more prints are ruined in trimming than
in any other way, when the operator is inexperienced, since it requires
judgment to know which part of the print to trim off, so that a right
balance shall be kept. In trimming landscape prints, it is impossible
to give any set rules; the judgment as to what is artistic must be the
guide. Of one thing we may be certain, that, unless the operator who
took the original negative knows exactly how to balance his picture on
the focussing-screen, the print will always bear cutting down in one
direction or the other. Such a clipping, of course, alters the size of
the print, which, if it be one of a series, will be a misfortune; but,
on the other hand, the artistic value of the individual print will be
increased.
For portraits there are some few rules which should be followed in
trimming. Always allow the centre of the face to be a little "out" from
the central line of the print, making more space on the side towards
which the sitter is looking. Allow a carte or cabinet to be cut in
such a way that, if the sitter has been leaning on something, it does
not seem as if he had been leaning on nothing. Should there be an
unintentional lean on the part of the sitter, trim the print so that he
appears in an upright position.
To trim the print, there should be the various sized shapes in glass
used. Thus there should be glasses with bevelled edges for the carte,
the cabinet, and other sizes, which can be laid on the print as a guide
to the trimming. The absolute trimming may be done either by shears
or by a knife, a leather cutters' knife being excellent, since it is
rounded, and can be brought to a keen edge very readily. When the knife
is used, the print is placed on a large glass sheet of good thickness,
the pattern placed over it, and, whilst this is held down by the left
hand, the knife is used by the right, keeping it close to the edge of
the pattern glass. When shears are used, the print is held against the
pattern glass by the left hand, and each side trimmed by one clip,
taking care to make the cut parallel to the edges of the pattern glass.
It requires a little practice to prevent clipping the glass as well as
the paper, but for small sized prints, such as the carte, the shears
have a decided advantage over the knife.
For cutting out ovals, Robinson's trimmer is an excellent adjunct to the
mounting-room, and in this case ovals stamped out of sheet brass are
used as guides.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 29.]
The figure will show the action of the trimmer. The small wheel is the
cutter, and, being pivotted, it follows the curve against which it is
held. It is better to cut out prints with this trimmer on sheet zinc
in preference to glass, the edge of the wheel being kept sharp for a
longer time than where the harder glass is used. To use the trimmer,
the print is placed on the sheet of zinc, the oval mask (or square
mask, with slightly rounded corners) is placed in position on it. The
wheel of the trimmer is brought parallel to, and against, the edge of
the mask, the handle being grasped by the right hand, the thumb to the
left, and the fingers on the right. A fairly heavy downward pressure
is brought to bear on the trimmer, and at the same time the wheel is
caused to run along the edge of the mask. The cut should be clean, and
the join perfect, if proper care be taken. It is desirable to practise
on ordinary writing paper before it is taken into use for prints. Square
masks with very slightly rounded corners can be used; the smaller the
wheel, the less curved the corners need be. It will be seen that there
is a limit to smallness of the wheel used, since, if too small, the
stirrup on which it is pivoted would rest upon the mask. The larger the
wheel the easier is the cutting.
With larger sizes than the carte or the cabinet, mounting may often
have to be delayed, since it is easier to keep a stock of unmounted
prints (say landscapes) unmounted than it is when they are mounted. In
this case the prints should be put away as flat as possible. The plan
of drying we have indicated takes out the "curl," but even then they
will not be flat enough to be handily put away. We therefore recommend
the practice of stroking the prints. A flat piece of hard wood, about
1 foot long and 1-1/2 inch broad, and the thickness of a marquoise
scale, has its edges carefully rounded off. The print is seized by one
corner in one hand and unrolled; the face of the print is brought in
contact with a piece of plate glass. The "stroker," held by the other
hand, is brought with its rounded edge on to the back of the print near
the corner held by the first hand. Considerable pressure is brought upon
the stroker, and the print is drawn through between it and the plate.
The print is then seized by another corner and similarly treated. By
this means a gloss is put upon the print, and the creases and cockles
are obliterated. The print is now ready for trimming.
It is well to have a square of glass with true edges cut to the size of
the pictures. The prints should be trimmed upon a sheet of plate glass,
a sharp penknife being used to cut them. A rough test for ascertaining
if the opposite sides are equal is to bring them together, and see if
both corners coincide.
It may sometimes be found useful to cut out a print into an oval. The
following method for tracing any ellipse may be employed:--On a thickish
piece of clean paper draw a line A B, making it the _extreme_ width of
the oval required. Bisect it at O, and draw D O C at right angles to A
B. Make O C equal to _half_ the smallest diameter of the ellipse. With
the centre C and the distance O B, draw an arc of a circle, cutting A
B in E and F. Place the paper on a flat board, and at E and F fix two
drawing-pins. Take a piece of thread and knot it together in such a
manner that half its length is equal to A F. Place the thread round the
two pins at E and F, and stretch it out to tightness by the point of a
lead pencil. Move the pencil guided by the cotton, taking care to keep
it upright. The resulting figure will be an ellipse. Modifications of
this figure may be made by making a second knot beyond the first knot,
and placing the point of the pencil in the loop formed. When the figure
has been traced in pencil on paper, it should be carefully cut out with
a sharp penknife, and placed on the print which is to be trimmed into an
oval. When so placed, a faint pencil line is run round on the print, and
the cutting out proceeds either by scissors or penknife.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 30.]
CHAPTER XXII.
MOUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS.
There are many photographers who, unfortunately, are quite indifferent
as to the medium they use in mounting the trimmed photographs. So long
as the medium will cause the adherence of the back of the print to the
cardboard employed, they are perfectly satisfied, whether it be paste
fresh or sour, or starch or gelatine in a similar condition. If any of
our readers have had the misfortune to have their rooms papered with
rancid paste, they will have noticed that the unpleasant smell attending
it has not been removed from the room for weeks, and that there is a
liability of the return of the disgusting odour when the air is at all
damp. In this case the fact that decomposition is going on is detected
by the olfactory nerves, because the quantity is considerable. It is
none the less true, however, that every square inch of the surface of
the wall paper is undergoing the same ordeal, and that if it contains
any colour, &c., which would be affected by decomposing organic matter,
there would be but small chance of the paper retaining its fresh
appearance. Were a silver print mounted with the same paste, we need
scarcely point out that danger to its permanency is to be apprehended.
Paste, we know, is as a rule tabooed, but there is no occasion for it
to be so if care be taken that it is absolutely fresh when employed in
mounting. In looking for a mounting material, we should endeavour to
find something which does not readily take up moisture. Glue, gelatine,
dextrine, and gum are all inadmissible on this account; on the other
hand, starch, arrowroot, cornflour, and gum tragacanth, when once dry,
do not seem to attract moisture.
Referring to glue, Mr. W. Brooks says[29] that he has recently seen
many photographs which have been mounted with that medium, and in
some cases, where the glue has been put on too thickly, it swells up
into ridges, showing marks of the brush with which it is applied, and
each ridge after a time turns brown. The same writer is not wholly in
favour of starch, but in our own opinion pure white starch is as good
a material as can be met with. To prepare it for use as a mountant,
a large teaspoonful of starch is placed in the bottom of a cup, with
just sufficient cold water to cover it. This is allowed to remain for
a couple of minutes, after which the cup is filled with boiling water,
and well stirred; the starch should then be fairly thick, but not
so thick as to prevent a brush taking up a proper supply for a good
sized print. We will suppose that we are going to mount a day's work
of carte-de-visite prints. In a former chapter we have said that it
is desirable that the prints should be left damp. If they are dried,
they should be _slightly_ moistened, and placed in a heap one above the
other, as by so doing the moisture is confined, and one damping of all
the prints is sufficient. In our own practice we have, as is natural,
all the prints with the faces downwards. A stiff bristle brush is then
dipped into the pot containing the starch, and the starch brushed over
the back of the top print. This one is then carefully raised from the
print beneath it, and, supposing it to have been properly trimmed, it
is laid upon the card, and pressed down by means of a soft cloth, and
placed on one side to dry. The next print is then treated in the same
manner, and so on. By this plan no starch gets on the face of the
prints, which is a desideratum. With a little practice, just sufficient
starch will be brushed on each carte, and no more. Young hands, however,
are sometimes apt to give more than a fair share to them; in this case,
after pressing the print down with the soft cloth, it may be useful to
place on the print a piece of writing paper, and press all superfluous
starch out by a rounded straight-edge, or an ivory or wooden paper
knife. The card in this case should be placed on a slab of thick glass,
so as give an even pressure. The starch, which will exude beyond the
edges of the card, should be carefully wiped off with a _clean_ cloth.
This is of course a method to be adopted only in the case of bungling
mounting, but it is useful then, and may save a carte. It should be
remembered that the less mounting medium used, the greater is the chance
of a silver print not fading.
To mount larger prints, the back should be slightly damped, and the
brush with the starch applied with cross strokes, so that every part is
covered. Particular care should be taken that the corners and edges are
not missed, since it often necessitates re-mounting the print, which is
to be avoided as far as possible, since it is a troublesome matter. The
rounded-edged ruler, and the sheet of white paper, is also useful here,
since over a large surface there is more difficulty in getting even
layers of starch, than over smaller ones. When a print has to be mounted
with a margin, the places where the top corners have to come should be
marked with a fine pencil point. By a little dexterity, the top edge of
the print, the back of which has been covered with starch in the manner
described, can be brought into the position indicated by these dots,
and be then lowered without puckers or folds. It should be remembered
that the print should just cover the pencil marks, since it is almost
impossible to erase blacklead with india-rubber, if any starch should by
accident get on it.
It is well to dry these prints under pressure, since the cardboard is
apt to cockle. A couple of boards rather longer than the prints suffice
for the purpose. The mounted prints are laid between them, a sheet
of clean blotting-paper separating each, and a few weights placed on
the top board. For prints of moderate size, a table-cloth press is an
excellent substitute.
As to the kind of mounts to be used, opinions vary. To our mind, the
simpler they are, the better they look. It is not rare to find a regular
advertisement of the photographic establishment below a carte or cabinet
print. To say the least of it, this is bad taste, and we are sure it is
bad art. If the work be good, it needs no recommendation; and if it be
bad, the less of an advertisement that appears, the better it is for
the photographer. At the back of a carte or cabinet is the place where
any advertisement should appear; but even here it may be overdone. When
we find the back of the carte got up with any amount of gold-lettering
flourishes, and no blank space on which the eye can rest without
encountering some one especial merit of the artist, we may expect to
find on the front of the card the same kind of tawdry work. It is
seldom advisable to have the mount of a white colour, though for cartes
or cabinets, in which the margin will be hidden in the album, this is
not of much consequence; but for prints in which the margin shows, it
is generally advisable to have some slight tint visible, preferably
of a cream or buff colour. There are some classes of work which will,
however, bear a white margin, but it is rarely the case; and we advise,
as a general rule, that there should be some tone on it, to prevent
its attracting the eye away from the picture by its whiteness. Black
mounts are much in vogue at the present time, and they are effective and
artistic; but chemical analysis has shown them not to be safe, since
they are enamelled with substances which are apt to induce fading. A
good and stable black mount is a desideratum, which it is to be hoped
will be found before long.
Notwithstanding our preference for starch as a mountant, we give a
method of preparing glue for the same purpose. The glue used should
be light, and as clean as possible. It should be shredded and soaked
in sufficient clean water to cover it for five or six hours; any dust
which may have adhered to it will find its way into the water. The water
should be poured off and replaced by an equal quantity of fresh. The
vessel containing it is heated over a small gas jet or spirit lamp until
solution takes place. The liquid is then thinned down with warm water
till it is of proper consistency, a point which is soon learned by a
little practice. An ordinary small glue pot will be found convenient.
It is sometimes useful to have at hand a mounting solution which will
not cockle the mount, and the late Mr. G. Wharton Simpson gave a formula
which is very good in this respect. Fine cut gelatine or shredded glue
is swollen in the least possible quantity of water, and this is boiled
with alcohol, with much stirring. If 80 grains of Nelson's No. 1 fine
cut gelatine are taken, 3 dr. of water should be used for making it, and
to it 2 oz. of alcohol be added. When cool this sets into a jelly, and
can be used by letting the bottle into which it has been transferred
stand in hot water. Prints can be mounted on foolscap paper with this
medium without any serious cockling being apparent.
It should be recollected that no two batches of paper will mount exactly
alike, some expanding more than others. It is well to mount a trial
print before doing many, to see exactly how the paper under manipulation
behaves.
_Rolling the Prints._--After the prints have been under the hands of the
retoucher, they should be rolled in a rolling-press in order to give a
brightness to the printed image. It would be invidious to point out any
particular press that should be used. Suffice it to say, there are many
excellent ones in the market. The directions for cleaning and using the
press are supplied with each machine; we therefore refrain from saying
anything about them.
CHAPTER XXIII.
DEFECTS IN PRINTS.
The bath solution is sometimes repelled by the paper, and this is found
chiefly in highly albumenized paper, and is generally caused by the
paper being too dry. Passing the sheet of paper over the steam from a
saucepan will generally effect a cure.
Small white spots, with a black central pin-point, are often met with in
prints. Dust on the paper during sensitizing will cause them, the grit
forming a nucleus for a minute bubble. All paper should be thoroughly
dusted before being floated on the sensitizing bath.
Grey, star-like spots arise from small particles of inorganic matter,
such as ferric oxide, lime, &c., which are present in the paper. They
become more apparent by decomposition during the printing operations.
They may generally be discernible by examining the paper by transmitted
light.
Bronze lines (straight) occur through a stoppage during floating the
paper in the sensitizing solution. Should the lines be irregular,
forming angles and curves, it is probable that a scum of silver oxide,
&c., may be detected on the surface of the sensitizing solution. A strip
of blotting-paper drawn across the bath will remove the cause of the
defect.
Should the print appear marbled, it may be surmised that the sensitizing
solution is weak, or that the paper has not been floated sufficiently.
In some cases it may arise from imperfect albumenizing; but in ordinary
commercial samples the cause can be easily traced.
Red marks on the shadows may appear during toning, and are very
conspicuous after fixing. They generally arise from handling the paper
with hot, moist fingers after sensitizing; greasy matter being deposited
on the surface, prevents the toning bath acting properly on such parts.
Weak prints are generally caused by weak negatives. Such can be
partially remedied by paying attention to the strength of the
sensitizing bath (see Appendix), and by using washed paper.
Harsh prints are due to harsh negatives. They can generally be remedied
by paying attention to the mode of printing, as given in Chapter IX. If
the negative be under-exposed and wanting in detail, there is, however,
no cure for this defect.
A red tone is due to insufficient toning; whilst a poor and blue tone is
due to an excess of toning.
The whites may appear yellow from imperfect washing, imperfect toning,
imperfect fixing, or from the use of old sensitized paper.
Should prints refuse to tone, either the gold has been exhausted, or
else a trace of sodium hyposulphite has been carried into the toning
bath by the fingers or other means. A trace of hyposulphite is much more
injurious to the print than a fair quantity of it. Should the toning
bath refuse to tone after the addition of gold, it may be presumed that
it is contaminated by a trace of sodium hyposulphite.
A dark mottled appearance in the body of the paper indicates imperfect
fixing, combined with the action of light on the unaltered chloride
during fixing. If the fixing bath be acid, the excess of acid combines
with the sulphur, and forms hydrosulphuric acid, which will also cause
the defect.
The cause of mealiness or "measles" in the print has been explained in
page 32.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ENCAUSTIC PASTE.
The value of an encaustic paste in improving the effect of photographic
prints has become very generally recognised amongst photographers.
A good encaustic confers three special benefits on the print: it
gives depth, richness, and transparency to the shadows; it renders
apparent delicate detail in the lights which would otherwise remain
imperceptible; and it aids in protecting the surface, and so tends to
permanency. One of the writers has in his possession prints that were
treated with an encaustic paste thirteen years ago, which retain all
their original freshness and purity, while prints done at the same time
from the same negatives have gone, to say the least of it, "off colour."
Various formulæ for the preparation of encaustic pastes have been
published, and many of them very excellent. The qualities required are,
easiness of application, and the capacity of giving richness and depth
without too much gloss, and of yielding a hard, firm, permanent surface.
For a proper combination of all these qualities, nothing has ever
approached the paste of the late Adam-Salomon, of which the following is
the formula:--
Pure white wax 500 grains
Gum elemi 10 "
Benzole 200 "
Essence of lavender 300 "
Oil of spike 15 "
The wax is cut into shreds, and melted in a capsule over a water
bath. Placing it in a jar, and the latter in a pan of hot water, will
serve. Powder the elemi, and dissolve it in the solvent, using gentle
heat. Some samples of elemi are soft and tough, and will not admit of
powdering, in which case it may be roughly divided into small portions,
and placed in a bottle with the solvents. Strain through muslin, and add
the clear solution to the melted wax, and stir well. It is then poured
into a wide-mouthed bottle, and allowed to cool.
The encaustic paste is put on the prints in patches, and then rubbed
with a light, quick motion, with a piece of flannel, until a firm, fine
surface is obtained.
We give another simple formula which is efficient, though we ourselves
prefer the above.
White wax cut into shreds 1 ounce
Turpentine 1 "
and thinned down, if necessary, till it has the consistency of "cold
cream."
Yet another is--
White wax 1 ounce
Benzole 2 ounces.
CHAPTER XXV.
ENAMELLING PRINTS.
There are several modes of enamelling prints, but there is none better
than that described by Mr. W. England, which we quote in his words.
"I have a glass having a good polished surface (patent plate is not
necessary), and rub over it some powdered French chalk tied up in a
muslin bag. Dust off the superfluous chalk with a camel's hair brush,
and coat with enamel collodion. I find it an improvement to add to the
collodion usually sold for the purpose 2 dr. of castor oil to the pint.
When the collodion is well set, immerse the plate in a dish of water.
When several prints are required to be enamelled, a sufficient number
of plates may be prepared and put in dishes; this will save time. Now
take the first plate, and well wash under a tap till all greasiness
has disappeared; place it on a levelling stand, and pour on as much
water as the plate will hold. Then lay the print on the top, squeeze
out all the water, and place the plate and print between several
thicknesses of blotting-paper to remove all superfluous moisture. The
plate, with the print in contact, should now be placed in a warm room
to dry spontaneously, when the print will come easily from the glass.
Care should be taken not to attempt to remove the print till quite
dry. If the pictures required to be enamelled have been dried, it
will be necessary to rub over them some ox-gall with a plug of soft
rag; otherwise the water will run in globules on the surface, and make
blisters when laid on the collodion.
"I may mention that prints done in this way lose their very glossy
surface on being mounted, but retain their brilliancy, which I think is
an improvement, as I dislike the polished surface usually given to the
print when gelatine is employed."
CHAPTER XXVI.
CAMEO PRINTS.
At one time there was a rage amongst photographers to produce cameos,
and, for this purpose, a special piece of apparatus was required to
produce the embossing. The figure will explain it.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 31.]
The print, after mounting, was enamelled by coating a plate with
collodion--as described above--and a thin film of liquid gelatine
applied. In some cases the carte itself was gelatinized, dried, and
damped, and placed in contact with the collodion film. The carte was
placed face downwards on the gelatine, and placed under pressure till
quite dry. It was then removed, and bore on its surface a high gloss
caused by the collodion. It was then ready for embossing, which was
effected by placing it in the above apparatus.
Some people like the style; and it will be seen that great variety in
it may be made by printing sufficient depth of border round the cameo;
but, for our own part, we think that, in an art point of view, they are
decidedly vulgar; and besides which, the surface of the cameo is readily
scratched, since it is raised. We only give a brief account of what has
been done in this direction, not to encourage its adoption, but rather
to caution the photographer.
APPENDIX.
REDUCTION OF OVER-EXPOSED PRINTS.
Mr. England writes as follows to the Photographic Journal, and we can
unhesitatingly say that the method of reducing an over-printed proof is
excellent.
"A simple and certain method of reducing over-printed proofs has been
one of the wants long felt by all photographers. It is well known that
in every photographic establishment even the most careful printers
cannot always be sure of getting the exact depth of tone required, and
proofs occasionally get over-printed. Of course prevention is better
than cure; but, when a remedy is necessary, the method I am about to
describe answers admirably. I tried a great many experiments before I
succeeded to my satisfaction. I found that cyanide of potassium totally
destroyed the print, even when used moderately strong. By using a weaker
solution it was well under control, and the exact depth could be readily
obtained; but during the washing to remove the cyanide the action of
the latter continued, and spoiled every proof. I then tried several
methods to arrest the action of the cyanide, but without success. It
then occurred to me to use the cyanide in such a weak state that but
little should be held in the paper, only sufficient to reduce the print
to the required depth; for this purpose I made a bath of only four drops
of saturated solution of cyanide to a pint of water. The prints immersed
at first showed no signs of getting lighter, but after about an hour
the most perfect results had been obtained with prints considerably
over-printed. With lighter pictures a less time is required. Proofs
treated in this way lose nothing of their tone during the after-washing,
which should be thoroughly done, and, when dry, retain all the
brilliancy of an ordinary print."
The plan of using cyanide has, we know, often been proposed, but with
no success until, we believe, Mr. W. Brooks gave a formula which worked
successfully with him.
Another plan, proposed by Mr. L. Warnerke, for effecting the same thing
is the use of ferric sulphate. A weak solution is prepared, and the
print immersed in it. The reduction takes place rapidly, but evenly.
We need scarcely say that it is better not to have to use either of
these remedies, by avoiding over-printing; but as mistakes will occur,
it is evident that the above will be of use at times.
UTILIZATION OF SILVER RESIDUES.
All paper or solutions in which there is silver should be saved, as it
has been proved by experience that from 50 to 75 per cent. of the whole
of the silver used can be recovered by rigid adherence to the careful
storage of "wastes."
1. All prints should be trimmed, if practicable, before toning and
fixing; in all cases these clippings should be collected. When a good
basketful of them is collected, these, together with the bits of
blotting-paper attached to the bottom end of sensitized paper during
drying, and that used for the draining of plates, should be burnt in a
stove, and the ashes collected. These ashes will naturally occupy but a
small space in comparison with the paper itself. Care should be taken
that the draught from the fire is not strong enough to carry up the
ashes.
2. All washings from prints, waters used in the preparation of dry
plates, all baths, developing solutions (after use), and old toning
baths, should be placed in a tub, and common salt added. This will form
silver chloride.
3. The old hyposulphite baths used in printing should be placed in
another tub. To this the potassium sulphide of commerce may be added.
Silver sulphide is thus formed.
4. To No. 1 nitric acid may be added, and the ashes boiled in it till
no more silver is extracted by it. The solution of silver nitrate thus
produced is filtered off through white muslin, and put aside for further
treatment, when common salt is added to it to form chloride, and added
to No. 2.
5. The ashes may still contain silver chloride. This may be dissolved
out by adding a solution of sodium hyposulphite, and adding the filtrate
No. 3.
6. No. 2, after thoroughly drying, may be reduced to metallic silver
in a reducing crucible[30] by addition of two parts of sodium carbonate
and a little borax to one of the silver chloride. These should be well
mixed together, and placed in the covered crucible in a coke fire, and
gradually heated. If the operator be in possession of one of Fletcher's
gas furnaces he can employ it economically, and with far less trouble
than using the fire. (It is supplied with an arrangement for holding
crucibles, which is useful for the purpose.) After a time, on lifting
off the cover, it will be found that the silver is reduced to a metallic
state. After all seething has finished, the crucible should be heated
to a white heat for a quarter of an hour. The molten silver should be
turned out into an iron pan (previously rubbed over with plumbago to
prevent the molten metal spirting), and immersed in a pail of water. The
washing should be repeated till nothing but the pure silver remains.
The silver hyposulphite, having been reduced to the sulphide by the
addition of the potassium sulphide, is placed in a crucible, and
subjected to a white heat; the sulphur is driven off, and the silver
remains behind.
Another method of reducing silver chloride to the metallic state is by
placing it in water slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid together
with granulated zinc. The zinc is attacked, evolving hydrogen, which, in
its turn, reduces the silver chloride to the metallic state, and forming
hydrochloric acid. After well washing, the silver may be dissolved up in
nitric acid.
Yet another method is to take sugar of milk and a solution of crude
potash, when the silver is rapidly reduced. This requires careful
washing, and it is well to heat the metal to a dull red heat to get rid
of any adherent and insoluble organic matter which may have been formed,
before dissolving it in nitric acid.
TO PRINT FROM WEAK AND HARD NEGATIVES.
Should a negative be found very hard, a slight modification of the
sensitizing solution will be found beneficial, supposing the ordinary
paper is to be used.
Silver nitrate 30 grains
Water 1 ounce
The negative should in this case be printed in the sun. The more intense
the light, the less contrast there will be in the print, as the stronger
light more rapidly effects a change in the albuminate than if subjected
to weaker diffused light. The reason for the reduction in quantity of
the silver nitrate in the solution is given on page 15.
To print from a weak negative, the sensitizing solution should be:--
Silver nitrate 80 grains
Water 1 ounce
The printing should take place in the shade; the weaker the negative,
the more diffused the light should be.
If a negative be dense, but all the gradations of light and shade be
perfect, the strong bath, and, if, possible, a strongly-salted paper,
should be used. The printing should take place in sunlight.
TO MAKE GOLD TRI-CHLORIDE [AU CL_{3}].
Place a half-sovereign (which may contain silver as well as copper) in a
convenient vessel; pour on it half a drachm of nitric acid, and mix with
it two-and-a-half drachms of hydrochloric acid; digest at a gentle heat,
but do not boil, or probably the chlorine will be driven off. At the
expiration of a few hours add a similar quantity of the acids. Probably
this will be sufficient to dissolve all the gold. If not, add acid the
third time; all will have been dissolved by this addition, excepting,
perhaps, a trace of silver, which will have been deposited by the
excess of hydrochloric acid as silver chloride. If a precipitate should
have been formed, filter it out, and wash the filter paper well with
distilled water. Take a filtered solution of ferrous sulphate (eight
parts water to one of iron) acidulated with a few drops of hydrochloric
acid, and add the gold solution to it; the iron will cause the gold
alone to deposit as metallic gold, leaving the copper in solution. By
adding the gold solution to the iron the precipitate is not so fine as
if added _vice versa_. Let the gold settle, and pour off the liquid;
add water, and drain again, and so on till no acid is left, testing
the washings by litmus paper. Take the metallic gold which has been
precipitated, re-dissolve in the acids as before, evaporate to dryness
on a water bath (that is, at a heat not exceeding 212° F.) The resulting
substance is the gold tri-chloride. To be kept in crystals this should
be placed in glass tubes hermetically sealed. For non-commercial
purposes it is convenient to dissolve it in water (one drachm to a grain
of gold). Ten grains of gold dissolved yield 15.4 grains of the salt.
Hence if ten grains have been dissolved, 15.4 drachms of water must be
added to give the above strength.
TO MAKE SILVER NITRATE.
Silver coins are mostly alloyed with tin or copper. In both cases the
coin should be dissolved in nitric acid diluted with twice its bulk
of water. If tin be present there will be an insoluble residue left
of stannic oxide. The solution should be evaporated down to dryness,
re-dissolved in water, filtered, and again evaporated to dryness.
It will then be fit for making up a bath. If copper be present, the
solution must be treated with silver oxide.
The silver oxide thus formed is added, little by little, till the blue
or greenish colour has entirely disappeared. This will precipitate the
copper oxide from the copper nitrate, setting free the nitric acid,
which, in its turn, will combine with the silver oxide. The copper will
fall as a black powder mixed with any excess of silver oxide there may
be. Take one or two drops of the solution in a measure, and add a drachm
of water, and then add ammonia to it till the precipitate first formed
is re-dissolved. If no blue colour is apparent, the substitution of the
silver for the copper is complete; if not, more silver oxide must be
added till the desired end is attained. Distilled water must next be
added till the strength of the bath is that required. This can be tested
by the argentometer.
If to a solution of silver nitrate a solution of potash be added, a
precipitate will be formed. This is the silver oxide. The potash should
be added till no further precipitation takes place. The oxide should
be allowed to settle, the supernatant fluid be decanted off (a syphon
arrangement is very convenient), and fresh distilled water added to it.
This, in its turn, after the oxide has been well stirred, should be
decanted off. The operation should be repeated five or six times, to
ensure all nitrate of potash being absent, though its presence does not
matter for a printing bath, since this or some other nitrate is formed
when the paper is floated.
THE END.
FOR
Photographic Stock
and Apparatus,
Artists' Materials, etc.,
_Send your orders to the_
MAMMOTH STOCK HOUSE
_OF_
W. R. REID,
352 & 354 Euclid Avenue, CLEVELAND, OHIO.
Entrekin's Enamellers, Weston's Burnishers,
Magee's Nitrate Silver, and other Chemicals,
Photo-Chrome Outfits, Convex Glass, oval and square,
Card size to 10 x 12, Webster's Transparent Water
Colors, Parlor Paste, Velvet Frames, Square and
Oval Walnut Frames, Mouldings and Linings.
SOLAR PRINTING.
MANUFACTURER OF
_Reid's New Negative and Ferrotype Collodion,
Reid's New Negative and Ferrotype Varnish,
Reid's Brilliant and Extra Brilliant Non-blistering
Albumen Paper._
No charge for packing boxes. Write for price-list.
Special prices to large buyers and cash customers.
JAS. H. SMITH
_Wholesale Dealer in_
PHOTOGRAPHIC GOODS,
Picture Frames,
Mouldings.
Albums, Brackets, Mats, Picture Cord, Glass, Patent Window
Cornices, etc.
OUTFITS A SPECIALTY.
Second-hand Apparatus, Lenses etc., Bought, Sold or Exchanged.
_BEST GOODS AT LOWEST PRICES._
26 SOUTH FIFTH STREET,
QUINCY,
ILL.
Send for Price-Lists.
A. M. COLLINS, SON & CO.
Manufacturers of all kinds of
CARDS AND CARDBOARDS
FOR
PHOTOGRAPHERS
WAREHOUSE:
No. 527 Arch Street
PHILADELPHIA
28,000 square feet of Floor room.
The largest force of Employees.
Largest Stock in the United States.
HIRAM J. THOMPSON,
JOBBER IN
PICTURE FRAMES, MOULDINGS,
MIRRORS, ALBUMS, PICTURES,
AND
PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS.
No. 259 Wabash Ave., CHICAGO.
Send for my late Catalogue.
Photographic Enlargements
BY THE
PLATINOTYPE PROCESS.
DONE WITH THE
Electric Light.
The Platinotype Prints are characterized by a
_Beautiful Tone,
Perfection of Detail,
Pure Whites, and
ABSOLUTE PERMANENCE._
By the use of the Electric Light we are enabled to proceed without
regard to the weather, and can fill orders _promptly_ without the
delays usually attending Solar Printing.
Send for Price-Lists.
THOS. H. McCOLLIN,
_631 ARCH STREET_,
(Dealer in all Photographic Supplies.)
PA. PHILADELPHIA, PA.
_THE OLD RELIABLE!_
P. SMITH & CO.,
NO. 121 WEST FIFTH STREET,
CINCINNATI, OHIO.
AND
BRANCH AT
NO. 6 EAST BROAD STREET,
COLUMBUS, OHIO.
WHERE
_The Amateur and the
Professional Photographer_
WILL FIND EVERYTHING
=Requisite for either the WET or the DRY PLATE PROCESS.=
_Dry Plates and Outfits in Great Variety._
_Velvet Frames, etc., etc., etc._
MULLETT BROS.,
DEALERS IN
Photographic Supplies.
518 WALNUT ST.,
KANSAS CITY, MO.
Western Photographers! look to your interests, and purchase your stock
and apparatus at the Kansas City Stock House, thereby avoiding heavy
freight bills and a great loss of time.
_In addition to a full line of Photo. Supplies, we have also a large
variety of_
ALBUMS,
SILK VELVET FRAMES,
PICTURE CORD AND NAILS,
CONVEX GLASS,
MATTS, ETC., ETC.
Photographers in the East contemplating moving West will find it to
their interests to purchase their goods here, thereby saving a great
expense in shipping.
Having more than doubled our capital and room, we are now able to
compete in _price_ and _variety_ of goods with _any_ house West
of N. Y. Send a trial order and be convinced.
Prompt and careful attention to all orders.
MILWAUKEE.
GUSTAVUS BODE,
Northwestern Photographic Warehouse
and Chemical Laboratory,
11 Spring St., Milwaukee, Wis.
A FULL LINE OF
PHOTOGRAPHIC GOODS
AND ARTISTS' MATERIALS,
--EMBRACING--
_Apparatus, Chemicals, Glass,
Albumenized Papers,
Frames, Albums,
Views, etc._
English, German and American Oil Colors, and all Materials
used in the Fine Arts.
SPECIALTY.
Nitrate of Silver and Chloride of Gold made for photographic
purposes. Gold and Silver Wastes refined. Satisfaction
guaranteed.
SEND FOR PRICE-LIST.
BUFFALO
PHOTOGRAPHIC WAREHOUSE.
David Tucker & Co.
Photographers' Supplies.
410 MAIN ST. BUFFALO, N. Y.
DAVID TUCKER. S. B. BUTTS
_1860 National Photographic Emporium. 1881_
205 W. Baltimore Street,
BALTIMORE, MD.
RICHARD WALZL, Proprietor.
Dry Plate Outfits a Specialty,
All the latest novelties in connection with the improved Dry-plate
Processes furnished at the shortest notice.
_Any Photographer_ who wants _Lenses_, _Cameras_, _Camera Stands_,
_Backgrounds_, _Chemicals_, _Glass_, _Albumen Paper_ or in fact _any
Photographic Goods_, should send for our price-list and be convinced
that it is to their interest to send their orders to us direct. A
trial order will convince the most skeptical.
Photography in all its Branches for the Trade.
Expert Artists employed on the premises enable us to make this branch
a great feature, and we can always guarantee satisfaction.
Our Practical Photographic Publications
are unequalled. See testimonials in _Photographer's Friend._
Price-list sent free to any photographer.
OUR NEW LENSES ARE THE SENSATION OF THE DAY--and the prices are so
moderate they will astonish you. You can try our lenses before you
buy them. If you want anything in the photographic line, address
RICHARD WALZL, BALTIMORE, MD.
PA. PITTSBURGH, PA.
JOHN I. SHAW,
_Successor to J. W. Morrison_,
MANUFACTURER AND DEALER IN
_Photographic Materials, Cameras, etc., etc._,
Nos. 10 & 12 Sixth Street,
PITTSBURGH, PA.
_Mouldings, Albums,
Oval, Square and Arch Top Frames,
Velvet and Combination Frames._
Photographic Dry Plates and Outfits for Amateurs and Professionals.
Everything required in the practice of Photography in all its forms.
JOHN I. SHAW, PITTSBURGH, PA.
W. J. HAZENSTAB'S
NEW PHOTOGRAPHIC STOCK HOUSE,
406 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo.
Is now opened and prepared to fill all orders for
PHOTOGRAPHIC GOODS,
_At Bed Rock Prices for Cash._
_General Outfits for Galleries a Specialty._
_Remember I Carry in Stock_:
Am. Opt. Co's Camera Boxes and Stand,
Success Camera Boxes,
Sam. Peck & Co.'s Camera Boxes,
Voigtlander & Son's Portrait Lenses,
Darlot's Portrait Lenses,
Darlot's Quick-Working Portrait Lenses,
Darlot's View Lenses,
Also the Celebrated Peerless Portrait Lenses, known for their
Rapidity and Depth.
_And a Large Assortment of_
CARD STOCK.
ALSO AGENT FOR
_CRAMER & NORDEN'S DRY PLATES,
EASTMAN'S DRY PLATES,
CARBUTT'S DRY PLATES_.
Large Assortment of Frames and Mats at very low prices.
Small Expense in carrying on my business enables me to sell for
less money.
--> _I Attend to All Orders Personally._ <--
Send for Trial Order. Price-lists sent on Application.
WM. J. HAZENSTAB,
_Photographers' Supply House_,
406 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo.
_N. B.--Remember I give 5 per cent. discount for cash on all
orders of $10 00 or over._
E. Weiskopf,
Manufacturer of
Optical Lenses,
Specialties:
Condensers, Cosmorama Lenses, and Magnifying Mirrors,
No. 182 Centre Street, New York.
NEW YORK, Oct. 10, 1881.
_In view of the fact that the undersigned has aided in the production
of many of the most artistic photographic pictures produced in this
country during the last ten years, pictures which have received gold
and silver medals at Philadelphia, London, Paris, Amsterdam and other
cities of the world, he feels warranted in soliciting the patronage
of photographers unacquainted with his works._
--> _My recently introduced Backgrounds comprise those suitable for
the stocking of a New Gallery, as well as several suitable for
making special Exhibition pictures._
No. ---- =Vienna Tapestry=. No. 439. =New Eastlake=.
No. 440. =The Villa=, (_Summer_). No. 435. =The Winter Road=,
No. 433. =The Rustic Wall=. No. 426. =The Palisades=.
My Three-Quarter Length Backgrounds are, viz:
_Nos. 435, 437, 438._
_For Special Pictures_ I recommend my new _Portrait Plaques_--an
entirely new article in Portraiture. Several Designs.
_For suspending on Backgrounds_, ornamenting Fireplaces and Sideboards,
my _Imitation Dutch Plaques_ are desirable and very popular.
MY LATE ACCESSORIES ARE:
No. 396. =The Gambier Rock=.
No. 399. =Eastlake Fireplace and Cabinet Combined=,
(_very rich_), =several movable parts=.
No. 397. =The Couch and set piece=.
No. 414. =Seavey's Eastlake Cottage and Balcony=.
No. 441. =The Garden Wall=, (_3 parts_).
No. ---- =The New Garden Seat=, (_3 changes_).
* . Ye Monthlie Bulletin . A.D.
of L. W. Seavey his Workeshop. 1881
Under the foregoing heading, in the "Specialty" columns of the several
Photographic Journals of America, will appear from month to month brief
announcements of my new productions.
LAFAYETTE W. SEAVEY,
_No. 8 Lafayette Place, NEW YORK, U. S. A._
PHOTOGRAPHERS'
SUPPLIES.
FRAMES,
ALBUMS,
_VELVET GOODS._
LOWEST PRICES.
Send For Our Bargain List.
EUREKA.
CRAMER & NORDEN
AND
EASTMAN'S DRY PLATES.
AMERICAN OPT. CO.
DRY PLATE CAMERAS,
AND
_GENERAL APPARATUS._
J. C. SOMERVILLE, 1009 OLIVE STREET, _Near Scholten's Gallery_,
ST. LOUIS, MO.
WILSON'S
PHOTOGRAPHICS.
A Partial Photographic Encyclopedia.
_By_ E. L. WILSON, _Editor "Phila. Photographer,"
"Photo. Mosaics," etc._
_A STANDARD BOOK for ALL Workers in Photography._
CONTENTS.
LESSON A. Treatment of the Subject--B. The Needful
Apparatus--C. The Objective or Lens--D. The Dark-Room--E. Preparation
of the Glass--F. Chemicals and Solutions--G. The Manipulations--H.
Manipulatory Miseries--I. Retouching the Negative--J. The Glass
Studio--K. Accessories and Light--L. Managing the Model--M. Printing
on Albumen Paper--N. Printing on Plain Paper--O. General Remarks on
Printing--P. Printing on Various Surfaces--Q. Printing Perplexities--R.
Art in Printing--S. Mounting and Finishing--T. Photography Outside--U.
Bromo-Gelatine Emulsion Work--V. Vogel's Collodion Emulsion--W.
Enlargements and Lantern Slides--X. Phototypes, Platinotypes,
and Collodion Transfers--Y. Wastes and Their Worth--Z. Metrical
Measuring--&. Concluding Confab--Index (Six Pages.)
It is believed that this is the most valuable work ever offered to the
working photographer.
It contains 352 pages; 7 x 8-3/4 inch cover, and is 1-1/2 inches thick.
More than 100 illustrations. It gives full details of all practical
Processes, Old and New, Public and Secret.
Among the latter are the "Phototype," sometimes called the "Artotype"
process, with examples; many of the "Lightning" processes; the
"Platinotype" process; the "Collodion Transfer" or "Megatype" process,
and many others.
58 pages are devoted to Posing and Lighting; 37 pages give instructions
in Emulsion "Dry" Work; 29 pages show how to Build and Use Skylights;
108 pages furnish instructions for Manipulating Negatives; 37 pages
are applied to Printing Formula and Dodges; 175 pages gives Notes from
Authors all over the world.
It is printed on fine white paper, made especially for it, and sold at
the low price of
$4 00 POST-PAID $4 00.
For the beginner, for the amateur, for the photographic worker, it is
believed to be most complete. No live photographer should fail to get
it soon, before his neighbor is ahead.
_EDWARD L. WILSON, Publisher and Proprietor_,
Nos. 912 & 914 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
DOUGLASS, THOMPSON & CO.,
Merchants in all Requisites pertaining to the
Art-Science of Photography,
Photographers' Booksellers, Stationers & Newsdealers,
229 & 231 STATE STREET,
CHICAGO, ILL.
A practical knowledge of the Art-Science of Photography gives us a
special advantage in meeting the demands of the Profession.
_Everything used in_ Silver Printing _selected with greatest care and
guaranteed of the highest order of excellence._ =PRICES LOW=.
All the STANDARD BRANDS of ALBUMEN PAPER we furnish
under _genuine_ marks and at lowest prices.
It will pay you to send for our Catalogues, Bureau of Information,
Hints on Burnishing, etc,
GAYTON A. DOUGLASS. } ALL FREE.
HENRY G. THOMPSON. }
ATTENTION PHOTOGRAPHERS!
_Brooklyn's Head-Quarters_
--FOR--
Photographic Stock
Of Every Description,
_At the LOWEST possible C. O. D. Prices._
Sent all over the United States at the shortest notice.
All the best Brands of Albumen Papers and Card Stock, etc.,
etc., kept constantly on hand.
--_Send a Trial Order and be Convinced._--
L. H. WILCOX, _236 Fulton Street_, BROOKLYN, N. Y.
The BEST is the CHEAPEST.
Listen not to the cries of venders of worthless imitations, but
buy the _genuine_, and receive FULL VALUE for your money.
_Dallmeyer Lenses,
Success Cameras,
Climax Cameras,
E. A., G. C. and Platyscope Lenses,
Handy Head-Rests._
_Genuine N. P. A. & S. & M. Albumen Papers_,
=With The WATER-MARK=
_Brilliant Swiss Albumen Papers,
A. D. Swiss Albumen Papers,
Hovey's, Morgan's, Peerless, Clemons' & Hail
Columbia Albumen Papers._
RAPID PRINTING PAPER,
EASTMAN'S DRY PLATES,
ANTHONY'S DRY PLATE OUTFITS.
Chemicals of Guaranteed Purity and Strength.
_Every Requisite for the Studio and Field._
SEND FOR ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE AND PRICE-LIST.
The Most Extensive Line of Velvet, Plush and Ebony Frames, Easels,
Albums, Stereoscopes, Graphoscopes, Portraits of Celebrities, Stereo.
Views, etc., on this Continent.
E. & H. T. ANTHONY & CO., 591 BROADWAY, NEW YORK CITY. 591
H. EXTRA BRILLIANT.
H. EXTRA AND MORGAN'S Albuminized PAPERS
Fully 2,500 reams of Morgan's Paper has been made and sold within the
last year--equal to twenty million cabinet size pictures. We expect to
increase its sale the coming year to almost double the above, judging
from the demand of the last few months. The pearl tint is used in
greater quantities than the other tints. Send your orders for this brand
of paper to
J. HAWORTH,
_DEALER IN PHOTO. SUPPLIES._
626 Arch Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
EASTMAN'S
Gelatino-Bromide
DRY PLATES.
RELIABLE, RAPID, INSTANTANEOUS.
THE BEST!
Used by all Professionals and Amateurs in preference to any others.
Complete Instructions accompany Each Package.
_Eastman's Gelatino-Bromide Pellicle_,
For those who wish to prepare their own Plates.
Manufactured only by the
_EASTMAN DRY PLATE CO., Rochester, N. Y._
E. & H. T. Anthony & Co., 591 Broadway, New York,
_SEND FOR CIRCULAR._ _TRADE AGENTS._
Andrew J. Smith,
PHOTOGRAPHIC STOCK DEPOT.
_WE KEEP A FULL LINE OF_
Photographic Materials,
Which we are Selling as Low as any house in New York or Boston.
DEALER IN
N. P. A. and S. & M. Dresden, Hovey, Berlin,
Morgan's and Clemons' Double Albumenized Paper,
Nixon & Stokes' Ferrotype Holders,
Collins, Son & Co's Card Stock of every description,
Taber & Co's Pebble Mats, etc.,
Powers & Weigtman's Silver and Chemicals,
Anthony's Ether, Iodides, Collodion and Varnishes,
Atwood's Alcohol, Hyposulphite of Soda, Sulphate of
Iron, Acetic Acid, and Glass in any quantity.
_Dry Plate Outfits for Amateurs & Photographers. Everything pertaining
to the Trade. John Dean & Co's Plates._
Large Assortment of Frames, Convex Glass, Artists' Materials,
etc., etc.
_N. B._--No charge for boxing. Your orders are solicited.
_No. 94 Westminster Street_,
PROVIDENCE, R. I.
[Illustration: AMERICAN INSTITUTE NEW-YORK]
HIGHEST MEDAL.
[Illustration: _The Medal of Superiority_ AWARDED TO Wm F. Ashe FOR A
PHOTOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND COMB. STAIRCASE, BALUSTRADE & PEDESTAL 1878.]
BACKGROUNDS
For Everybody!
Fancy, Plain, Rembrandt, etc., etc.
FLOOR CLOTHS, _painted in Oil_,
_Suitable for Interiors and Exteriors_,
ASHE'S COMBINATION STAIRCASE
BALUSTRADE AND PEDESTAL.
ASHE'S PATENT _Telescopic_ OR _Extension Pedestals_.
_AND THE FOLLOWING ACCESSORIES_:
ROCKS, VINES, BRIDGES, VASES, CABINETS, and MANTEL-PIECES in Papier
Maché and in Profile, the latter interchangeable and with practical
parts, DOORWAYS, COTTAGE WINDOWS, STAIRWAYS, BALUSTRADES, SLEIGHS,
BOATS, VASES, ETC., ETC., in profile.
_No extra charge to parties who furnish their own designs.
Samples free._
W. F. ASHE,
106 BLEECKER STREET, NEW YORK CITY.
THE MOUND CITY CENTRAL
Photographic Stock House,
(H. A. HYATT, Proprietor),
NO. 411 NORTH 4th STREET,
ST. LOUIS, MO.
Head-quarters in St. Louis for ALL Photographers.
We keep on hand everything new and of interest to the Fraternity, to
be seen and examined at pleasure. Our stock is always complete and
in keeping with the times. It embraces, with the LARGE and VARIED
assortment of GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHIC REQUISITES, the following STANDARD
BRANDS OF ALBUMEN PAPER, which you can always depend upon getting FRESH
_Hovey's, Peerless,
Eagle Brand (Dresden),
S. & M. Dresden,
Morgan's, Clemons,
Trapp & Munch_,
--ALSO--
_Plain and Salted Papers._
We carry the Standard Brands _only_. There is _no_ Extra we cannot
duplicate with some REGULAR BRAND. Please remember this, and if
you desire fair treatment, and low prices, just send us a trial order,
note how _promptly_ we serve you, and the _quality_ of _goods_ you
receive, and we will be assured of your future favors. Our Motto is to
_please_, and we guarantee satisfaction.
_--OUTFITS A SPECIALTY.--_
Send for Illustrated Catalogue.
H. A. HYATT, 411 North 4th Street, St. Louis, Mo.
_Jno. G. Hood. ESTABLISHED 1865. Wm. D. H. Wilson._
WILSON, HOOD & CO.,
_No. 825 ARCH ST._,
PHILADELPHIA,
Deal in all varieties of
PHOTO. GOODS,
And solicit your orders, for any article you may need, including the
following:
_S. & M., N. P. A., & C. S. Double Alb. Paper, per ream, 35 cts.
" " " Single " " 25 "
Morgan's Double Alb. Paper, " 34 "
" Single " " 30 "_
_All other brands supplied.
Magee's Nitrate Silver, Magee's Chloride of Gold,
Best Hypo. of Soda, keg 112 lbs. $4 48,
American Optical Co. Printing Frames,
American Optical Co. Negative Boxes,
American Optical Co. Retouching Frames,
Negative Racks, Pans, Trays, etc.,
Waymouth's Vignette Papers, $1 00 per pack,
Onion Skin Paper, per dozen, 25 cts.
Singhi's Vig. Attachment, $1 50. Todd's Vig. Attachment, $1 50._
"Hearn's Artistic Printing" $3 00. "Hearn's Practical Printer" $2 50.
_COMPLETE PRICE-LISTS FREE._
SOLE AGENTS IN UNITED STATES
FOR THE ROSS AND STEINHEIL LENSES.
1878 EAGLE STOCK HOUSE. 1881
GEORGE MURPHY, No.
9 West Fourth Street, N. Y.
Photo. & Ferro. Materials.
_OUTFITS A SPECIALTY._
All Goods sold for Cash.
MANUFACTURER OF
_Eagle Negative and Positive Collodions,
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Eagle Retouching Fluid,
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THE RETOUCHER'S OUTFIT:
_Eagle New Metallic Pencil, hard,
Eagle New Metallic Pencil, soft,
Medium Siberian Lead,
Artists' Holder, to fit all_,
The most complete set offered.
FOR THE PRINTER'S DEPARTMENT _is offered
Eagle Photo-Printing Masks,
English White Tissue Paper,
Thick Yellow Paper,
Onion-Skin Paper,
Heavy Blotting Paper,
Plain Papers,
Albumen Papers of all brands_.
Am also Agent for BRENGEL'S SALTED PAPER.
_Emulsion and Gelatine Dry Plate Materials, Emulsion and Gelatine Dry
Plates, best brands, Backgrounds, Chairs, Accessories, etc._
_Bargains in Card Stock. Bargains in Apparatus, Lenses, etc._
Domestic and Foreign CASH ORDERS Shipped Promptly.
Four Doors West of B'way. NEW YORK.
_ESTABLISHED IN 1802._
FACTORIES: Waterbury, Conn., New Haven, Conn., New York City.
Scovill Manufacturing Co.,
MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS IN
ALL ARTICLES USED IN PHOTOGRAPHY,
Warehouse, No's 419 & 421 Broome St.,
NEW YORK.
W. Irving Adams, Agent.
Irving and all brands of Albumen Papers,
Phenix Collodion,
Phenix Varnish.
French and other Chemicals.
Scovill's New Solid Glass Baths, [warranted.]
Osborne's Picturesque Foregrounds,
American Optical Co's Celebrated Cameras,
Dry Plates and Dry Plate Apparatus,
Lenses,
Parlor Paste,
Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc.
PUBLISHERS
Photographic Times and American Photographer.
Subscription price, $2 00 per annum.
Among its contributors are the leading men in the profession.
[FOUNDED IN 1842.]
THE NEW ENGLAND
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Largest variety in the UNITED STATES.
Every Article required by the Amateur, Photographer, Picture
and Frame Dealer, Frame Maker and Crayon Artist.
SPECIALTIES.
_Original Importers of Imitation Dallmeyer Tubes.
Sole Agents for William's Mitering Machines.
N. E. Agents for Bryant's Accessories.
Sole Agents for the celebrated "Berlin Paper."
Sole Agents for the celebrated "Gem Paper."
Sole Agents for Burrill's Portrait Bust Pedestal.
Sole Agent for Burrill's Neg. High Light Reducer.
Bryant's Quick Collodion, Celebrated for Years._
_Dry Plate Outfits for Amateurs._
_Every Variety Dry Plate Apparatus and Materials.
Anthony's and American Optical Co's Manufactures.
Dallmeyer, Morrison and Voigtlander Tubes on Sale._
C. H. CODMAN & CO.,
[Formerly GEO. S. BRYANT & CO.,]
34 Bromfield St., BOSTON.
ANTHONY'S
DRY PLATE OUTFITS
_Most Complete Assortment in Market._
[Illustration]
LIGHT, PORTABLE AND INEXPENSIVE. FIRM, SUBSTANTIAL AND PRACTICAL.
_The Lenses supplied with these are superior to those furnished by
Any other House. Send for Descriptive Circular._
Anthony's Patent Perfect Dry Plate-holder BEST IN THE WORLD!
_E. & H. T. ANTHONY & CO. 591 B'way, NEW YORK._
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Such things as test-tubes should be found in every
photographer's work room; they cost little, and are always useful for
working solutions. The sizes recommended are 3/8-inch, 1/2-inch, and
1-inch diameter. A dozen of each will not be out of the way.]
[Footnote 2:
Sodium Silver Silver Sodium
Chloride and Nitrate form Chloride and Nitrate.
NaCl + AgNO_{3} = AgCl + NaNO_{3}]
[Footnote 3:
Potassium
Chlorine and Nitrite and Water
2Cl + KNO_{2} + H_{2}O
give
Hydrochloric Potassium
Acid and Nitrate
2HCl + KNO_{3}
and
Silver
Chlorine, Nitrate, and Water
2Cl + AgNO_{3} + H_{2}O
give
Silver Hydrochlorous Nitric
Chloride, Acid and Acid.
AgCl + HClO + HNO_{3}]
[Footnote 4: With the former we have this action--
Silver Silver Liberated
Chloride gives Sub-chloride and Chloride.
Ag_{2}Cl_{2} = Ag_{2}Cl + Cl
With the latter the silver in combination with the organic matter, which
is in a state of oxide, is probably reduced to the state of sub-oxide.]
[Footnote 5: Sulphuretted hydrogen may be prepared by pouring dilute
sulphuric acid on ferric sulphide. The chloride or the silver compound,
when damped, may be held over it, taking care that no liquid is spirted
up on to it.]
[Footnote 6: Those who prepare collodio-albumen plates will find the
upward filtration arrangement of immense value, as bubbles are unknown
by it.]
[Footnote 7: If bubbles are seen, they must be broken, and the sheet
floated again for another minute.]
[Footnote 8: The drainings are added to the next batch of albumen which
is prepared.]
[Footnote 9: "Instruction in Photography," 4th edition, page 121.]
[Footnote 10:
Hydrochloric
Chlorine and Water give acid and Oxygen.
Cl + H_{2}O = HCl + O]
[Footnote 11:
Nitric Silver Silver Carbonic
Acid and Carbonate give Nitrate and Acid and Water.
2HNO_{3} + Ag_{2}CO_{3} = 2AgNO_{3} + CO_{2} + H_{2}O]
[Footnote 12:
Silver Aluminium
Nitrate and Sulphate (Alum)
6AgNO_{3} + Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}
give
Silver Aluminium
Sulphate and Nitrate.
3(Ag_{2}SO_{4}) + 2Al(NO_{2})_{3}]
[Footnote 13:
Silver Hydrochloric Silver
Nitrate and Acid give Chloride and Nitric Acid.
AgNO_{3} + HCl = AgCl + HNO_{3}]
[Footnote 14: Suppose it is salted with ammonium chloride, we have--
Ammonium Silver Ammonium Silver
Chloride and Nitrate give Nitrate and Chloride.
NH_{4}Cl + AgNO_{3} = NH_{4}NO_{3} + AgCl]
[Footnote 15: Several other methods are given in "Instruction in
Photography," in the Appendix.]
[Footnote 16: One part of nitric acid to 4 parts of water.]
[Footnote 17: The shutter may be made of American leather, covered over
with one quarter-inch strips of oak or well-seasoned pine. The shutter
should fit into a groove formed along the sides and bottom of the front
of the cupboard.]
[Footnote 18: In fig. 18 the fastening for only one of the pressure-bars
is given, to avoid complication.]
[Footnote 19: See "Instruction in Photography" (page 67), fourth
edition.]
[Footnote 20: For this reason, amongst others, it is desirable that
photographers should use glass for their negatives which is at least
tolerably flat.]
[Footnote 21: See "Pictorial Effect in Photography" (Piper and Carter).]
[Footnote 22: Hydrofluoric acid is always supplied by chemists in
gutta-percha bottles, as it attacks glass. A spare gutta-percha bottle
can easily be procured.]
[Footnote 23: This calculation is near enough for our purpose. There
are certain niceties which might be introduced, such as the "critical
angle of the glass."]
[Footnote 24: The boxes in which children's puzzles are often packed
will give an idea of what is meant.]
[Footnote 25:
Silver subchloride and gold trichloride
3Ag_{2}Cl + AuCl_{3}
give
silver chloride and gold.
6AgCl + Au]
[Footnote 26: "Instruction in Photography," 4th edition.]
[Footnote 27: "Instruction in Photography," 4th edition.]
[Footnote 28: Or ten minims of ammonium lactate.]
[Footnote 29: See Mr. W. Brooks' article in Photographic Almanac, 1881.]
[Footnote 30: The crucible should be of Stourbridge clay.]
Transcriber's Note:
Hyphenation, variations in spelling and inconsistent numbering of,
and references to, figures have been retained as in the original
publication.
Apart from spaces within compounds (which have been removed),
formulae have been retained as originally published, excepted
where noted below.
On page 81, symbols resembling the left- and right-hand corners of a
frame have been represented as |_ and _| as in varnish, thus |_ _|;
Changes have been made as follows:
Page 3
Nitric Acid _changed to_
Potassium Nitrate
Page 6
If the operator carefully collect the white _changed to_
If the operator carefully collects the white
Page 14
theoretical limit to amount _changed to_
theoretical limit to the amount
Page 19
2AGNO_{3} _changed to_
2AgNO_{3}
Nitratem _changed to_
Nitrate.
Page 22
AgNo_{3} _changed to_
AgNO_{3}
Page 23
Ammonium Nitrate Silver Chloride _changed to_
Ammonium Nitrate and Silver Chloride
NH_{4},NO_{3} _changed to_
NH_{4}NO_{3}
AgNo_{3} _changed to_
AgNO_{3}
Page 40
8 inches. _changed to_
18 inches.
Page 41
printer could not hope to do it successfully. _changed to_
printer could not hope to do it successfully."
Page 46
the ordinary consistency, than _changed to_
the ordinary consistency, then
Page 49
enable the operator to guage _changed to_
enable the operator to gauge
Page 53
centreing his imagination in _changed to_
centring his imagination in
Page 64
light on B would be only four twenty-fifths _changed to_
light on B would be only four-twenty-fifths
Page 65
and cut out an aperature corresponding _changed to_
and cut out an aperture corresponding
Page 66
at a proper heigth from _changed to_
at a proper height from
Page 69
Having discribed in the last _changed to_
Having described in the last
Page 70
as it sometimes called _changed to_
as it is sometimes called
Page 71
and the effect be improved.. _changed to_
and the effect be improved.
Page 83
If he find that he is not _changed to_
If he finds that he is not
Page 87
so dilute the reduction takes places very slowly _changed to_
so dilute the reduction takes place very slowly
Page 88
common desinfecting powder _changed to_
common disinfecting powder
it as as well to have two _changed to_
it is as well to have two
Page 90
a littler acetic acid or common salt _changed to_
a little acetic acid or common salt
Page 91
must be rememberd we are _changed to_
must be remembered we are
Page 92
when the sodium hypsulphite is _changed to_
when the sodium hyposulphite is
Page 95
and, with a squegee _changed to_
and, with a squeegee
Page 101
floated on-- _changed to_
floated on:--
Last page of advertisements
BEST IN THE WORD! _changed to_
BEST IN THE WORLD!
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