PRINTING BY DAYLIGHT
By HENRY C. MAHONEY The actual printing from your negatives represents the most interesting part of photography, and a little study of processes, grades and surfaces that are available in printing papers will enable you to choose a medium calculated to do justice to your work and give the best result from any particular negative.
For contact work, that is printing in a frame on the same size paper as negative you are working from, you have the choice of using a paper that is printed in daylight or one that is printed by artificial light.
A few years ago almost every amateur used P.O.P., meaning printing-out paper, which, after being printed to the desired depth, was toned and fixed to Make it per manent. Although this is seldom used to-day, Self-Toning paper, which is also printed by daylight, is still very popular with those who have the time and opportunity to practice their hobby in the daytime. Such papers are coated with a gelatino-chloride emulsion which contains gold, thus avoiding the necessity of using a separate toning bath.
When a print is made on the ordinary P.O.P. it is a reddish colour, and the gold bath converts this into a warm brown or purple of a most pleasing shade; but with Self-Toning, the gold is in the emulsion and with a Hypo bath of varying strength a wonderful range of tints are obtainable. There are a number of Self-Toning papers on the market, but I have found after much
experiment that " Seltona " offers a very
wide range, both in grade and surfaces. It is obtainable in Glossy, Matt, Cream, Antique, etc.; it is suitable therefore for all types of work.
Printing from Films
When printing from films, it is necessary to have a piece of glass in the framc, which must be as perfect as possible and free from scratches, otherwise markings will show on the finished print.
Place the frame in the open, free from obstruction to ensure even lighting, and in no circumstances print in the sun. Print a little deeper to that which is required in the finished result, remove from frame in subdued light indoors, and place in the following bath:
No. 1. Cold water for about 5 minutes face down.
No. 2. Hypo 2 oz.; water ono pint ; keep moving for &rout 10 minutes until a rich brown picture is obtained. Various colours can be produced in the following way :
Sepia : Wash prints before fixing.
Nut Brown : Place in axing direct from frame.
Purple : Plate in solution of common salt 2 oz. Water, one pint, before fixing.
Blue : Place in solution of common salt .1 oz. Water, one pint, before fixing.
Excellent double and treble toning effects 64tt with albrtiSIT after a little , . practice. Lay the print on a sheet of glass and carefully brush with varying strength of salt bath according to the colour required. A figure study, for instance, might be treated in the following,manner : Dress, Nut Brown; Background, Blue; rest, warm sepia, whilst a landscape with water lends itself admirably to such treatment.
Printing by Artificial Light I have received a large number of enquiries as to which paper I recommend for printing by artificial light-" Gaslight" or " Bromide." My answer is very definitely ." Gaslight." Gaslight paper is only a very slow Bromide coated with Chloro-Bromide emulsion. There are so many grades that you can accommodate almost any type of negative; it has enormous latitude, and can be developed in an ordinary room, provided
the light is shielded. Bromide is very rapid; consequently, it has not the same latitude in exposure, and furthermore you must only develop it by the aid of a yellow light. It is essential to use it when enlarging, and this will be the subject of a later article.
For contact printing, the negative is placed in the frame, film side up, and a sheet of gaslight paper placed film side
toward the negative (remember always film
to film for normal work): Make certain the back of the frame has good springs, as if perfect contact is not made the prints will be fuzzy. You can minimise mistakes in exposure by giving attention to the following: Always use the same power electric bulb or same source of light. Keep your frame the same dis
tance from the light. If you adhere to this procedure, you need only to judge the density of your negative, and a little practice will enable you to give correct exposures.