PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN ART - PRINTING OPTIONS
- Black
and White Printing
B/W negatives
are basically made from silver salt based film and exposure to light produces a reversed image. This reverals is corrected
in an enlarger which is a camera in reverse. A darkroom course in printing is highly recommended to understand the characteristics
of light, of different kinds of film and paper-based printing.
- Color negative printing
Color negative films are very much like B/W films except
that there are dyes that represent the basic R-B-G color system described which produce the complementary colors on film (C-Y-M).
This process is reversed in printing to paper so that the actual colors are reproduced in the darkroom. Such prints are called
C-Prints and are subject to fading when exposed to light. Hence, many professionals prefer color slide films to print film.
3. Color
Printing Options from Slides
- Inter-negative processing
By making a negative (inter-negative) from slide and printing on to color
print paper.
Comment: Quality is variable, colors may
be washed out or of poor quality. Fuzzy prints may be obtained if done through commercial labs.
B. Direct positive printing
a) Cibachrome (Ilfochrome)
The Cibachrome (now called Ilfochrome) is a silver dye bleach process which produces brilliant,
contrasty, rich looking prints which can be printed on RC (resin coated) or deluxe glossy paper. The RC process is cheaper,
but does not produce the highly polished brilliant look of deluxe glossy paper. The latter is about twice as expensive.
The great advantage of Cibachromes is their brilliance and their archival quality as they do not fade on exposure to light as easily
as regular prints made from negatives, and they are said to last the equivalent of 100 years. Another significant advantage
is that the process can be done in a home darkroom using drum processing which is quite easy to learn, unlike the process
for negative film. An important caution: the chemicals are extremely toxic and great care must be taken.
i. Commercial processes:
There are basically 3 levels of quality, viz:
Cibastats (or ‘Fujistats’
which are only 200% larger): Machine printed, no dodging and burning:cheapest about $6-8 for 4 x 7
Cibachrome prints: moderate
price about $12 for 8 x 10
Cibachrome custom prints: expensive about $18-50 for 8 x 10
Fuji Pictrostats (Thermal transfer process): about $6 for 4 x 7
(Prices are approximate)
ii. Home processing:
Uses P-30P powder kit which makes up 2 liters of solution and drums to process
exposed paper. A color head enlarger is required for printing.
iii. Contrast mask process
Since Cibachromes are more contrasty than the transparency itself, there is
a great problem printing from contrasty slides. In order to reduce contrast, even from normally exposed slides, a negative
of the slide is made using masking film. The contrast mask so made is sandwiched with the original transparency and aligned
accurately (using a loupe or a pin register) and printed on to Cibachrome paper as above. (Note: Boris Master Color does this.)
The highlights are masked and allows for more even printing and this can salvage contrasty slides.
b) Kodak R-3 and R-3000 processing
This process is available as a commercial process (R-3) or a home process kit (R-3000). Locally, several
color labs provide R-3 prints and these are relatively less expensive compared to Cibachrome prints (e.g. $6.35 for 8x10;
$14.95 for 11x14; $40 for 16x20; $49 for 16x24).
The chemical steps are somewhat simpler than the Cibachrome process and less toxic, though the color saturation is not as
intense. The prints are also more subject to fading, but it is an excellent way to get prints directly from slides for friends
and for display if you do not wish to go to the expense of using Cibachrome.
4. Digital processing
(The Cambridge Center offers a course in Digital Imaging
- see Catalog).
Recent advances
in computer imaging technology and software, e.g. made by companies such as Adobe (which makes Photoshop) enables both creation
of prints using digital methods and the manipulation of images to remove unwanted components, scratches, stains, etc. There
are several processing systems currently available, e.g. Iris, Textronix, Lasermaster, Cactus, Nugent, etc. These methods
can be viewed best at Spectrum Color Labs (345 Summer St., Boston, Tel. 426 0222.) or similar digital labs.
There are now printers which can accept digital cards from digital cameras
for directly printing without a PC interface. However, such a print cannot be manipulated before printing. There are a variety of considerations in selecting a printer.
Print Heads
Digital printers use printers using PZT crystals as
micro-pumps to eject the droplets from the nozzles. The crystals deform to generate a “shock wave” in the fluid
inks which in turn ejects a drop from the nozzle. A combination of surface tension, capillary pressure and other complex fluid
dynamics ensures that the fluid is refilled ready for the next fire cycle. Ink may be vegetable dye based or pigment based
– the latter are of archival quality being fade-resistant and longer lasting. Described below is a broad outline of
classes of digital printers in the graphic arts segment of the printing industry.
High volume
These systems print at speeds measured at between 200 to 400 square meters per hour.
Super wide
format
These printers are generally take roll paper and have a print bed that
is 2m to 5m wide. Mostly used for printing billboards and generally have the capability of printing between 60 to 160 square
meters per hour.
Wide format
These machines
are now available from 0.9 to 3 meters wide. Generally they are capable of printing from 10 to 60 square meters per hour.
High resolution
A new range
of printers that start out at 0.9 meters wide and up to 1.6 meters wide. Recently 2 and 3 meter wide printers have entered
the market.
Modified from: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_digital_printer"
5. Thermal
and laser processing
Generally speaking, the Fuji thermal process
gives excellent resolution with a slide that is perfectly exposed. Though modification of color is possible, it is difficult
to get perfect prints with slide that are sub-optimal. The print is usually printed full frame with no opportunity for cropping,
burning or dodging. The process takes only about 30 seconds and some one-hour photo shops can do this (expensive) process.
Laser prints are usually made in copy-shops and blow-ups can be easily
and realtively cheaply done for demonstration purposes. However, image quality is not good for photographic purposes.
6. Polaroid
processing
(s) Slide printer
Polaroid makes
a slide-printer (also made by Vivitar) which prints on to Polaroid 669 film. The size is about 3 x 5 inches. The quality of the picture is not very good,
but acceptable for quick viewing. Limitations include the fact that full-frame printing and enlargements are not possible
because of the size of the Polaroid pack used.
(b) Transfer prints
Transfer prints are made from slides which are exposed on to Polaroid film. The negative
portion is peeled off and transfered on to wet art paper for watercolor. Free booklets are available directly from the company
for making Polaroid transfer prints on to water-color paper
