Carbon print
Encyclopedia
A carbon print is a photographic
print with an image consisting of pigmented
gelatin
, rather than of silver or other metallic particles suspended in a uniform layer of gelatin, as in typical black-and-white prints, or of chromogenic
dyes, as in typical photographic color prints.
In the original version of the printing process, carbon tissue (a temporary support sheet coated with a layer of gelatin mixed with a pigment—originally carbon black
, from which the name derives) is bathed in a potassium dichromate sensitizing solution, dried, then exposed to strong ultraviolet light through a photographic negative
, hardening the gelatin in proportion to the amount of light reaching it. The tissue is then developed by treatment with warm water, which dissolves the unhardened gelatin. The resulting pigment image is physically transferred to a final support surface, either directly or indirectly. In an important early 20th century variation of the process, contact with a conventional silver bromide paper print
, rather than exposure to light, was used to selectively harden the gelatin. A wide variety of colored pigments can be used instead of carbon black.
The process can produce images of very high quality which are exceptionally resistant to fading and other deterioration. It was developed in the mid-19th century in response to concerns about the fading of early types of silver-based black-and-white prints, which was already becoming apparent within a relatively few years of their introduction.
), was invented by Alphonse Poitevin
in 1855. The process was later adapted to color, through the use of pigments, by Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron in 1868. Carbon printing remained commercially popular through the first half of the 20th century. It was replaced over time by the dye-transfer process
, chromogenic
, dye-bleach (or dye destruction
, i.e., Cibachrome) and, now, digital printing processes. The efficiencies gained through these more modern automated processes relegated carbon printing to the commercial backwaters in the latter half of the 20th century. It is now only found in the darkrooms of the rare enthusiast and a few exotic labs.
Carbon printing is based on the fact that gelatin
, when sensitized to light by a dichromate, is hardened and made insoluble in water when exposed to ultraviolet light. Because of the comparative insensitivity of the material, sunlight or another strong source of UV light is normally used in order to minimize the required exposure time. To make a full-color print, three negatives photographed through red, green and blue filters are printed on dichromate-sensitized sheets of pigmented gelatin (traditionally called "carbon tissue" regardless of the pigment incorporated) containing, respectively, cyan
, magenta
and yellow
pigments. They are developed in warm water, which dissolves the unhardened gelatin, leaving a colored relief image that is thickest where it received the strongest exposure. The three images are then transferred, one at a time, onto a final support such as a heavy sheet of smooth gelatin-sized
paper. Usually, the yellow image is transferred first, then the magenta image is applied on top of it, great care being taken to superimpose it in exact register, and then the cyan image is similarly applied. A fourth black pigment "key" layer is sometimes added, as in mechanical printing processes, to improve edge definition and mask any spurious color cast in the dark areas of the image, but it is not a traditional component.
The resulting finished print, whether composed of several layers and in full color or having only a single monochrome layer, exhibits a very slight bas-relief effect and a variation of texture on its surface, both distinctive characteristics of a carbon print. The process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Each color carbon print requires three, or four, round trips in the darkroom to create the finished print. An individual, using existing pigmented sheets and separations, can prepare, print and process enough material, 60 sheets including the support, to produce about twelve 20" x 24" four-color prints in a 40 hour work week. However, this investment of time and effort can create prints of outstanding visual quality and proven archival permanence.
Because the carbon printing process uses pigments instead of dyes, it is capable of producing a far more archivally stable (permanent) print than any of the other color processes. Good examples of the color stability of pigments can be found in the paintings of the great masters, the true colors of which, in many cases, have survived all these centuries. A more contemporary example of the color stability of pigments is found in the paints used on automobiles today, which must survive intense daily exposure to very harsh lighting, under extreme conditions. The useful life of many (but not all) pigment formulations has been projected out to be several centuries and beyond (perhaps millennia, if cave paintings of Lascaux
, the wall paintings in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings
and the frescoes of Pompeii
are relevant examples), often being limited only to the useful life of the particular support used. Additionally, the use of pigment also produces a wider color gamut
than any of the other color processes, allowing for a greater range and subtlety of color reproduction.
Though carbon printing always has been, and remains, a labor intensive, time consuming and technologically demanding process, there are still those that prefer the high aesthetic of its remarkable beauty and longevity over all other processes.
Chronological History of Carbon (Pigment) Printing
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
print with an image consisting of pigmented
Pigment
A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
gelatin
Gelatin
Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle , flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar...
, rather than of silver or other metallic particles suspended in a uniform layer of gelatin, as in typical black-and-white prints, or of chromogenic
Chromogenic
Chromogenic refers to color photographic processes in which a traditional silver image is first formed, and then later replaced with a colored dye image.- Description :...
dyes, as in typical photographic color prints.
In the original version of the printing process, carbon tissue (a temporary support sheet coated with a layer of gelatin mixed with a pigment—originally carbon black
Carbon black
Carbon black is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, and a small amount from vegetable oil. Carbon black is a form of amorphous carbon that has a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, although its...
, from which the name derives) is bathed in a potassium dichromate sensitizing solution, dried, then exposed to strong ultraviolet light through a photographic negative
Negative (photography)
In photography, a negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.-A negative:Film for 35 mm cameras comes in long narrow strips of chemical-coated plastic or cellulose acetate. As each image is captured by the camera onto the film strip, the film strip advances so that...
, hardening the gelatin in proportion to the amount of light reaching it. The tissue is then developed by treatment with warm water, which dissolves the unhardened gelatin. The resulting pigment image is physically transferred to a final support surface, either directly or indirectly. In an important early 20th century variation of the process, contact with a conventional silver bromide paper print
Photographic paper
Photographic paper is paper coated with light-sensitive chemicals, used for making photographic prints.Photographic paper is exposed to light in a controlled manner, either by placing a negative in contact with the paper directly to produce a contact print, by using an enlarger in order to create a...
, rather than exposure to light, was used to selectively harden the gelatin. A wide variety of colored pigments can be used instead of carbon black.
The process can produce images of very high quality which are exceptionally resistant to fading and other deterioration. It was developed in the mid-19th century in response to concerns about the fading of early types of silver-based black-and-white prints, which was already becoming apparent within a relatively few years of their introduction.
An Overview and History of Carbon (Pigment) Printing
The carbon process, initially a black-and-white process using lampblack (carbon blackCarbon black
Carbon black is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, and a small amount from vegetable oil. Carbon black is a form of amorphous carbon that has a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, although its...
), was invented by Alphonse Poitevin
Alphonse Poitevin
Alphonse Poitevin was a French chemist, photographer and civil engineer who discovered the light–sensitive properties of bichromated gelatin and invented both the photolithography and collotype processes....
in 1855. The process was later adapted to color, through the use of pigments, by Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron in 1868. Carbon printing remained commercially popular through the first half of the 20th century. It was replaced over time by the dye-transfer process
Dye-transfer process
-History:Technicolor introduced dye transfer in its Process 3, introduced in the feature film The Viking , which was produced by the Technicolor Corporation and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Techicolor's two previous systems were an additive color process and a poorly-received subtractive color...
, chromogenic
Chromogenic
Chromogenic refers to color photographic processes in which a traditional silver image is first formed, and then later replaced with a colored dye image.- Description :...
, dye-bleach (or dye destruction
Dye destruction
Dye destruction or dye bleach is a photographic printing process, in which dyes embedded in the paper are bleached in processing. Because the dyes are fully formed in the paper prior to processing, they may be formulated with few constraints, compared with the complex dye couplers that must react...
, i.e., Cibachrome) and, now, digital printing processes. The efficiencies gained through these more modern automated processes relegated carbon printing to the commercial backwaters in the latter half of the 20th century. It is now only found in the darkrooms of the rare enthusiast and a few exotic labs.
Carbon printing is based on the fact that gelatin
Gelatin
Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle , flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar...
, when sensitized to light by a dichromate, is hardened and made insoluble in water when exposed to ultraviolet light. Because of the comparative insensitivity of the material, sunlight or another strong source of UV light is normally used in order to minimize the required exposure time. To make a full-color print, three negatives photographed through red, green and blue filters are printed on dichromate-sensitized sheets of pigmented gelatin (traditionally called "carbon tissue" regardless of the pigment incorporated) containing, respectively, cyan
Cyan
Cyan from , transliterated: kýanos, meaning "dark blue substance") may be used as the name of any of a number of colors in the blue/green range of the spectrum. In reference to the visible spectrum cyan is used to refer to the color obtained by mixing equal amounts of green and blue light or the...
, magenta
Magenta
Magenta is a color evoked by light stronger in blue and red wavelengths than in yellowish-green wavelengths . In light experiments, magenta can be produced by removing the lime-green wavelengths from white light...
and yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
pigments. They are developed in warm water, which dissolves the unhardened gelatin, leaving a colored relief image that is thickest where it received the strongest exposure. The three images are then transferred, one at a time, onto a final support such as a heavy sheet of smooth gelatin-sized
Sizing
Sizing or size is any one of numerous specific substances that is applied to or incorporated in other material, especially papers and textiles, to act as a protecting filler or glaze....
paper. Usually, the yellow image is transferred first, then the magenta image is applied on top of it, great care being taken to superimpose it in exact register, and then the cyan image is similarly applied. A fourth black pigment "key" layer is sometimes added, as in mechanical printing processes, to improve edge definition and mask any spurious color cast in the dark areas of the image, but it is not a traditional component.
The resulting finished print, whether composed of several layers and in full color or having only a single monochrome layer, exhibits a very slight bas-relief effect and a variation of texture on its surface, both distinctive characteristics of a carbon print. The process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Each color carbon print requires three, or four, round trips in the darkroom to create the finished print. An individual, using existing pigmented sheets and separations, can prepare, print and process enough material, 60 sheets including the support, to produce about twelve 20" x 24" four-color prints in a 40 hour work week. However, this investment of time and effort can create prints of outstanding visual quality and proven archival permanence.
- It should be noted here that the carbon process is typically used to produce;
- -Mono-chrome prints, usually B&W, but often sepia, cyan or any other preferred color.
- -Duo-chrome (duo-tone) prints, an effect many printers are familiar with, using complementary or associated colors to their best effect.
- -Tri-chrome prints, a traditional full color print made by layering Y, M & C pigment sheets.
- -Quadra-chrome prints, basically the same full color print as the tri-chrome with the added finishing layer of black (K) to add density and mask spurious color in the shadows.
- That noted, any combination of layers, in any color, are possible to achieve whatever ends the printer desires.
- Its also important to mention here that there are two primary techniques used in carbon printing, single transfer and double transfer. This has to do with the negatives (separations) being right or wrong reading and the image "flopping" during the transfer process.
Because the carbon printing process uses pigments instead of dyes, it is capable of producing a far more archivally stable (permanent) print than any of the other color processes. Good examples of the color stability of pigments can be found in the paintings of the great masters, the true colors of which, in many cases, have survived all these centuries. A more contemporary example of the color stability of pigments is found in the paints used on automobiles today, which must survive intense daily exposure to very harsh lighting, under extreme conditions. The useful life of many (but not all) pigment formulations has been projected out to be several centuries and beyond (perhaps millennia, if cave paintings of Lascaux
Lascaux
Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be...
, the wall paintings in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings , less often called the Valley of the Gates of the Kings , is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom .The valley stands on the west bank of...
and the frescoes of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
are relevant examples), often being limited only to the useful life of the particular support used. Additionally, the use of pigment also produces a wider color gamut
Gamut
In color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain complete subset of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given circumstance, such as within a given color space or by a...
than any of the other color processes, allowing for a greater range and subtlety of color reproduction.
Though carbon printing always has been, and remains, a labor intensive, time consuming and technologically demanding process, there are still those that prefer the high aesthetic of its remarkable beauty and longevity over all other processes.
Chronological History of Carbon (Pigment) Printing
| Date | Name | Nationality | Remarks |
| 1798 | Louis Nicolas Vauquelin Louis Nicolas Vauquelin Nicolas Louis Vauquelin , was a French pharmacist and chemist.-Early life:Vauquelin was born at Saint-André-d'Hébertot in Normandy, France. His first acquaintance with chemistry was gained as laboratory assistant to an apothecary in Rouen , and after various vicissitudes he obtained an introduction... |
French | Influence of light on silver chromate Silver chromate Silver chromate is a brown-red monoclinic crystal and is a chemical precursor to modern photography. It can be formed by combining silver nitrate and potassium chromate... |
| 1826 | Joseph Nicéphore Niépce | French | First permanent photograph of the image formed by a camera lens |
| 1832 | Gustav Suckow | French | Chromic acid salts are light sensitive, even without silver |
| 1839 | Sir John Herschel | English | Introduction of the word "photography", early experiments with creating prints in various colors |
| 1839 | Mungo Ponton Mungo Ponton Mungo Ponton FRS was a Scottish inventor who in 1839 created a method of permanent photography based on sodium dichromate.... |
English | Action of light on paper coated with potassium dichromate + washing = fixed image |
| 1840 | Henri Becquerel Henri Becquerel Antoine Henri Becquerel was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and the discoverer of radioactivity along with Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, for which all three won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.-Early life:... |
French | Action of light on paper coated with potassium dichromate + iodine fumes = fixed image |
| 1852 | William Henry Fox Talbot | English | Dichromated gelatin rendered insoluble by exposure to light |
| 1855 | Alphonse Poitevin Alphonse Poitevin Alphonse Poitevin was a French chemist, photographer and civil engineer who discovered the light–sensitive properties of bichromated gelatin and invented both the photolithography and collotype processes.... |
French | Invents photographic printing by dichromated pigment process |
| 1855 | James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory... |
English | Color photography by three-color analysis and synthesis, proposed in passing in a paper on color vision |
| 1858 | L'abbé Laborde | French | Principle of exposure through the base then transfer from one base to another (see Fargier) |
| 1860 | Fargier | French | Principle of exposure through the base then transfer from one base to another (see Laborde) but the image is reversed |
| 1860 | Blaise | French | Double transfer to get a non-reversed image |
| 1861 | James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory... |
English | Demonstration of photographic color reproduction by synthesis (additive method Additive color An additive color model involves light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort. The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light to produce the other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amounts produces the... , three images superimposed by projection through filters) |
| 1862 | Louis Ducos du Hauron | French | Photographic color printing by the three-color subtractive method Subtractive color A subtractive color model explains the mixing of paints, dyes, inks, and natural colorants to create a full range of colors, each caused by subtracting some wavelengths of light and reflecting the others... proposed in an unpublished paper |
| 1863 | Pouncy | English | Uses sensitized inks |
| 1863 | Poitevin | French | Modification of his process: insolubility of the pigmented gelatin then solubility by exposure through a positive film |
| 1864 | Joseph Wilson Swan | English | Swan process: uses rubber for the transfer |
| 1867 | Charles Cros Charles Cros Charles Cros was a French poet and inventor. He was born in Fabrezan, Aude, France, 35 km to the East of Carcassonne.... |
French | Unaware of work being done by Louis Ducos du Hauron (see 1862) invents similar methods for photographic color reproduction |
| 1868 | Marion | French | Procédé Marion: Uses an albuminated paper for the transfer |
| 1868 | Louis Ducos du Hauron | French | Patents the basic principles of most of the practical color photography processes subsequently developed |
| 1869 | Charles Cros Charles Cros Charles Cros was a French poet and inventor. He was born in Fabrezan, Aude, France, 35 km to the East of Carcassonne.... |
French | Publishes Solution générale du problème de la photographie des couleurs |
| 1869 | Louis Ducos du Hauron | French | Publishes Les couleurs en photographie, solution du problème |
| 1869 | Jeanrenaud | French | Procédé Jeanrenaud: Improvement of the transfer |
| 1869 | Jeanrenaud | French | Double transfer with an opal glass |
| 1870 | Gobert | French | 1870-1873 printing on metal plates |
| 1873 | Marion | French | Mariotype |
| 1873 | Hermann Vogel Hermann W. Vogel Hermann Wilhelm Vogel was a German photochemist and photographer who made a key discovery of great importance to photography.-Academic career:... |
German | Discovers dye sensitization of silver halide Silver halide A silver halide is one of the compounds formed between silver and one of the halogens — silver bromide , chloride , iodide , and three forms of silver fluorides. As a group, they are often referred to as the silver halides, and are often given the pseudo-chemical notation AgX... s, making creation of three-color separation negatives practical |
| 1878 | Louis Ducos du Hauron | French | Publishes improved methods of color photography and printing by the carbon process |
| 1878 | Fredéric Artigues | French | Charbon velours |
| 1881 | Charles Cros Charles Cros Charles Cros was a French poet and inventor. He was born in Fabrezan, Aude, France, 35 km to the East of Carcassonne.... |
French | Tricolor process prints presented to the Academie des Sciences (French Academy of Sciences French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research... ) |
| 1889 | Artigues | French | Papiers charbon velours |
| 1893 | Victor Artigues | French | Carbon velours à tons continus de 1893 à 1910 |
| 1894 | Ladeveze Rouille | French | Papier gomme-chrome |
| 1899 | Thomas Manly | English | Ozotype derived from mariotype |
| 1899 | Henri Theodore Fresson | French | Procédé Fresson: sold in USA between 1927 and 1939 by Edward Alenias. Bought by Luis Nadeau, Canada, 1979 |
| 1900 | Fresson | French | Papier charbon Satin then papier Arvel to be processed with chlorine |
| 1902 | Robert Krayn | American | N.P.G. Process: tricolor carbon process distributed in France by La Société Industrielle de Photographie |
| 1905 | Thomas Manly | English | Ozobrome process: instead of exposure to light, contact with a silver bromide print selectively hardens the dichromated gelatin |
| 1910 | Arbuthnot | English | Dichromated watercolor or dichromated lavish |
| 1911 | Dovertype | English | Sold in England by the Dover Street Studio, London, 1911-1914 |
| 1913 | S. Manners | American | Early form of three color carbro 1913-1922 |
| 1919 | H.F. Farmer | English | Carbro process based on Manly's ozobromie, Sold by Autotype in London |
| 1920 | H.F. Farmer | English | Trichrome Carbro process marketed from 1920 to 1960 by Autotype |
| 1923 | H.J.C. Deeks | American | Raylo: three color carbon |
| 1950 | KoloroÏd | American | Dichromated colloid: carbon transfer process |
| 1951 | Pierre Fresson | French | Quadrichromie Fresson |
| 1965 | 3M | American | 3M Electrocolor Print 1965 to 1978 |
| 1977 | Kwik-Print | American | Light Impressions Corp, Rochester |
| 1982 | Archival Color Co. | American | San Francisco: quad-color carbon process |
| 1983 | George Griffin | Canadian | Quad halftone, duotone and mono contone carbon until from 1983 to 2006 Private collection of photographers work only. |
| 1985 | Polaroid | American | Laser separation + transfer of pigment on a base. Stopped in 1986: Polaroid Permanent Pigment Print |
| 1986 | Jerry Kuska & Douglas Madeley | American & Canadian | Four color carbon prints, Limited Edition Photo/Graphics, Santa Cruz, California, until 1991 |
| 1993 | Charles Berger | American | Ultrastable Color System. Pigmented quadrichromy |
| 1998 | Racey Gilbert | American | Ataraxia Pigment Prints, until 2004 |
| 2006 | Tod Gangler | American | Art & Soul Photo, Seattle, Washington, Four color carbon prints and metallic quadtone black & white carbons |
External links
- Authoritative history and process description
- Alternative Photography - Covering the Carbon Printing Process
- Bostick & Sullivan, Inc. - Carbon Printing Methods & Materials
- The charcoal process
- Carbon Printing - Theory, includes discussion of the Carbro (carbon-bromine) process