The practical printer : a complete manual of photographic printing

Front matter

THE

Practical Printer.

A COMPLETE MANUAL

Preface

In the preparation of this work it has been the aim of the author to make it of practical value to those who are about to commence the study of photographic printing, or those who desire to perfect themselves in it, and for this purpose he has endeavored to place in it only such information and advice as can be relied upon, and which will aid the learner in acquiring speedily the modus operandi of general Albumen, Plain Paper, and Porcelain Printing.

The writer has purposely, in many chapters of this work, treated of cases which are not very often found in the majority of galleries, yet, as they are in a few, they have for that reason been taken up and disposed of.

All of the different classes of negatives mentioned have been real ones with the author, and not imaginary, for they have all at some past time been given to him to print from, and have been “doc¬ tored,” printed, etc., by some of the methods mentioned.

It is not the printing from excellent negatives that teaches the learner, for tine prints from such are very easily obtained ; but it is the printing from poor negatives that instructs him, and it is on this account that many printers in poor galleries often understand best the printing of difficult negatives, because they are more accustomed to print from such.

The elegant specimen of photography embellishing this work is from the well-known photograph gallery of Mr. F. Gutekunst, of Philadelphia, Pa., whose establishment is probably one of the most complete in the world. On making known to Mr. Gutekunst our desire to print the photographs, partly illustrative of this work, at

IV

PREFACE.

his gallery, he very kindly permitted us to do so, and we here with pleasure present the same to our readers.

The prints were printed, and burnished on Entrekin’s Oscillating Enameller, by the author, but the management of the silvering and toning baths was conducted by the gentleman who attends to that part of this branch of the art, viz., Mr. Henry C. Bridle, lately from England, and we congratulate him in having presented us with such tine tones as he has done. The formulae by which these prints were produced, kindly given to us by Mr. Bridle, are as follows :

Silver Bath. — Silver, 40 to 45 grains (according to temperature) ; nitrate of ammonia, 20 grains ; distilled or ice water, 1 ounce. Float from forty-five seconds to one minute.

Toning Bath. — Solution chloride of gold, made slightly alkaline with bicarbonate of soda, according to the usual formulae for carbo¬ nate of soda toning baths. Tone a little purple.

Fixing Bath. — Hyposulphite of soda, 1 part to 8 of water, and if the paper blisters in the washing soak the prints for five minutes in a solution of common salt.

Hoping that you will find this work profitable to you, I remain,

Yours fraternally,

Charles W. Hearn.

Introduction

PAGE

The Printing Eoom, . 9

The Silvering and Toning Eoom, ....... 12

The Drying Eoom, . 14

Part I.— Albumen Paper Printing. Chaptee I

CHAPTEE II.

Silvering the Albumen Paper, ........ 27

CHAPTEE III.

Drying the Paper, . . . . . . . . . . 30

CHAPTEE IY.

Fuming the Paper, .......... 31

CHAPTEE Y.

Preservation of Sensitive Albumenized Paper ; Washed Sensitive

CHAPTEE YI.

Cutting the Paper, .......... 40

CHAPTEE VII.

The Printing Boards, . ......... 43

CHAPTEE VIII.

Keeping Tally, . 46

CHAPTEE IX.

Vignette Printing Blocks, ........ 47

CHAPTEE X.

VI

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XI.

PAGE

Filling the Boards, . 57

CHAPTER XII.

Fitting Vignette Boards to the Negatives for Printing, ... 60

CHAPTER XIII.

Medallion and Arch-top Printing, ....... 65

CHAPTER XIV.

Fancy Printing, ......... .71

CHAPTER XV.

Vignette Cameo and Medallion Vignette Cameo Printing, . . 74

CHAPTER XVI.

Printing the Bendann Backgrounds, ...... 76

CHAPTER XVJI.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Printing Weak Negatives, ........ 88

CHAPTER XIX.

A Few More Remarks about Printing — Treatment of Broken Nega¬ tives, . 91

CHAPTER XX.

Cutting the Prints, . 94

CHAPTER XXI.

CHAPTER XXII.

Acidifying the Prints, ......... 103

CHAPTER XXIII.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CHAPTER XXV.

Fixing Baths and Fixing Prints, ....... 118

CHAPTER XXVI.

CONTENTS.

Vll

CHAPTER XXVII.

PAGE

Mounting the Prints, ......... 125

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CHAPTER XVI. Causes of Failures in Porcelain Printing, ..... 187

INTRODUCTION.

THE PRINTING-ROOM.

For good success at printing, it is necessary that the printing-room should be convenient 'to work in, and well supplied with those materials, &c., which are so necessary for fine work.

A good printer, like a good surgeon, may do very well with a few conveniences, but he will more likely do better with more. A good draughtsman may do very well with his pen and parallel-rulers, but he can do much better by the use of a set of instruments, and that necessity, a “T square.”

The term instruments, in the general sense of the word, is ap¬ plied to anything by which an effort is brought about, and con¬ sequently our printing-boards, vignette-blocks, &c., &c., are instru¬ ments in the case of the photographic printer, as well as the case of surgical tools are instruments in the hands of the surgeon. A skil¬ ful workman when once asked, by the foreman of an establishment, what was the instrument liC had used to enable him to do his work so nicely, replied : “ My hands are the best instruments I have out¬ side of my brain.”

So it is with the photographic printer, for his hands are subor¬ dinate to that mightier and more valuable instrument, the brain ; and consequently “a thinking man ” is far more successful than a merely mechanical one (although the latter may have all the con¬ veniences possible), for “ the brain conceives what the hands exe¬ cute ;” and if a person does not use his brain to good advantage, verily his work will show it.

Now, the whole attention of the brain can be used very advan-

THE PRACTICAL PRINTER.

tageously in the printing-room of a gallery, as well as in the “sky¬ light and the dark-room.” There is a great mistake often made in the “fitting out” of a photograph gallery, in placing about all of the money in “ the reception-room,” and leaving a few dollars to go into the printing department, and a few more, perhaps, in the dark and operating rooms. A good housewife does not commence at the parlor and furnish down to the kitchen, but she commences first at the culinary department, and after she has furnished that (her work-room), she then commences to furnish her sitting-room, and finally her parlor. This is the way it should be with the photogra¬ pher : he should look first to the skylight and then to the nicely fit¬ ting out of this, the operating-room, which of course includes the cameras, lenses, backgrounds, &c., &c. He then sees to his dark¬ room, and next, but by no means least, he sees to the printing-room, and then, finally and lastly, to his reception-room, which he fur¬ nishes as his means will permit.

An elegantly furnished reception-room does not vouch for good work, although it may indicate that the proprietor had money, or that he had found somebody who would trust.

A customer, when she wishes her “ likeness taken,” does not look to see if the reception-room is nicely furnished, and thus decide as to whether she will be suited or not ; not at all, she wishes to see samples of work, and then decides. And since this is so, should we not endeavor to have conveniences, &c., in doing our work, so that the samples and work in general will he excellent, since it is this, and not the elegance of the reception-room, that brings in the cus¬ tomers ?

Another illustration that the elegance of the apartments, &c., is not the criterion by which the customer judges the work of the pho¬ tographer is very well illustrated in that of a well-known Parisian gallery, where the patrons of the establishment are obliged to leave their carriages at the entrance of, and walk through a narrow lane, up three llights of stairs, and directly into the operating-room, as the gallery has no reception-room whatever worthy of mention. The ladies usually make their engagements through a gentleman friend, and then proceed, all attired, in their carriages to the studio, and are then immediately posed. It may be well to mention here that the patrons are obliged to keep their engagements to within five minutes, or so, or they lose their appointment for that day.

The general opinion among photographers is, that any place will do for a printing-room, and it is on this principle that printers are so well known to have very inconvenient rooms, &c., where they almost invariably are obliged to labor under extreme difficulties.

THE PRINTING-ROOM.

Printing-rooms should he so arranged that the poor printer will not freeze in the winter nor roast in the summer ; and, outside of the printer’s own personal comfort, the temperature of the rooms is a matter worthy of the strictest attention on the part of the photogra¬ pher, or else he cannot expect good work, and if he does expect it, without proper attention being given to the conditions under which the negatives are printed, then he' is sure to be disappointed.

The negatives should no more be printed out of doors in the win¬ ter-time (more especially if the day is very cold) than they ought to he taken there, posing and all being accomplished, while there is light sufficient to enable the photographer to “take a picture.” As before said, the fitting out of the printing-room is a matter of the utmost importance, and although it has not been recognized by the many photographers, yet it has by the few.

I will, in the first three figures of this book, illustrate what may he termed model printing, silvering, and toiling rooms. The orig¬ inal rooms may be recognized by those persons who are acquainted with the gallery of Mr. J. II. Lamson, Portland, Me., as they are almost similar to his ; indeed, they were originally intended to be exactly like them, but were afterwards changed a little, as I wished to give a model suite of rooms rather than to copy any particular ones.

The size of the main room, Pig. 1, is 10 x 15 x 10 feet. A is the printing-shelf, upon which the negative-boards are placed out to print. B is the sash of glass, through which the light enters on the shelf, and which sash is kept in place by the hooks C. I) is a window which swings back and forth by means of the hinges D'. This win¬ dow, when closed, is fastened by the button E. This window was arranged to permit the printer to open it in the winter-time and sweep the snow from the glass, without the trouble of removing his frames and then taking the sash of ground-glass in. There is an¬ other sash of plain glass made which is placed out, in place of the ground one, when it is so desired b}r the printer. P is the windowcord by which the curtain is pulled up or let down, as occasion re¬ quires. G is the drawer in which the albumen paper is placed when it is ready for printing. H is the drawer in which the prints are placed when printed, through the little aperture K, which is cut in the bench and supplied with a cover of tin or zinc, so as to avoid opening the drawer so often as to discolor the whites of the prints therein contained. L is the drawer in which the albumen-paper is kept. M is a drawer in which the plain salted paper may be placed ; and 1ST is another drawer in which the tmsalted paper can be placed. P P are negatives which are to be printed, and which, when they

THE PRACTICAL PRINTER.

are printed, are temporarily placed as at P', until they are filed away, which is done in another room.

The shelves R R It are also negative shelves, which are used for special purposes, such as “ the family negatives,” &c., &c. The

Fig, 1.

wide shelf is made for the storing away of negative-hoards, vign¬ ette-blocks, porcelain printing-frames, &c., all of which are kept in order. The filling of the boards, &c., will be spoken of further on ; suffice it, for the present, to say that this filling is done on the bench T. U is the door leading to the “silvering and toning rooms.” Y is the fuming-box, which will also be^xplained further on. W is the box in which the old or used hypo bath is poured, and zinc is thrown into it. X is a bench which is used for one thing and another, also for keeping bottles, &c., upon.

THE SILVERING AND TONING ROOM.

The principal use of this room is to sensitize the paper after it is albumenized, or in the case of the plain paper, after it is salted, and then later in the day, when the sensitizing is through with,

THE SILVERING AND TONING ROOM.

to tone and fix, as well as to wash the prints in, all of which things can be done without at all interfering with each other.

A is a dark curtain, which in the figure is partly raised, but dur¬ ing the silvering and toning processes it is brought down to A', and the white bleached cloth screen B (which is shaded in the figure so

Fig. 2.

as to show it more distinctly) covers the rest of the glass, and thus, in the toning, a soft and diffused light is given to that part of the room (the shelf C) where the toning is done. D is the silvering-dish, and D' is the place where this silvering-dish is kept when not in use. E is where the kettle of potash is kept for the purpose of clean¬ ing old plates. E is where the nitric acid tray is kept. G G are two sinks. H is a shelf on which the toning-bath bottles may be kept. K is a rack with three overlapping pieces of wood, to which there are a number of spring clips attached which hold the pictures while draining, as they are removed from the water. L is a wasliing-tank which has a perforated false bottom through which the water passes into the lower part, and thence into the waste pipe L'. The stopcock M is adjusted after the tank becomes three-quarters filled, so that it will permit the water to flow out as fast as it enters through the pipe N. P P is an overflow pipe, which conducts the water, when it reaches that place, into the waste pipe L'. K is the place where the hypo dish is kept. S is the place where the two-gallon hypo bottle is placed. This bottle is always kept full of a

THE PRACTICAL PRINTER.

saturated solution of hyposulphite of soda. V is the door that leads into the drying-room.

Fig. 3.

This room was intended originally to only dry the paper, but it has finally been used for a variety of purposes, mostly all connected with porcelain printing.

Wide-mouth Bottle.

A is the gas stove by which the room is heated. B is the paper as fastened to the clips for drying. C is a shelf on which the silver-

THE DRYING-ROOM.

bath bottles, as well as the collodio-chloride bottles, are placed. D D D are porcelain plates each hung upon two nails.

TIIE NECESSARY DISHES, SCALES, GRADUATES, CHEMICALS, ETC.

Whole Size Porcelain Dish, Half Size “ “

Scales, Apothecaries’,

Filtering-Paper, .

Test-Tube, ....

Hydrometer, Filtering-Funnels, .

Glass Mortar and Pestle, .

Large Iron Kettle,

Graduates, ....

Tack Hammer, .

Wide-Mouth Bottles, .

Ground-Glass,

Silver Knife,

Iron Uprights, .

No. wanted.

1 1

1 pair.

2 packs —

one large, one small.

2 1

4 or 5 of various sizes.

1 1

1 sixteen ounce,

1 eight ounce,

1 one-eighth ounce.

12 of various sizes.

A number of various sizes.

Besides the above there are a number of other dishes, &c., which are needed, and which will be mentioned further on in various parts of this work.

THE PRACTICAL PRINTER.

Acid, Acetic.

“ Citric.

“ Hydrochloric.

“ Muriatic.

“ Nitric.

“ Oxalic.

“ Sulphuric.

“ Tartaric.

Alcohol, 95° and Common.

Alum.

Ammonia, Aqua.

Ammonium Chloride.

“ Nitrate.

Beeswax.

CHEMICALS.

Benzole.

Calcium Chloride.

Camphor.

Cotton, Filtering and Ether, Sulphuric.

Glass, Porcelain.

Glue, Bonnet.

Glycerin.

Gold, Chloride.

Gum Arabic.

Lime, Carbonate.

“ Chloride.

Lye.

Magnesium Nitrate.

Oil, Bergamot.

“ Lavender.

“ Rosemary.

Potash, Caustic.

“ Nitrate.

“ Cyanide.

Silver, Nitrate.

Sodium, Chloride.

Soda, Bicarbonate.

Soda, Sal.

Turpentine, Spirits.

Wax, White, or Virgin.

Whiting.

The above are about all the chemicals that are used in the print¬ ing department of photography. The object of the writer in nam¬ ing all the necessary dishes, scales, graduates, and chemicals, is to aid the beginner at photography in selecting those things which are indispensable in photographic printing, as he will at times need them all, and if he gets them in the first place it will save much trouble afterwards in obtaining them.

Chapter I. The Positive Bath Fob Albumen Paper

To prepare the paper so that it will become sensitive to the light it is necessary to float it upon a positive nitrate of silver hath ; so called on account of its being the means by which the paper is en¬ abled to receive the positive impression from the negative. This bath is chiefly composed of crystal nitrate of silver and pure water. The strength should vary, according to the temperature of the weather and the brand of paper used.

Mr. John It. Clemons recommends for his brand of albumen-paper a bath of thirty grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water, for summer, and forty-eight grains strong for winter ; besides varying the time of floating the paper, according to the time of the year.

In the year 1871 there was considerable discussion in the leading photographic publications as to whether a strong or a weak bath was best for printing. Many of the leading photographers wei'e in favor of a strong, and about as many more in favor of a weak bath.

It might be supposed that a weak silver bath would necessitate a longer time for floating than a strong bath would, and also that a bath weak in the number of grains of silver to the ounce of water would be more economical.

Now, this is a mistake. When a sheet of salted albumen-paper is floated upon a hath of nitrate of silver, the salt in the albumen will take up the silver which it needs, whether the bath is a strong or a weak one, and chloride of silver will he formed. The albumen will also take up some in the form of albuminate of silver (Vogel’s “Handbook”); and then, if the sheet is allowed to remain on the bath too long a time, there will be more of the solution absorbed

THE PRACTICAL PRINTER.

than what is really necessary, which will penetrate through the sur¬ face and far into the albumen . The paper thus floated and printed will have a sunk-in appearance, owing to the silver discoloring, which is absorbed far into the albumen, as before said, during the lengthened time of sensitizing.

This sunk-in appearance is not the only fault with long floating on a weak hath; hut the albumen will he dissolved off, being left in the hath, and the paper will not print brilliant , but dull ; and often flat prints will be the result.

A strong bath necessitates a long time of floating, because the albumen on the paper is at first coagulated by the strong silver solu¬ tion, and it takes quite a number of seconds for the albumen to com¬ mence to take up what silver it needs ; whereas the albumen on the paper, not being coagulated by the silver in a weak bath, it will more readily absorb that silver which is necessary for the produc¬ tion of a good print.

From this we find :

1st. That a strong silver bath requires a long time of floating.

2d. That a weak silver bath requires a short time of floating.

3d. That a medium silver bath requires a medium time of floating.

There are, however, bad results obtainable by floating the paper a long time on a strong bath, as well as floating a short time on a weak bath.

When we float it a long time on a strong bath, it will, when printed, make a bold and brilliant print, but the shadows will be very much bronzed , even when the prints are mounted. When we float the paper a short time on a weak bath it will not be at all bronzed, but the prints are likely to be weak ; and, on the other hand, if we float the paper a long time on this kind of a hath, the silver will be, as has been said, sunk-in, or, as it is sometimes expressed, the paper will be “ woolly.”

I do not mean by the first two remarks made above that the ex¬ tremes are to be indulged in, for then, in a measure, arises the bad results named, and in the case of the weak bath the abuse of the remark will be more especially a source of failure.

We cannot, to obtain good results, use a bath weaker than 35 grains, or stronger than GO grains of silver to the ounce of water, with many of the brands of paper which are generally used, while with other brands, 30 grains in summer and 60 to 70 in winter are best.

For the excellent brand of paper known as the “ Berlin ” I found, with the class of negatives I printed when using that paper, that a medium-strong bath, say of 40 grains in summer and 55 to GO grains

THE POSITIVE BATH FOR ALBUMEN PAPER.

in winter, of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water, was best ; while with the “Hovey” brand of paper a bath of not more than 33, or less than 28 grains of silver to the ounce of water, with 25 seconds floating, was necessary during the summer-time ; and in the winter, when the negatives are printed on the roof, I have known of a bath of 70 grains of silver alone , and from 2 to 3 minutes’ floating, to be required to obtain good prints from the very thin negatives that were made.

A weak bath loses so much, after silvering a dozen sheets or so, that it commences to make itself felt, and consequently needs strengthening about all of the time.

A strong bath loses also, but the silver is not taken up in so large a proportion as it is in the weak bath, and the strong bath can be used for a much longer time, even until there will not be enough solution to sensitize the paper, without giving the printer any trouble whatever.

The prints will be better in many respects with an average bath than with either the extremes, as a trial will show to the observant printer.

All of the solution that is on the paper should be, as much as pos¬ sible, on the surface of the albumen, to prevent “woolliness,” and so as to have bold, vigorous prints ; which can be easily freed from the nitrate of silver in the washing.

In the making of the bath, both good nitrate of silver and water are required. In all cases where pure water is required, filtered rain or clean ice-water will answer.

To make a bath of 60 ounces of solution, and 40 grains strong of nitrate of silver to the ounce, the number of grains of silver required would be 2400 grains, or 5 ounces.

Take a large, wide-mouth bottle and add 60 ounces of pure wjater thereto. Now carefully weigh out 5 ounces of good nitrate of silver and add it to the water in the bottle. Dissolve thoroughly, by re¬ peated shakings of the contents of the bottle, which is very easily done without spilling the liquid, by holding the top of the bottle firmly with the left hand and revolving the bottom in a circular mo¬ tion, in a steady and even manner, with the right.

This bath is called “plain nitrate of silver bath,” because of its being composed simply of nitrate of silver and water.

This bath is used by a great many excellent photographers throughout the country, except that the strength of it differs, some¬ times being greater and then again often less than the strength given above.

Mr. H. T. Anthony, of New York, was the first to advise the use

THE PRACTICAL PRINTER.

of alum in the printing-bath, and since the discovery of it for that purpose it has become quite universally used . It is, indeed, the best thing that can be added to the bath to give brilliancy and richness of tone to the prints. The theory of the alum, as being an improve¬ ment when used in the printing-bath, is as follows :

The alum hardens the surface of the albumen-paper when it is floated upon a silver bath containing it, so that the solution is kept more on the surface, and when the paper is quickly dried the result¬ ing prints appear very brilliant, printing finely, especially in the shadows, and are more easily and better toned and fixed, and the final washing is more likely to be thoroughly done.

A small lump of alum is placed in the funnel through which the bath is filtered, and the solution, as it filters, will take up the quan¬ tity it needs.

Mr. John R. Clemons has recommended the use of glycerin in the printing-bath, in the proportion of 1^ ounces of pure glycerin to every 16 ounces of solution. It has been used most successfully by many photographers, and it is especially a good thing for his brand of paper, when it is floated for the space of one minute on a bath of 30 grains (during the summer-time) of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water.

Sal soda is often added to the silver bath in the proportion of an ounce of a saturated solution of the soda to a bath of sixty ounces. On adding this the bath will immediately turn milky, and after the solution has been thoroughly stirred it should be allowed to settle for awhile and then filtered into another bottle before use, leaving the carbonate of silver (the deposit) in the first bottle. When through silvering the paper, pour the solution back into the bottle where the deposit is and again shake the contents. In the morning the solution will be thoroughly clear , although the bath may have been very much discolored when it was poured into the bottle the night before.

Always let a sediment be in the bottle, and every other day add a fewr drops of the soda solution to the bath. Keep on “ adding solu¬ tion” made up as above. A few ounces of the solution should be added to the printing-bath every night after use, so as to keep the quantity up to a certain number of ounces.

I have used a bath prepared as above for eight months, and al¬ though the bath, when poured from the silvering-dish at night, was often as black as a coal, it never failed to be clear in the morning, if there was a sediment on the bottom of the bottle.

Citric acid is also sometimes added to the printing-batli, in a

THE POSITIVE BATH FOR ALBUMEN PAPER.

greater or less degree, according to the time the paper is required to be kept, for this is principally the reason why the acid is added.

When the paper is only required to be kept a day or so after sensitizing, so as to prevent it from turning yellow by being kept over night, on account of a sudden storm, &c., the solution is made a very little acid , viz., a few drops of a solution of citric acid, 20 grains, water 1 ounce. If the paper is desired to be kept white for a longer time than a couple of days, then more of the acid should be added (see Chapter Y, Part I). Fume fifteen minutes. The paper will print a little red, but it will most probably be very rich, although this will be according to the quality of the negatives, &c.

The “citric acid printing-bath ” should be tested every morning be¬ fore using it, to ascertain the degree of acidity. Never let your bath be acid with nitric acid unless it is rery, very slightly so, as the prints besides being of a poor (photographically considered) red color are very liable to be weak and flat.

Nitrate of ammonia is very often added to the printing-bath in the proportion of as many grains of the nitrate to the ounce of water as there may have been grains of nitrate of silver added. After adding the nitrate of ammonia to the printing-bath make slightly alkaline with liq. ammonia.

Sunning the bath for about half an hour or so after the nitrate of ammonia has been added and the solution made alkaline is a good plan. Filter before use. I will here give a few formulae for baths for printing which I have used and know to be excellent.

No. 1. — Crystal Nitrate of Silver .

Nitrate of Ammonia, .

Filtered Rain-water, .

Saturated Solution Bicarbonate of Soda, about .

. 35 “

. 1 ounce.