Carbon print

As pigment prints photographic images are referred to, in which the image is formed by mineral or artificial color pigments on a support material. These color pigments are lightfast generally and the images thus resistant. While pigment prints were produced in the historic photograph by leaching of non-exposed components, pigment prints modern type are usually generated by inkjet printers.

Historical method

The pigment printing process, (including carbon or carbon printing process called ) is one of the precious printing process. It is based on that gelatin, when subjected to a chromic acid salt ( potassium dichromate or ammonium dichromate ) the light in water insoluble ( " tanned " ) is. Is their a dye (pigment ) is added, as the become insoluble bodies hold it back mechanically. Because often coal dust was used as the pigment, the name of carbon print is conventional for this process.

About Subtracting paper with mixture of chromate in gelatin bathed and exposed it as a negative, so you can get a picture by washing with hot water. However, since starting the effect of light on the surface and extends deep more or less by the thickness of the photosensitive layer, so be among the become insoluble in light places still remain soluble individual lying directly on the paper gelatin, which dissolve in hot water and the overlying " semitones " rob their grip.

To avoid this, the lying on the surface of the exposed layer, initially invisible image highlights one from by a transfer printing. For this purpose, we pressed on a piece of tanned gelatin coated paper - the so-called transfer paper. This then sticks firmly to the surface. It now treats the compressed paper with hot water, so all points not affected by light are dissolved; the first paper, which served only as a carrier of the light-sensitive gelatin layer peels off, and the image areas, which consist of insoluble that have become colored gelatin, stick to the transfer paper.

Liability is the carry paper rubbed with a fine resin layer so is only loosely. Is then pressed a second piece of paper on gelatin, the image on the second surface adheres more strongly than the first and can be transmitted for the second time. The obtained during the first carry " pigment image " is wrong, ie it appears as a mirror image of the object; twice the transmitted image, however, is the correct side.

You can transfer this pigment images on glass, giving it a transparent window images. Because the prints are made from lightfast pigments, they do not fade like the silver images, however, are mechanically very vulnerable.

1903-1911 brought the New Photographic Society Berlin -Steglitz for the production of supervisory or transparencies further developed NPG - pigment method on the market.

Modern methods

Once an image has been processed in the computer, it prints the artist with an inkjet printer and specific, pigmented ink onto the desired substrate. This can be paper, cloth, canvas or other support material. This artistic technique is also known as giclee and belongs to the field of digital art. When proofing process in the printing industry also C-prints are used, the resulting true-color and true color templates with color pigments in the primary colors (CMYK ) system, such as Cromalin.