Bromide Printing
and Enlarging

Chapter I
VARIETIES OF BROMIDE PAPERS AND
HOW TO CHOOSE AMONG THEM

Contents

What is bromide paper? It is simply paper
coated with gelatino-bromide of silver emulsion,
similar to that which, when coated on
glass or other transparent support, forms the familiar
dry-plate or film used in negative-making. The emulsion
used in making bromide paper, however, is less
rapid (less sensitive) than that used in the manufacture
of plates or films of ordinary rapidity; hence bromide
paper may be manipulated with more abundant light
than would be safe with plates. It is used for making
prints by contact with a negative in the ordinary
printing frame, and as the simplest means for obtaining
enlarged prints from small negatives. Sometimes
bromide paper is spoken of as a development paper,
because the picture-image does not print out during
exposure, but requires to be developed, as in negative-making.
The preparation of the paper is beyond
the skill and equipment of the average photographer,
but it may be readily obtained from dealers in photographic
supplies.

What are the practical advantages of bromide paper?
In the first place, it renders the photographer independent
of daylight and weather as far as making prints
is concerned. It has excellent “keeping” qualities,
i.e., it does not spoil or deteriorate as readily as other
printing papers, even when stored without special
care or precaution. Its manipulation is extremely
simple, and closely resembles the development of a
negative. It does not require a special sort of
negative, but is adapted to give good prints from negatives
widely different in quality. It is obtainable in
any desired size, and with a great variety of surfaces,
from extreme gloss to that of rough drawing paper.
It offers great latitude in exposure and development,
and yields, even in the hands of the novice, a greater
percentage of good prints than any other printing
paper in the market. It offers a range of tone from
deepest black to the most delicate of platinotype grays,
which may be modified to give a fair variety of color
effects where this is desirable. It affords a simple
means of making enlargements without the necessity
of an enlarged negative. It gives us a ready means
of producing many prints in a very short time, or, if
desired, we may make a proof or enlargement from the
negative fresh from the washing tray. And, finally,
if we do our work faithfully and well, it will give us
permanent prints.

The bromide papers available in this country at
present are confined to those of the Eastman Kodak
Company, the Defender Photo Supply Company and
J. L. Lewis, the last handling English papers only.
Better papers could not be desired. Broadly speaking,
all bromide papers are made in a few well-defined varieties;
in considering the manipulation of the papers
made by a single firm, therefore, we practically cover
all the papers in the market. As a matter of convenience,
then, we will glance over the different varieties
of bromide paper available, as represented by the Eastman
papers, with the understanding that what is said
of any one variety is generally applicable to papers of
the same sort put out by other manufacturers.

First we have the Standard or ordinary bromide
paper made for general use. This comes in five different
weights: A, a thin paper with smooth surface,
useful where detail is desirable; B, a heavier paper with
smooth surface, for large prints or for illustration purposes;
and C, a still heavier paper with a rough surface
for broad effects and prints of large size. BB, heavy
smooth double weight; CC, heavy, rough, double
weight. Each of these varieties may be had in two
grades, according to the negative in hand or the effect
desired in the print, viz.: hard, for use with soft negatives
where we desire to get vigor or contrast in the
print, and soft, for use with hard negatives where
softness of effect is desired in the print. For general
use the soft grade is preferable, although it is advisable
to have a supply of the hard paper at hand as useful
in certain classes of work. The tones obtainable on
the Standard paper range to pure black, and are acceptable
for ordinary purposes. For pictorial work or
special effects other papers are preferable.

Platino-Bromide paper gives delicate platinotype
tones, and where negative, paper and manipulation are
in harmony, the prints obtained on this paper will be
indistinguishable from good platinotypes in quality
and attractiveness. This paper comes in two weights,
Platino A, a thin paper suitable for small prints, and
having a smooth surface useful for detail-giving;
and Platino B, a heavy paper with rough surface,
peculiarly suited for large contact prints or enlargements.
Both varieties are obtainable in hard or soft
grades, characterized as above. Matte Enamel, medium
weight; Enameled, medium weight; Velvet, medium
weight.

Royal Bromide is a capital paper in its proper place,
i.e., for prints not smaller than 8 × 10 inches, and
then only when breadth of effect is desired in the picture.
It is a very heavy cream-colored paper, rough
in texture, and giving black tones by development,
but designed to give sepia or brown tones on a tinted
ground by subsequent toning with a bath of hypo and
alum. This paper, also, may be had in two grades for
hard or soft effects; it is further adapted for being printed
on through silk or bolting cloth, this modification adding
to the effect of breadth ordinarily given by the paper
itself. I have seen prints on this paper which were
altogether pleasing, but subject and negative should
be carefully considered in its use. Rough Buff papers
are very similar in character. Monox Bromide, made
by the Defender Photo Supply Company, is obtainable
in six surfaces; No. 3, Monox Rough; No. 4, Monox
Gloss; No. 5, Monox Matte; No. 6, Monox Lustre;
No. 7, Monox Buff, heavy rough.

The Barnet bromide papers, comprising ten different
varieties, differing in weight and surface texture but
very similar to the kinds already described, are imported
by J. L. Lewis, New York.

As a suggestion to the reader desiring to have at hand
a stock of bromide papers, I would advise Platino A,
or a similar soft paper for prints under 5 × 7 inches;
Matte-Enamel for soft effects, or a similar paper, as
an alternative; Platino C and Royal Bromide for soft
effects, or similar papers, for prints 8 × 10 inches or
larger, and for enlargements. To these might be added
a package of Standard B, and another of one of the
above varieties for hard effects, to complete a supply
for general purposes. The beginner, however, will do
well to avoid the indiscriminate use of several varieties
of paper, although he is advised to get information of
all the different varieties in the market. It is better
to select that variety which is best suited to the general
character of one’s negatives and work, and to master
that before changing to another. It is true that an
expert can get more good prints on bromide paper,
from a given number of bad negatives, than another
expert can get with the same negatives and any other
printing paper; but it is also true that for the best
results on bromide paper the variety of paper used
should be suitable for the negative. It will be found,
however, that this word “suitable” covers, in bromide
printing, a much wider range than is offered by many
printing papers. In fact there are only two sorts of
negatives which will not yield desirable prints on
bromide paper: first, an exceedingly weak, thin negative
lacking in contrast and altogether flat; and second,
a very dense negative in which the contrasts are
hopelessly emphatic. Even in such cases, however,
it may be possible to modify the negatives and so get
presentable prints.

The ideal negative for contact printing on bromide
paper is one without excessive contrasts on the one
hand, and without excessive flatness on the other.
A moderately strong negative, such as will require
from three to five minutes in the sunlight with a print
out paper, fairly describes it. In other words, the
negative should be fully exposed and so developed that
there is a fair amount of density in the shadows. I
have never been able, with bromide paper, to get the
detail in the shadows of under-exposed negatives,
such as we see in a good print made on glossy printout
paper. For this reason the use of bromide papers
with under-exposed negatives is not advisable. But
there are a great many negatives which, while unsuitable
as they come from the drying rack, can be easily
adapted to the process by slight modifications. A
very dense negative, for instance, may be reduced
either with the ferricyanide of potash or persulphate of
ammonia reducer; and a thin negative with proper
graduations can frequently be intensified to advantage
in the print. While, as has been said, there is great
latitude in the matter of the negative, this latitude
should only be availed of when necessary. Local reduction
or intensification of the negative is seldom
necessary, as better results can usually be obtained
with bromide paper by dodging in the printing.

Chapter II
THE QUESTION OF LIGHT AND
ILLUMINATION

Contents

Thus far we have gained a general understanding
of the different papers and the characteristics
desirable in negatives. Before we take up the
actual manipulation of bromide paper there are a few
elementary principles bearing on the important detail
of illumination which we must master. These may
necessitate a little thinking, but a practical grasp of
them will make our after-work much easier, and ensure
that fairly good prints from poor negatives will be the
rule instead of the exception.

In the first place we have often read that a strong
light overcomes contrasts, while a weak light increases
them. Yet how many of us realize when
we come to make prints by any process exactly
what this means; in other words, how many of us apply
the rule in everyday practice? It is very easy to see
what is meant by the rule if we will take an ordinary
negative, such as a landscape with clear sky, and hold
it first six inches from a gas-flame and then six feet.
It will be found in the first case that the sky portion is
translucent while the clear glass will, of course, be clear;
in the second the sky will be opaque and the clear glass
still clear. The contrasts have been rendered greater
by removing the negative further from the light-source.
As this is true in the extreme case given, so it
is true in a smaller degree where the distances are only
slightly varied, as well as where we deal with the
graded portions of the negative instead of with only
clear glass and the densest portions. It is this fact
that we utilize in bromide printing; and it is because
we have such unlimited control over the strength of
our light that it is possible with it to get equally good
prints from a wide range of negatives. It is very much
simpler and more practicable to regulate the strength
of the light by increasing or diminishing its distance
than by interposing sheets of paper, ground glass, or
opal, as is occasionally done with other processes.

The necessity, however, for occasionally changing
the strength of our light in this manner may seem to
introduce an element of uncertainty into the problem
of exposure; but there is another rule which brings it
back again to simplicity itself, and enables us to
quickly calculate equivalent exposures at varying distances
from the light-source. This rule is: “The intensity
of illumination varies inversely as the square
of the distance from the source of light.” For instance
if a given negative requires five seconds exposure at
one foot from the light, it will have an equivalent exposure
if exposed for twenty seconds at two feet, the
square of one being one, and of two being four.

It remains then only to apply these two rules to
our actual work with bromide paper. The shadows
in a certain negative will receive full exposure, say,
in eight seconds at one foot from the light; but the
high lights of the negative are so dense that no light
will penetrate them at that distance from the light in
that length of time. Hence a stronger light must be
used, or the action of the same light continued for a
longer time; but the latter will not do since the effect
would be to over-expose the shadows. Hence, knowing
that a strong light overcomes contrasts, we move the
negative to the distance of six inches, where the rule
tells us the equivalent exposure will be one-fourth
that at twelve inches, in this case two seconds. Here
the shadows get no more light, but it is possible that
the high lights of the negative will be penetrated by
reason of the additional force of the light.

On the other hand we have a thin, flat negative requiring
for the shadows two seconds exposure at one
foot from the light. Knowing that a weak light increases
contrasts we move the negative three feet
from the light, and instead of two, give eighteen seconds
exposure, the rule telling us that this is equivalent.
Thus we are enabled to regulate the strength of our
light to suit the character of our negative. But a
standard distance of one foot will not suit with all kinds
of lights or with all sizes of negatives. If, for instance,
our light is a Welsbach burner, giving an intense and
comparatively white light, we will find that a normal
negative will print too flat if exposed at one foot. In
such a case two or even three feet would be a better
standard. Experience with our light will, however,
furnish the best standard, always taking a standard
negative for the tests.

The size of the negative also has its influence on the
unit of exposure. For instance, we may have a half-inch
oil-burner, in which case we would probably
have to expose a standard negative at four inches in
order to get the proper contrasts. But this is out of
the question with a negative of 5 × 7 or over, as a reference
to the diagram, Fig. 1, will clearly show. Here
we find that while
the centre of a negative
is four inches
from the light the
extreme edges will
be over five inches
from it, the rule as
to intensities telling
us that the light at
the edges will be
only ¹⁶∕₂₅ of that at
the centre. This
would result in a
marked falling off
of light at the corners, and would necessitate a constant
motion of the printing frame throughout exposure,
which is not wholly satisfactory. The remedy would
be to use a stronger light at a greater distance. But
another reference to Fig. 1 will show that if a 5 × 7
negative be held at seven inches from the light the
difference will be only as 49 is to 56, which can in
practice be disregarded, though it would be better to
have it even less. Hence we see that it is never safe
to have our unit less than the base-line of our plate, and
it is better to have it even greater, as we will frequently
be obliged to halve the distance to overcome contrasts.
It follows from this that the larger our negatives the
stronger must be our light.

Now all of these considerations may make very dry
reading, but the reader who has followed them closely
will see how vital they are to successful work. It
should not be thought, however, that every exposure
on bromide paper must involve an arithmetical calculation.
On the contrary, once the proper distance
from the light for the normal negative has been ascertained,
it will be found that nine negatives out of ten
will require no change in the distance from the source
of light. This, of course, presuming that we classify
our negatives and enlarge from those of the same
quality at the same time.

One great objection to the use of bromide paper is
that it must be handled in a dark-room. But this
objection is not as serious as it may seem. An ordinary
living room at night furnishes a delightful place in
which to make prints, if we handle our solutions with
reasonable care. The ruby glass can be removed from
the dark-room lamp, and the orange glass used alone.
But in this case, as indeed with the ruby light, care must
be taken to guard against too much light. Development
should be conducted at a distance of several feet
from the light, and when almost completed, the tray
can be brought close under the light to enable the worker
to stop it at exactly the right moment. Ordinary
bromide paper is about as sensitive as the process
or slow dry plate or the average lantern-slide plate,
and requires as much care as either, but not nearly so
much as the most rapid dry plates. If fogging is
noticed, of course additional precautions should be
taken at once.

Chapter III
CONTACT PRINTING ON BROMIDE
PAPER

Contents

Nothing more than will be found in an ordinary
dark-room will be found necessary in
bromide printing by contact, unless it be some
arrangement for determining readily the distance of
the negative from the source of light. For this purpose
and with an oil-lamp, use a board a foot wide and about
three feet long placed on the developing bench against
the base of the dark-room lamp. It should be marked
with black lines six inches apart. See Fig. 2.

Greater uniformity
in lighting will be
gained if a piece of
white cardboard be
placed immediately
behind the flame.
Some lamps have reflectors, in which case the card
is unnecessary, provided that they reflect the light
uniformly; otherwise such reflectors are worse than
useless.

Having arranged the needful apparatus to our
satisfaction, the last preparatory step before manipulation
is the making up of a developer. Almost any of
the modern developers (pyro excepted) will give good
results with bromide paper. In every package of
paper will be found the developers advised by the
manufacturer of the paper used. Invariably there is
among these a formula for ferrous oxalate developer.
This is probably the best of all developers for pure
black tones, but I cannot advise the novice to take
it up in the early stages of his work with bromide
paper.

When this developer is used an acid clearing bath is
necessary, and this invites complications which may be
disastrous to the prints. When experience has been
gained, and a large number of prints are to be made
at one time, it will be found advantageous as working
longer with greater efficiency and more uniformity
than some of the other developers. It is troublesome
to prepare and does not keep well, apart from which
there is the disadvantage that it does not permit of
control in development in as large a measure as other
developers.

A reliable metol and hydroquinone formula is as
follows: Thoroughly dissolve metol, ¼ ounce; hydroquinone,
¼ ounce; in water, 80 ounces; add sulphite
of soda (cryst.), 4 ounces; and carbonate of soda (cryst.),
2½ ounces. Bottled in 4-ounce vials and well corked,
this developer retains its working power indefinitely.
For normal exposures I take 2 ounces of the above and
add to it 2 ounces of water. This will suffice for the
development of three 8 × 10 sheets of paper, or their
equivalent in smaller sheets. It is not wise to attempt
to make it do more, as greenish tones will result. For
the same reason, contrary to common opinion, I do not
advise the addition of potassium bromide to the
developer. It does not improve the developer, and may
do harm.

An excellent developer which must be used freshly
mixed, and may be made up in a moment, is as follows:
Take 1½ ounces of a 25 per cent solution of sodium
sulphite; dry amidol, 30 grains; 5 to 10 drops of a 10
per cent solution of potassium bromide, and dilute with
4½ ounces of water. A supply of new developer
should be added as this is seen to become exhausted.

Other developing formulae could be given, but these
two will be found to fill all requirements if properly
compounded and intelligently used.

The greatest difficulty in developing bromide paper is
to get rich black tones when desired, but this can be
completely overcome by using entirely fresh developer
from time to time, and never over-working the developer,
whatever it may be. As compared with the
paper, developer is cheap, and it is poor economy to
save on the latter.

Except in rare instances the developer is better
without any modifications whatever. In case of over-exposure,
either general or partial, the developer after
having been diluted as stated should be again diluted
with its bulk of water. This gives blacker tones and
more depth and life to the shadows. When through
inadvertence we under-expose a print it may frequently
be saved after partial development in the weak solution
by flooding with a strong undiluted developer.

The temperature of the developer is of the greatest
importance. In summer the aim should be to keep it
approximately at 65 degrees Fahr., in winter, 70 degrees,
but it should never be allowed to go over the
latter. This can readily be accomplished by placing
the graduate in a receptacle containing ice-water in
summer or hot water in winter.

The paper is first opened at a safe distance from the
dark-room light, and it is well at first to cut up one
sheet into several slips to use as test-strips. If any
difficulty is found in determining which is the sensitive
side, it will be well to throw a piece of the paper on
a plane surface when it will be seen that it has a slight
tendency to curl. The concave is the sensitive side.
Taking a standard negative we first take one of the
test-slips and place it upon the negative so that it
covers a portion containing both high lights and shadows.
With an oil-lamp having a 1-inch burner, expose
the test-strip behind the negative in the printing
frame at one foot for ten seconds. Close the lamp and
flood the exposed strip with the developer. The
image should appear in a few seconds, and if properly
exposed development will be completed in from one
to two minutes, usually one. Rinse for a moment,
and place the strip in a fixing bath made up by dissolving
3 ounces of hypo in 16 ounces of water. After
a few moments examine the strip in full light, and see
whether the contrasts are right. If so, expose a full
sheet of paper, this time rinsing the exposed sheet before
development to avoid the formation of air-bubbles.
If the contrasts are too great try a strip at six inches
from the light and two and a half seconds exposure.
If still too great, use a stronger light or try a longer
exposure and use a very dilute developer. If still too
great the negative is hopeless and should be reduced
unless dodging will help it, as set out further on.

It will be noticed that this method calls for a one-minute
development. This is desirable for several
reasons: first, because it gives a unit and assists us in
determining the correct exposure of other negatives,
and second, because it is a comparatively short development,
and yet gives sufficient time after the image
has acquired the proper depth to pour off the developer
and flush with water, thus stopping development. It
also leaves sufficient margin in the event of over- or
under-exposure. With one minute as the unit, over-exposure
will result in a fully developed image in, say,
thirty seconds. This print we could save; but if our
unit were thirty seconds it would be extremely difficult
to save a print which had completed development in
fifteen seconds. The chances are that the development
would go on to a ruinous extent before we could pour
off the developer and flood the print, or that it would go
on even after the water was poured on it. Moreover,
in case of under-exposure, two minutes would not be
so very tiresome, but four minutes would, besides
which we would risk straining the print by such prolonged
development. While I am not prepared to
assert it as a rule, yet it has been my experience that
the time of development varies almost inversely with
the length of exposure; so that if the test-strip concludes
development in half a minute with ten seconds
exposure, I give the next five seconds exposure in the
expectation that it will take a minute to develop.
This assists greatly in lessening the number of test-strips
required to ascertain the correct exposure of a
given negative.

Should we wish to see a proof before the negative
is dry, it is taken from the fixing bath and well rinsed,
though not necessarily thoroughly washed. It is then
placed face up in a tray of water, on which we place
face down a sheet of bromide paper. The two are
removed together and squeezed lightly into contact to
remove air bubbles. The back of the negative is then
wiped to remove superfluous water, and an exposure of
several times the normal given, preferably the normal
exposure at half the standard distance from the light.
The paper is then removed and developed as usual.
In this way it is possible to show a print in fifteen or
twenty minutes after the exposure of the plate was
made.

The purpose of the rinsing before development is
to avoid the possibility of air-bells. The paper should
be rinsed in cold water, as warmish water will cause
air-bells instead of preventing them. This rinsing
can be dispensed with if thought desirable. The
rinsing after development is for the purpose of stopping
development immediately, and also in order that the
prints may not go into the fixing bath full of developer,
as staining would be likely to result in such case.
With the iron oxalate developer an acid rinsing bath
is necessary, but it is not necessary with any of the
other developers.

The fixing is important, as upon this depends in a
large measure the permanence of the prints. The
bath should be freshly made up, 3 ounces of hyposulphite
of soda to 16 ounces of water. Prints are placed
in this bath face down, and one under, instead of on
top of another. The tray should be occasionally rocked.
With a fresh bath prints will fix in ten minutes, but
where many prints are made at one time it will be well
to use a second fixing bath. The emulsion of an unfixed
print will appear a yellowish tinge in the unfixed
portions when examined by transmitted light; but
this is not an easy or certain test. It is better to
make absolutely certain of thorough fixing by continued
immersion, occasional rocking and, where
many prints are made, a second bath. The fixing
bath should not be allowed to get too warm in hot
weather. Blistering, staining and frilling will result
in such a case, and I have known a print which was
left in a warm fixing bath for an hour or more to be
reduced beyond redemption. With freshly made
hypo baths at a suitable temperature there is absolutely
no danger of the paper frilling or blistering.

The final washing must be thorough, as the hypo is
difficult to eliminate from both the emulsion and the
paper. Care must be taken to see that the prints are
well separated while washing. This ensures uniform
washing.

It frequently happens that a negative may require
more or less dodging in printing. With bromide paper
this is particularly easy. We will take the simple case
of a negative with dense sky which will not print out
in the ordinary way. All that we need in this case
is a piece of paper cut roughly to the sky line and kept
moving during part of the exposure over the part
which is to be held back. If necessary, cut down the
light in order to prolong the exposure, or expose at a
greater distance from the light. One or more test-strips
will be required for this purpose in order to
ascertain the relative times of exposure. A modification
of this method is when a small portion of the
negative only needs extra printing—a face or hand for
instance. Here we take a piece of paper a little larger
than the negative and cut a small hole in it, moving it
in front of the light so as to throw the latter only upon
the portions needing the extra printing. Still another
modification is where a portion only needs holding
back. Here we use a small piece of paper or cardboard
stuck on a knitting needle, moving the latter
so that it will not intercept the light too long at one
place.

In all these and similar instances which will occur to
the reader, the dodging should be done during the first
part of the exposure. The subsequent exposure seems
to obliterate traces of such dodging better than when
it is done at the end of the exposure, just as in cloud-printing
better results are achieved by printing the
sky first and the foreground afterward.

It is quite possible to make bromide negatives in the
camera. They have their advantages in classes of
work not requiring the finest definition, are much
lighter, cheaper, more easily stored and less liable to
breakage or other mishaps. They are best made on
a thin, smooth paper, a soft paper being better than the
hard. They are placed in the plate-holder by means
of the ordinary cut film holder. The exposure required
is ascertained by a trial or two, but roughly
speaking is about one-twentieth that of a rapid plate.
After development in the usual way—it being carried
only a little further than usual—and after fixing, washing
and drying, the paper negative can be spotted or
retouched, after which it is waxed.

Chapter IV
ENLARGING—DAYLIGHT METHODS

Contents

In taking up enlarging a full knowledge of what has
been said as to the manipulation of bromide paper
will be necessary, as the principles governing
exposure apply here as in contact printing, errors
being even more serious, owing to the greater waste
of material.

For the illuminant used in enlarging, we may employ
either daylight or artificial light. The former is
cheap, but variable; the first cost of the latter is quite a
little sum, but the light is uniform. A daylight enlarging
apparatus can be made for a dollar or two, and
hence is within the reach of all; and if the process be
given up, the loss is not serious.

If the cost is of little or no moment, very serviceable
enlarging cameras can be bought for about twenty-five
dollars. Such a camera is adapted for reducing as
well as enlarging, and so will be found useful for lantern
slide making, copying, etc. As a matter of fact,
few things are as useful to the amateur as a good
enlarging outfit.

We will first consider enlarging by daylight with
home-made apparatus. For this purpose a room with
at least one window will be needed. It should preferably
be convenient to the dark-room. If the window
of this room commands a view unobstructed by
buildings, trees or the like, so much the better. I personally
prefer a south light. With this one can get
soft enlargements from the most contrasty negatives,
while by shielding the negatives from the direct rays
of the sun we can work from negatives which are quite
flat and lacking in
contrasts.

But whatever the
room chosen, all
windows but the
one at which we
are to work must
be blocked up.
This can be done
by heavy dark curtains,
or by specially
constructed
frames covered
with light-tight material
and made to
fit closely in the
windows. If there
are any transoms
these should likewise be covered. White light entering
under the doors can be shut out by placing a rug along
the bottom of the door. Care must be taken that the
window-frames fit closely, as the light from openings
at the windows would soon fog a sheet of bromide
paper if it fell upon it even for a few moments.

Assuming that the room chosen can be made practically
light-tight, we will need some arrangement to
hold the negative. The details of a box for this
purpose can best be shown by a diagram (Fig. 3).
ABCD is a strong and neatly made box open at both
ends, and about two inches larger each way than the
largest negative from which enlargements are to be
made. E represents a section of a
board which forms part of a window
frame, a general view of
which is given in Fig. 4. Reverting
to Fig. 3, F is an opening cut
in the side of the negative box two
inches or a little less from the back
of the box, AD, and wide enough to
admit the free passage of a negative
in a kit or other holder. On
the inside of the box are tacked
strips, GGGG, to serve as a guide to the kit when
placing it in the box. An opening similar to F should
be made in the other side of the box to permit lateral
adjustments when we come to use the apparatus,
besides enabling us
to put the negative
in or withdraw it
from either side. A
convenient modification
of the strips,
G, is found by placing
the front ones a short distance further forward, to
wit, toward BC, as they are shown in the cut (Fig. 3),
and tacking to them a piece of watch spring, H, this
then serving both as a guide and as a means of pressing
the kit or negative holder against the other strips,
GG (Fig. 5).

J is a sheet of ground-glass, which is tacked over the
opening when the box is firmly set in the board, E. It
is well to have this ground-glass fixed in place so that
it can be readily removed if desired.

The necessity for having the box at least two inches
larger each way than the largest negative from which
enlargements are to be made is shown in Fig. 6. Here
AB represents the negative in place,
CA, DB and EG represent rays of
light entering the box. It will be seen
that the rays CA and DB strike the
ground-glass at an angle, but nevertheless
at an angle which results in
their passing through it in a considerable
degree. They strike the negative
AB, but if the negative were the
full size of the box, to wit FG, it will be
seen that while the section AB would be fully lighted,
the sections AF and BG would receive no oblique rays
at all, and hence the negative would not be even approximately
uniformly lighted. This point is too often
overlooked in the construction of apparatus of this
character, but is necessary in all cases of daylight
enlarging and especially when direct sunlight is used.
Now with the negative box in place, some arrangement
must be made for holding the lens, which can be
the lens used for making the negative. This for enlargements
of a fixed size from negatives of a given
size can be accomplished by simply extending the
section BGGC Fig. 3, to a proper distance and placing
the lens in the end of it; but this permits too little
opportunity for adjustments and is not advisable.
A double box, one sliding within the other, would be
better, but still not quite satisfactory. It is far better
to adapt one’s camera to the apparatus, and this
can always be done; it being very simple with a reversible
back camera, which can be backed right up to
the opening, and more difficult but always possible
with others. Fig. 7 shows the entire apparatus in
place, and the manner in which it is used. AB is the
window board, C is the negative box, D is the camera
adjusted to the latter, E is the enlarging screen on an
easel to hold the bromide paper, and F is the reflector.
The screen on the easel can be made either to rest on
the floor or on a table. It can be made to run on a
track or otherwise, and it can also be made so as to admit
of either vertical or lateral adjustment or both,
or it can be nothing more than an ordinary box set
on a table. But however constructed it must be considerably
larger than the largest sheet of bromide paper
which is to be used, thus allowing for nearly all necessary
adjustments of the paper. It is preferably covered
with white paper or fine blotter to aid in focusing.
The reflector F is considerably larger than the negative-box,
and adjusted at an angle which will reflect the
light from the sky or sun evenly upon the ground
glass. It is best covered with good white blotting
paper. G is a hood which I have found useful in sunlight
enlarging, especially in summer when the sun
is almost overhead. It is placed on the outside of
the window-frame, some distance above the ground-glass,
and shields the latter from the direct rays of the
sun, which would otherwise cause uneven illumination
owing to their too great obliquity. The direct
sun on the white reflector will give a light of high
intensity. In winter, however, when the sun is low,
it will fall directly on the ground-glass, and this, if
the negative box be constructed as advised, is not
objectionable, but on the contrary an advantage.
In Fig. 4 the opening, FGHI, represents a sheet of
ruby glass, and can be screened while focusing if found
to interfere with the worker’s convenience in that
operation.

The apparatus as sketched will suffice for all ordinary
work. Modifications of it will depend upon the ingenuity
of the man who attempts to design or construct
one. It should be noted that the distance of the
ground-glass from the negative has its influence in the
strength of the light, and it is better to have this distance
not over two inches. If less than one inch, however,
the diffusion of light is not so good. When the
light is weak the ground-glass can be removed entirely;
the negative will thus be viewed directly against the
white reflector. Very strong negatives giving undue
contrasts may also be dealt with in this way. Or, if
the light is too strong for flat negatives, the reflector
can be removed entirely, or to the same end a sheet
of yellow glass can be substituted for the ground-glass,
thus increasing contrasts. In fact, a very useful and
easily arranged modification of the negative-box consists
of an opening in the top of the box inside the room
through which can be dropped an extra sheet of ground-glass
or opal to cut down the light, or of yellow glass
to increase contrast. This opening should be at the
point K, Fig. 3.

I have referred to a kit as being the proper arrangement
for holding the negative. This, after much
tribulation in working with home-made contrivances,
I have found to be the best arrangement. They
come a size or two larger than the negative with which
they are to be used, and can easily be cut down to the
proper dimensions. With it, also, other kits to hold
smaller negatives can readily be used. It is also simple
with them to fasten the negatives in place. If they
extend beyond the box on either side so much the better;
greater lateral adjustment can then be made. The
negative box, Fig. 3, is best painted dead black inside
in the section GBCG, and white in the section AGGD.
The reasons for this will be obvious at a glance.

In enlarging from films it is well to place them between
two sheets of glass of proper size, and fasten
the whole in the kit or negative-holder. For this purpose
use thin glass without flaws or scratches. If
the films are smaller than the opening in the kit, it
is well to paste a black mat on one of the glasses,
when, after proper adjustment, the film will remain in
place between the two glasses with very little pressure.

Enlarged negatives are very easily made with the
apparatus described. A contact positive can be made,
preferably on carbon transparency tissue, and from
this the enlargement made, or an enlarged positive
made first, and from this a contact negative. The latter
plan is preferable, since it admits of retouching on both
positive and negative. Slow plates should be used
throughout. For those who do not care to go to the
expense of experimenting with large plates, I would
suggest that good contact positives be first made and
from these negatives on bromide paper, Standard A,
soft. These negatives are treated as already described.
The best positive for this purpose is a thin one with
full gradations of tone from clear high light to deep
shadow, without veil or fog, but free from any suspicion
of flatness.

Chapter V
ENLARGING BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

Contents

The apparatus for enlarging with artificial
light is, as has been stated, more expensive
than that for use with daylight. The negative
box and screen, however, remain as given. But we
need in addition two extra pieces, a light-box and a
pair of condensing lenses.

The form of light-box presupposes the choice of
illuminant, and in this there is a wide range. Suffice
it to say that a kerosene lamp with one or more one-and-a-half
inch burners will be found suitable for very
small work or weak negatives. For larger work or
stronger negatives a stronger light will be needed.

Of these, the first in point of strength is the arc-light,
which is too strong for ordinary negatives to be
enlarged not more than fourfold on ordinary bromide
paper. Used with any of the slower papers it will be
found very serviceable and satisfactory. Next comes
the lime-light, which has pretty much the same advantages
and disadvantages. After these come acetylene,
a gas giving an intense light of high actinic
power. This is within the reach of nearly all, as a
first-class generator costs only about twelve dollars,
and the uses of the gas are manifold. The same generators
and burners can be used with a projecting
lantern and will be found far more satisfactory than
oil. Acetylene burners can be had in various sizes,
ranging in power from thirty to several hundred candle-power.
The carbide from which the gas is generated
is not expensive and costs only a few cents each time
the machine is loaded. By an adjustment attached
to the generator the gas is kept at a constant pressure,
and hence the light is unusually steady. All in all
this light has many advantages. After it in strength
comes the Welsbach burner, suitable for those having
gas in the house. After this comes the ordinary gas-burner,
and then oil. The reader, knowing now what
will be required of his light, can take his choice.

Perhaps the simplest form of light-box is where the
light is placed in one room and the enlarging done in
an adjoining one, the light being admitted through a
suitable opening. This prevents the possibility of
stray light reaching the paper and is productive of no
additional heat in a room presumably already hot
enough.

If this is not feasible a light-box must be constructed.
As these vary so much in material and design, and
must be altered with different forms of light in use, I
will merely state the requirements. First of these is
that it must be light-tight, and second, that it must
have adequate ventilation and be fire-proof. Following
these in importance, there should be a simple arrangement
for looking at the light from time to time
to see that it is burning properly and some means for
readily attending to it if it is not.

Having the light-box, the burners must be placed
in it properly. Here the shortest way out of the
difficulty is to go to an expert. If electricity is used
go to an electrical supply house; if gas, go to a gas-fitter.
As will be seen later the flame itself must be
placed in a certain relation to other portions of the
apparatus, and provision must be made accordingly.

In looking over the magazines and annuals we will
now and then see some new method given for illuminating
evenly the back of a negative in enlarging or reduction.
The most of these the writer has tried, but
he has never found one of them which could be relied
upon to give even reasonable satisfaction. If the light
is apparently evenly diffused it is too weak. If strong
enough it is not evenly diffused. Hence I will recommend
nothing short of a pair of condensing lenses,
as these have been proved by experience to be satisfactory
in every respect if properly handled and
cared for. The diameter of these must be slightly
greater than the diagonal of the largest negative from
which enlargements are to be made. These can be
bought in pairs, mounted or unmounted, at about the
following prices:

The prices asked for condensers vary considerably in
different price-lists. They can often be had at second-hand
at a decided saving of expense.

If it is desired to save the additional cost of the
mounted condensing lenses, they can be comparatively
easily mounted by anyone at all familiar with tools
in the following manner:

A piece of quarter-inch pine or poplar is cut to a
square about an inch larger than the diameter of the
lenses. In the center of this is sawed out a circular
opening the exact size of the lens. In another board
of the same dimensions is cut a circle a quarter of
an inch less in diameter. These
boards are placed together with
the grain running in opposite directions,
to prevent warping, and
the lens kept in place by a wire
bent in a circle and clamped in
place so as to hold the lens, or
other similar arrangement. See
Fig. 8. The other lens is mounted
in the same way. The two are
mounted with their convex sides
facing each other and a slight distance
apart. It is better to place
between them a thin sheet of finely
ground glass, as this overcomes the
bad effects of slight flaws in the lenses, which are not
uncommon. The combination is then boxed up.

Having now our light-box, condensers, negative
box, camera and screen, they are next arranged in
the order shown by Fig. 9. A long table especially
constructed for the purpose makes the best base for
this purpose.

In putting the apparatus together there are several
points to be noticed. First, the planes of the lenses,
negative, projecting lenses and screen must all be
parallel; second, the centers of all these should be in a
single straight line, and third, either the light or the
condensers should be so mounted as to easily slide
backward or forward, since every time the projecting
lens is racked backward or forward it necessitates a
corresponding motion of the condensers to or from the
light.

In constructing the apparatus, for use with condensers
and artificial light, the same provision should be
made in the negative box for inserting a piece of colored
or ground glass as was made in the daylight apparatus.
When the diameter of the condensers is but little
greater than the diagonal of the negative it will be
necessary to have the latter quite close to the former,
as the cone of light from the condensers has its apex at
the lens, and hence if the negative in such a case is
at a distance from the condensers the corners will receive
no light. Reference to Fig. 9 will show this
plainly. For this and other reasons it is always best
to have the condensers of ample size for a given negative.
In fact, before beginning to make enlargements
the worker should work with one good negative until
he finds out exactly what light-intensity is best suited
to it. This will then serve as a standard for all other
negatives of the same general grade, and variations of
the light can be made as required for particular negatives,
or where the extent of enlargement is materially
changed for various purposes.

In using the daylight apparatus, which we will now
consider, the negative is placed in the holder opposite
the center of the ground-glass, upside down and facing
into the work room. The room is darkened and lens
uncapped. An image more or less blurred will appear
on the screen. If the enlarged picture is to be only
slightly larger than the negative, the lens must be
racked out until its distance from the negative is but
little less than its distance from the screen. To make
the enlargement greater we simply rack back the lens
and move the screen further off. There are tables
which show exactly the distance which the lens must
be from the negative and screen in order to get an enlargement
of a given size: The table here inserted
covers the ordinary requirements and may be of
service in constructing the apparatus:

A table for enlargements of from one to twenty-five
times, with lenses varying in focal length from
three to nine inches is here given.

In practice it is convenient, after having once found
the focus for a given enlargement from a given negative
with the lens in use, to mark on the base of the apparatus
the point to which the lens has been extended. Then
in making future enlargements of the same size, it is
only necessary to set the lens at that point and move
the easel backward or forward until an approximate
focus is obtained, when the image will be of the proper
size on the screen.

As an approximate guide it is sufficient to know that
the nearer the lens is to the negative the greater will
be the enlargement, as may be seen in Fig. 7. If a
piece of thin cardboard, or a sheet of paper cut to the
exact size of the enlargement desired, is placed upon
the easel-screen, little difficulty will be experienced
in getting an enlarged image of the proper size and
correctly focused.

It is advisable to focus the enlargement with the
largest aperture of the lens. If the lens, when working
at its largest aperture, covers the plate from which
the enlargement is being made, it will give proper
definition over the enlargement. With a lens of the
better sort, of course, the definition will be equally
good whether a large or small aperture is used; but
with a low-priced lens it is better to stop down to
No. 8 (f/11.3) or No. 16 (f/16), to avoid spherical
aberration. Stopping the lens down increases the time
of exposure, and enables one to have greater control
over the operation of exposing the paper, permitting
time to shade or locally increase the exposure at any
portion of the image. This is sometimes useful, but
as a general thing stopping the lens down is not advisable,
as interfering with one’s judgment in calculating
exposures for various negatives. Having secured
the image correct in size and focus, place thumb-tacks
at all four sides of the sheet of paper or card
used to focus the image. These will serve as a guide
to the placing of the sensitive paper. Adjust the lens
stop as desired and cap the lens, leaving the room
totally dark save for such safe light as we may have
for working. Place the bromide paper on the screen,
using the thumb-tacks as a guide to the correct position
in this.

In making his first enlargements, the beginner
should avail himself of the help of test-strips. These
should be about one inch wide and the length of the
paper. The exposure depends on a number of factors,
among which are light, negative, focal length of lens,
size of enlargement, stops, sensitiveness of paper,
developer, temperature of developer, and length of
development. The first experiment had best, therefore,
be made on a purely arbitrary basis, for which
we will take ten seconds.

Pinning a test-strip on the screen, we uncap the lens
and with a piece of cardboard shade two-thirds of the
strip during five seconds; move the cardboard, and
give the next section five seconds making ten for the
first; then remove the cardboard entirely and give five
seconds more, making fifteen for the first, ten for the
second, and five for the third. Now develop the strip.
If the fifteen seconds portion finishes development in
less than one minute, and the ten takes approximately
a minute, we will know that our basis was correct. But
if all three were over-exposed or under-exposed, as
shown by one minute’s development, we can expose
the next test-strip accordingly.

In determining the correct exposure, the method
already set forth for contact exposures is a reasonably
good one. If the paper with a given exposure takes
half the proper time to develop, halve the next exposure;
if double the time, or more, double it. More could
be said on the subject of exposure, and possibly to
advantage; for instance, there are tables showing the
exact relation of exposure to the number of times of
enlargement, but complicated calculations in the
dark-room are troublesome and a test-strip is simpler.
After a while one gets the ability to determine the
approximate exposure required by looking at the
enlarged image on the screen, correcting slight errors
by length of development, and greater ones by modifying
the developer by diluting or strengthening.

It should be remembered, however, that in judging
exposure by reference to the screen, we must consider
the high lights, as well as the shadows. It is in the
high lights that we need the detail if we are to have
soft pictures. If this detail in the high lights is plentiful
and clear we may know that our light is strong
enough for a very short exposure. If it is very faint,
we will have to give a long exposure and use diluted
developer to save the over-exposed shadows. On the
other hand, if the image on the screen is a flat one, we
may know that our light is too strong for the negative,
and it must be modified by removing the reflector or
by interposing ground or yellow glass; and if neither
of these suffice, we can simply lay the negative aside for
a dark day when the light will be very much weaker.
Frequently all necessary contrasts can be obtained by
the use of the hard paper before referred to. As under-exposure
tends to increase contrasts, we should also
give the minimum exposure in the case of flat negatives,
abandoning for a time our standard one-minute
development. As will be seen by this time, there
are many wrinkles about using bromide paper, and it
will be found that new ones appear at every seance in
the enlarging room.

But why is it that so many of our enlargements are
black in the shadows and chalky in the high lights?
Why, simply because our light is too weak for our
negative. We forget that if we cannot modify our
negative we must modify our light. It is this characteristic
of the bromide enlargement which has prevented
the process from enjoying the popularity it deserves.
And I sometimes wonder whether this chalkiness is
due to the use of the north light!

Chapter VI
DODGING, VIGNETTING, COMPOSITE
PRINTING AND THE USE OF
BOLTING SILK

Contents

Of all printing processes, bromide enlarging
offers the best opportunities for successful
dodging and modification. We can cut our
light down and take all the time we want, or we can
take as little time as we want. A hand, a finger,
a slip of paper, or anything within reach, will suffice
to shade the light just as we want it. In this connection
it is well to always hold the shade nearer the lens
than the easel, as greater diffusion results and there is
less danger of sharp lines. In shading a foreground
to bring up a dense sky, first make a test-strip or two,
noting how long the shading is carried on and how long
the light is allowed to act on the whole. If the sky
is then over- or under-printed we can modify it in the
enlargement proper.

The best arrangement for vignetting in enlarging
is a piece of cardboard the size of the negative, with
an opening cut out at the proper place and about the
size of the portion of the negative to be vignetted.
This is held near the lens and moved backward and
forward between the latter and the screen, the opening
showing larger as we near the lens and smaller as we
recede from it. Very tasteful vignettes can be made
in this way. A favorite method of the writer’s is to
use a sheet of bromide paper, preferably that with
rough surface, and print on it a small vignette of a
portion of a negative. These sheets being of a uniform
size are then bound in book form, and make very
attractive souvenirs. Variety can be added to the
collection by printing some of the pictures through a
mat fastened on the screen over the paper, when, of
course, they are bounded by straight, sharp lines.

Double printing in enlarging is not at all difficult.
Assuming that test-strips have been made determining
the proper exposure for each negative, I will briefly
outline the process. Taking a landscape negative
with clear sky in which we wish to print clouds, we
first tack on the screen a sheet of paper the size of
our bromide, and after properly adjusting and focusing
it, trace with a pencil the outline of the skyline. We
then remove the foreground negative and, after tracing,
cut out a mask conforming to the size and shape of the
foreground, cutting away the sky. We now put in the
box the sky negative, and readjust our sheet of paper
until after proper focusing the desired portion of the
sky occupies the portion reserved for it, leaving the
thumb-tacks as a guide when we put our bromide on
the screen. Now using the sheet of paper as a guide,
place on the edges of the bromide paper two little
pencil marks to show how far we shall shade the lower
portion of the paper. Our mask being the size of the
foreground negative, it is now only necessary to hold
it at the proper distance from the lens to have its
edge conform to the sky-line when enlarged. But
this would leave a sharp line if held exactly at that
point, so using the pencil marks on the margin as a
guide, we slowly raise and lower the mask very slightly
and just sufficient to cause an agreeable blending of
the sky into nothing. The proper exposure given, we
cap the lens, remove the paper and insert the foreground
negative. Now we must again adjust our
sheet of plain paper until the sky line marked on it
coincides with the sky-line on the screen, leaving
thumb-tacks as usual. Registry being thus secured,
we simply expose the foreground and develop the
composite print.

Needless to say, our clouds must be lighted from the
same general direction as the landscape. But if in the
negative they are not so lighted it can be reversed
in the holder and will then print properly. In almost
all cloud printing the tendency is to give undue prominence
to the clouds by printing the sky to too deep a
tone. This, besides making the blending very noticeable
at the horizon, results in unnatural effects and
should be avoided.

If the sky portion of the landscape negative is thin,
it might print slightly and spoil the effect of the clouds.
This can be overcome by using a weaker light in enlarging.
Where this is not desirable, a mask can be
cut for the sky portion and used slightly while the
foreground is being printed. By using it a very little
during the first part of the exposure the tint will be
overcome, while objects projecting above the horizon
will be sufficiently printed. It will be found easier,
no doubt, to print the landscape first and sky afterwards.
But this does not result in good work. The
landscape should invariably be printed after the sky
portion.

Bolting silk enlargements were for a time very
popular. Sometimes they were artistic. Then every-one
began making them, too often from unsuitable
negatives, and they fell into disrepute. This method
of enlarging is, in fact, suitable for very few negatives
and only where broad effects of light and shade are
desired. To cut up a spotty negative with a succession
of lines does not necessarily give a broad effect in the
picture. But for softening down heavy masses of
shadows, and blending them harmoniously with masses
of light or half light, the process is without an equal.
The bolting silk can be bought by the square yard of
dealers in photographic supplies, and should be stretched
evenly over a frame made of quarter- and half-inch
wood, being tacked between the two strips. This
frame can be easily adjusted to fit over the paper on
the screen. By using the side, bringing the cloth
within a quarter of an inch of the paper, the lines are
more evident, which is not so objectionable for very
large work. But for the softest effects, reverse the
frame and use it at half an inch from the paper. In
this way we get a soft diffusion of the lines and much
greater general softness. It should never be used nearer
than a quarter of an inch, as the lines then become
too evident, and hence fail in the effect desired. The
bolting silk comes in three grades, fine, medium and
coarse. The medium is the best for general work.
It should not, however, be used for sizes under 8 × 10.
The interposition of the cloth requires about one-half
additional exposure. Focusing, of course, must be
done without the frame in place. The bolting silk
should only be used with paper which is to be toned to
some color other than black, as there is something
incongruous in its use with black tones.

Few branches of photographic work, outside of
negative-making, are as fascinatingly interesting as
the making of enlarged prints on bromide paper from
small negatives. Every amateur has negatives worthy
of enlargement in his collection, and the process is so
simple as to be within the capacity of the amateur
who is still in his first year in photography. Its practice
will stimulate his interest and help him in all his
other photographic work. Especially will it help him
in picture-making, the merits and defects of composition
being a hundred fold more plainly evident in an
enlargement than in the small print from the hand-camera
negative. Moreover, in its essentials, bromide
enlarging calls for no special equipment other than
the ordinary hand- or view-camera, and a dark-room
or other convenient work-room from which all “white
light” can be excluded on occasion.

Chapter VII
THE REDUCTION AND TONING OF
BROMIDE PRINTS

Contents

The subsequent manipulations with bromide
paper do not differ materially from those with
negatives. The support being paper of course
makes some difference and the fact that while in the
negative we aim to get printing density and printing
color only, in the positive we aim to please the eye,
makes another. But generally speaking, it may be
said that whatever we can do with the negative we
can do with bromide paper, that is, in so far as the
emulsion itself is concerned.

The first operation to be taken up is the reduction
of prints which are too dark. This can best be effected
just after the prints come from the hypo. A few
grains of red prussiate of potash are dissolved in a suitable
quantity of water, the latter being barely tinged,
not of a strong yellow color. If the print is too dense
throughout, it can be immersed without previous
washing in this solution. Reduction should take place
gradually, and this is best accomplished with a weak
reducer. If the tray be rocked gently the reduction
will be quite uniform. If, however, only a portion
of the print needs reduction, this can be effected by
applying the ferricyanide solution locally with a brush
or bit of absorbent cotton. Extreme care is needed
in this operation. In this way unduly deep shadows
can be softened, veiled high lights brightened, or almost
any modification obtained which may be deemed
desirable. When reduction is almost completed quickly
rinse the print in running water and then wash thoroughly.
If the print has been dried, it is only necessary
to soak it for a few moments in a fresh fixing bath,
when the ferricyanide can be applied as before.

Latterly the toning of bromide prints has become
popular. There are many methods and innumerable
formulae. Here we shall concern ourselves with the
sulphide method which best fulfills the three chief
requirements, namely: (1) Certainty of results; (2)
the use of few baths; (3) the production of permanent
prints. Processes which, as regards color, vigor, etc.,
are beyond the control of the worker, are of very little
practical use. Equally so, if the toning involves a
whole string of operations, the final outcome of which
is usually—a spoilt print. And, lastly, a process which—however
satisfactory it may be in other respects—impairs
the undoubted permanency of a black-developed
print is not one worthy of adoption. In one or two
other respects, processes vary chiefly as regards the
depth or intensity which the print must have in order
to produce the most satisfactory result when toned.
Thus, prints to be toned with uranium require to be
distinctly on the pale side, whilst those for sulphide
toning are best a little vigorous. One or two other
methods, on the other hand, require the use of the
costly gold or platinum salts. The latter, except
under exceptional circumstances, are far better employed
in the legitimate form of platinotype or other
platinum paper; bromide prints toned with platinum
will probably cost more, and will never have the absolute
permanence peculiar to the platinum print.

Placed in rough order of merit, the processes available
are: Sulphide toning (hypo-alum toning is a
cheaper, slower, and not quite so effective form of
this method, whilst the thio processes represent sulphide
toning at its best); copper toning; toning by
re-development. These methods differ, not only in
the results which they give, but also as regards the
perfection with which each attains its particular
effect; on the principle of the lady in the play who
spoke the “absolute truth under the circumstances,”
each may claim to be included among the really
serviceable processes.

In the sulphide process, the image which, in a black-developed
print, consists of metallic silver in fine division,
is converted into silver sulphide, a substance
which in the ordinary way is also black, but when
produced in a fine condition on a photographic print
is brown to sepia color. Silver sulphide is a most
permanent substance. Therefore a sulphide-toned
print should be permanent, too, a conclusion which
is fully borne out in practice. A sulphide-toned print
is at least as permanent as the bromide from which
it is made. The image of the latter is susceptible to
practically only one agent likely to come in contact
with it, namely, sulphur fumes from burning gas, which
partially sulphurize it and give rise to iridescent markings
resembling those due to stale paper. Now, as the
sulphide-toned print is the result of this sulphurizing
process carried out with intention to a state of completeness,
the result should be—and proves to be in
practice—immune to this one cause of defacement.

In converting the silver image into one of silver
sulphide, the method is to first act on (bleach) the
silver image with some reagent which will change it
into a compound of silver susceptible to the action of
sulphide. Iodine has been used for this, giving an
image of silver iodide. Bromine gives one of silver
bromide. A mixture of potass bichromate and hydrochloric
acid gives silver chloride, as does also a solution
of chlorine, though in the former case the presence
of the chromium compounds affects the color
obtained. But the best of the lot is a solution of the
two substances potassium ferricyanide and potassium
bromide, which forms an image of silver ferrocyanide
and silver bromide. Both of these are converted into
silver sulphide when treated with a solution of sodium
sulphide. In the case of the hypo-alum process, in
which the prints are toned direct (without bleaching)
in a mixture of hypo and alum, the image is also
changed into silver sulphide, but only to a partial
extent. Theoretically, the method is not so good as
sulphide proper; it is much more inconvenient in
practice except on a commercial scale, while the results
cannot be said to quite equal those by the sulphide
process as regards permanency.

So much by way of theory. We will now give the
formulae for the two solutions required in the sulphide
process. The first of these is the “bleach,” or oxidizing
mixture of bromide and ferricyanide. Within
reasonable limits, the proportions of these salts and the
quantity of each in the solution does not matter very
much. Each chemical can, if desired, be kept in a
separate solution if care be taken to keep the mixture
in the dark,—that is, in a cupboard where it will not
be exposed constantly to daylight. The ferricyanide
suffers in time by exposure to daylight; but, as both
it and the bromide are comparatively cheap and serve
for a large number of prints, there is no need to take excessive
care. The ferricyanide-bromide mixture, however,
keeps very much better than a plain solution of
ferricyanide alone. Formulae which place the salts
in separate solutions are a mistake.

As good a formula as any is: Potass ferricyanide,
300 grains; potass bromide, 100 grains, water 20 ounces;
Ammonium bromide may be used in place of the
potassium salt in the above formula; the difference
is not marked, but the ammonium compound tends
to give a somewhat warmer brown or sepia. In the case
of many formulae, it will be noticed that equal quantities
of bromide and ferricyanide are recommended.
Although, as just stated, variations in the formula are
not at all marked in their effects, a proportion of bromide
over one-quarter of the ferricyanide does tend
towards the yellowish color of which complaints are
now and again heard. I want to make it clear that the
opportunities for going wrong with the bleacher are
very small indeed. Without encouraging the reader
to be careless let it be said that “any old formula”
(of ferricyanide and bromide) for the bleacher will
prove successful. Not so, however, in the case of the
sulphide solution, which requires to be very carefully
made up and used.

Sulphide, not sulphite. The material for the toning
or darkening of the bleached print is the chemical
substance, sodium sulphide, of the formula Na₂S·9H₂O.
This is purchased as small crystals which greedily absorb
water and rapidly become almost liquid if not
properly corked. Not that this totally unfits the
sulphide for use. Sulphide which has gone liquid will
at all times be found to work perfectly, but it is of
course open to suspicion, and, in any case, it is not
possible to know what is the strength of a solution made
up with such a supply. For this reason, it is best to
make up the sulphide into solution of 20 per cent
strength, and add this to water to make the toning
bath. And it is here that a caution must be noted.
The weak working solution, which is only about 1 to 2
per cent strength, keeps very badly indeed, and should
be made up fresh from the stock solution at the time of
toning each batch of prints. This is one of the most
necessary items to bear in mind in using the sulphide
process.

Sodium sulphide is sold in various degrees of purity,
and the label on the bottle is not always in exact correspondence
with the condition of the substance inside,
but the two forms which must be adhered to for
sulphide toning are the ordinary “pure” and the “pure
for analysis.” The former can be obtained from any
reliable drug store or photographic dealer. It comes in
small lumps, yellowish to greenish in color; when dissolved
in water the solution will be yellow, and will
usually show a deposit which must be filtered off.
This sulphide will give tones which are sepia brown
with most papers. In the case of the “pure-for-analysis”
sulphide, which is the recrystallized variety,
the salt will be pure white and will form a quite colorless
and clear solution in water. The tone given by this
kind of sulphide is usually of a more purplish color.
The distinct difference between the two commercial
varieties of sulphide should not be overlooked, as it
allows the worker to modify the process usefully when
dealing with papers differing (as all papers do) to a
slight extent in their adaptability to sulphide toning.
The purer form has certainly much better keeping
properties than the other, but either, if made up in 20
per cent solution, keeps for a month or two at least—which
is enough for all purposes. The chief difference
between the two is noticed in the diluted or working
solutions. That of the purest sulphide may be kept
and used again, though it is not really good policy to
do so.

The supply of sulphide should therefore be dissolved
as soon as purchased, as follows: Stock sulphide
solution—20 per cent; sodium sulphite 4 ounces; water
to make 20 ounces. The actual toning solution is
made up at the time of treating the prints by mixing
the above stock with water, as follows: Sulphide
toning bath.—Stock 20 per cent solution 3 ounces;
water to make 20 ounces.

This makes a bath which contains about one per
cent real sulphide, corresponding with about a 3 per
cent solution of the sulphide as purchased. If the bath
is much weaker, the tone obtained is usually not quite
so good; while, if it is stronger, there is danger of the
print’s blistering while toning, or afterward in the
washing water. Indeed, some papers need to be toned
in a weaker bath, and require also to be fixed in an
alum-hypo fixing bath (see later), so that the strength
of the toning bath given above may be taken as the
maximum, and used at half or one-third strength, as
circumstances show to be necessary. And, to repeat
the caution once more, the toning bath is to be thrown
away as soon as the prints have been passed through
it. With these points in our mind as to the making up
of the solution, we can come to the process proper.

The prints require to be well washed and free from
hypo before being placed in the bromide-ferricyanide
bleacher, because any hypo in conjunction with the
ferricyanide will form the well-known Farmer’s reducer,
and cause patchiness of the prints. It is immaterial
whether the prints are taken direct through
the toning process or dried in the meantime. Some
workers contend that the toning process is more regular
if the prints are dried before bleaching. In either case,
immersion in the bleacher will cause the fully developed
bromide to disappear, leaving only a faint brown
image behind. In some cases the image is fainter
than in others, the difference appearing to depend
chiefly on the developer employed. Developers with
a liability to stain will give prints which do not bleach
out so completely as those made with cleaner working
developers. But, in all cases, two to three minutes’
action of the bleaching solution will be ample; if all
pure black is not gone in this time, it is a sign that the
bleach is becoming exhausted. The prints should be
kept constantly on the move whilst in the solution,
and turned over and over to ensure equal action. They
are then given quite a brief rinse in running water—half
a minute to a minute—and then transferred to
the sulphide solution, where they should darken to
the full brown or sepia tone in a few seconds. It is
well always to leave them here for twice to three times
the period required to give the full tone. A wash of
half an hour will remove the salts left in the film.

Granted that bleacher and sulphide are in proper
working order, there is one further factor in the
making of sepia prints which is of vital importance,
and that is the proper preparation of the print itself.
A good sulphide tone presupposes a good black and
white bromide. Not only that, defects in the bromide
which may lie latent while the print is untoned come to
light in the sulphide bath. This applies to uneven
fixation (due to omission to keep prints moving in the
hypo bath) and fingering of the surface; while, as regards
the original development of the print, making
the best of a wrong exposure will not do when sulphide
toning is in view. A print that is forced by long development
will suffer in tone, the result being colder
and less satisfactory as regards vigor. Full exposure,
and development which is complete in the normal time
for a perfect black print, are the conditions for a good
sepia tone, and, when a batch of prints is being put
through, it is well to take steps to preserve a uniform
time of development in order to secure an identical
tone throughout.

There are many different formulas for the uranium
toning of bromide prints, and I suppose that most of
them have given good results with the workers who
published their methods. Of those which I have tried,
however, none has yielded the results which I have
been enabled to obtain from my own formula—my
own in that I arrived at it by patient experimenting.
It may be that this formula is not wholly original with
myself. At any rate, I do not claim anything for it
except that it works, with me, better than others I
have tried.

The requirements for toning bromide prints with
uranium are: 1 ounce of uranium nitrate; 1 ounce of
potassium ferricyanide (the red crystals); ½ pound
bottle of acetic acid—c. p. glacial preferred; water;
a supply of blotting paper, to be kept exclusively for
this purpose, and a few absolutely and chemically
clean trays.

The expense attached to these toning processes is
slight. Uranium nitrate costs from forty to sixty cents
per ounce, and an ounce will last a long time. Potassium
ferricyanide costs about twenty cents per pound,
and a pound is ample for a lifetime. Glacial acetic
acid is a little more costly, but a half-pound bottle
will prove a good investment. It is used also, as the
reader will recall, in making acid hypo for acid
fixing.

To prepare the toning baths, dissolve the ounce of
uranium nitrate in 10 ounces of water. The water
should be distilled if this is easily obtainable, and the
solution should be kept in an orange-glass bottle or an
ordinary bottle protected from light by a non-actinic
paper wrapping. Dissolve the ounce of potassium
ferricyanide in 10 ounces of water. Keep this also in
an orange-glass bottle, well corked. There are many
cautions about this particular salt, and it has been
said that it will not keep in solution. In my practice
I find no difficulty whatever in the use of a solution
six months old, despite the difficulties mentioned in
the text-books.

To tone the bromide prints, first note that the prints
should have been developed and fixed and washed just
as usual. It is necessary that prints to be toned shall
contain no trace of hypo. To secure this, the prints
should be specially prepared for toning by being
again thoroughly washed, as any hypo remaining in
the print will cause spots and streakiness. With care
at this stage the toning will give clean and bright
prints, which should be as permanent as the original
bromide print.

I cannot give the reason why, but, as a general rule,
bromide prints tone better if the print has been dried
after washing and rewet just before toning. There
may be a chemical reason for this, but I am inclined
to think that it is a physical one, viz., that the emulsion
is softer after its first washing than after having
been dried and wet, so that it allows toning solution
to get into the film more quickly. This naturally
results in more rapid toning, and quick toning does
not yield as good prints as a slower and more gradual
building up of the color image.

Having the print ready for toning as here outlined,
take 1 dram of the uranium solution, add ½ dram of
acetic acid and then 5 ounces of water. In a separate
graduate put 1 dram of ferricyanide solution and 5
ounces of water. Just before toning, pour these two
solutions together into the third graduate and use
immediately. To proceed, lay the rewetted print
face up in a clean tray and flow the freshly made toning
bath (the two solutions combined) over the print.
The print and tray must be kept in motion by gentle
rocking during the toning operation. The toning
solution tends to throw a red precipitate as it works.
This precipitate should not be permitted to settle on
the face of the print. Some workers tone their prints
face down, but I do not advocate this, as it is important
to take the print from the toning bath at just the right
moment, and, as the toning process is short (six or
seven minutes is usually sufficient even for the deepest
red) you need to watch the print all the time. In the
toning operation note that a constant quiet motion
of the tray, to keep the solution moving over the
print, is essential to success.

I have already given, in an earlier paragraph, the
order in which the colors come. But that order was
for a normal print. Some prints behave differently,
and it is in the control of these unavoidable variations
with different prints that skill and success come.
A print of a half-tone subject against a jet-black
background, a portrait, for instance, will hardly follow
the normal order in the appearance of colors. This
because the half-tones will be brown and even red-brown
before the toning solution has changed the dense
black deposit of the background at all. If the toning
was stopped at this stage, some very pretty effects in
double toning might result.

From this explanation of the toning process, the
discerning reader will perceive the need for caution
in selecting the best kind of a print for uranium toning.
Thus a print which has a bald-headed sky will tone
only in the body of the print, but if there is any tint
at all to the sky, it also will tone, giving an effect not
much to be desired except for sunset or sunrise pictures.
If white high-lights are desired in the toned
print, they must be white originally and not the least
bit fogged. As double-toned effects in a print are not
usually desirable, those prints having deep black shadows
or dark masses will be avoided. The best kind
of print for this method of toning is one fully exposed
and slightly under-developed, since, when the uranium
does take hold of the shadows, it makes for an increase
of contrast.

Experience is the best teacher, and I could not
begin to describe in detail what the reader can himself
ascertain from a few experiments. Some prints needing
contrast should be carried far in the toning solution;
others, not needing contrast, will give better results
if they are toned only through the browns, and so on.
The reader who can spend a Saturday afternoon with
a few bromide prints, varying in character, will learn
more from his experimenting than I could tell him
in many pages. For these experiments waste or
imperfect black prints can be used with practical
economy, the chief object being to watch the progress
of toning and chemical changes.

When the desired tone is reached, remove the
print from the toning solution and wash quickly and
well in running water for fifteen minutes. If washed
too long, the color of the print will fade and a dead
and lifeless print will result. If not washed long
enough, the yellow of the ferricyanide will remain in
the print, robbing its gradations of brightness and
purity of color and impairing the permanency of the
print.

A big advantage in this method of toning is its
wonderful adaptability. There is no hard and fast
rule as to the proportion of the chemicals to the bulk
of water used. Try two drams of each of the two
solutions; then three drams of each, but watch that
the print does not get beyond you in toning. The only
practical difference in my formula and others that
I have seen is that I make my stock solution weaker
than that ordinarily advised and use less of it to a
certain amount of water, because I prefer slow toning
and the accompanying ease of control which the flash-in-the-pan
formula does not admit. Quick toning,
like quick development, tends to block the shadows
in the print, and if you once get bronzed shadows the
print is practically hopeless. Not quite ruined, however,
as a bath in a 5 per cent solution of sodium
carbonate will discharge the color and then, if the
print is faded, it may be redeveloped in an alkaline
developer such as metol-hydro. But before it is retoned
the print must be thoroughly washed, as the
presence of sodium carbonate does not permit the
toning solution to do its work.

Finally, I may say that, while a bath of acetic acid
and water is often advised to stop the toning action
in this method, I have never found it necessary.

All the thin varieties of bromide paper curl badly
in drying. If they are to be kept unmounted it is
well to immerse them in water to which has been
added a few drops of glycerine. This will ensure their
lying flat after drying. A solution of 2 ounces of
glycerine in 25 ounces of water is advised when it is
desired to make bromides on heavy rough paper remain
flat, after drying, for book illustration and similar
purposes.

If one is trying to rush through a bromide print, it
can be trimmed while wet by placing it on a sheet of
stiff paper and cutting through both.

The paper will be found to cockle the mounts badly
in drying. Aside from the glue mountant, formula
for which accompanies the paper, I know no preventive
except to mount the prints while dry with the dry
mounting tissue. As the paper when wet stretches
one way considerably, as much as a third of an inch on
a ten- or twelve-inch length, provision must be made in
trimming, especially if mounts with centers of a given
size are used.

The paper being covered with an emulsion which in
warm weather is very soft while wet, mounting is somewhat
more difficult than with some of the other papers.
My method is to mount not more than half a dozen at
once, placing them face down, one on top of the other,
on a glass or ferrotype plate, blotting off the surface
water and spreading the paste over the top one in the
usual way. I place this on the mount and then stretch
over it smoothly a damp handkerchief or piece of very
thin rubber cloth, rubbing the print down with my
hands, seldom using the squeegee and then very lightly.
By this method abrasion of the surface seldom results
and air-bells are unknown. Owing to the strong
contracting power of the paper in drying, the mounting
paste must be used freely, especially at the edges
of the print.

Apart from the methods of procedure here given,
there are innumerable modifications covering every
detail of contact printing and enlarging on bromide
paper. Most of these have been given careful trial
as published, but few have quite fulfilled the expectations
they created.