Addition to "History of Kodak color Papers"

[Michael Talbert]

This is an addition to the thread "History of Kodak Color Papers" , by P.E. on 3-14-07.
P.E. Thank you for the information on Kodak Color papers. I can add some additions to your list:
Kodacolor Paper Type II was identical to Type I but had an ultra-violet absorbing layer.
Kodacolor paper Type III was used for enlargements and prints from internegatives (Internegatives made on Kodacolor Film)
Kodacolor paper Type 1348 was the first paper to have the yellow layer next to the base (cyan on top)
1955 Kodak Color Print Material Type C
1959 Ektacolor Paper Type 1384 : First color paper to be processed at 85F in 7 bath P-122 chemicals (around) 28 minutes wet time.
1962 Ektacolor paper Type 1583 processed in 6 bath P-122 chemicals with new alkaline formalin fix, replacing 2nd harden fix and hardener. Again 85F 24 minutes wet time.
1963 CP5 process 100F 7 minutes for Drum process with Ektacolor Professional Paper.

In U.K.
1956 Kodak Colour Print Paper Type C (presumably imported from U.S.A.
1959 Ektacolor Paper (imported)


1964 Ektacolor Commercial Paper (made in U.K.)
1965 Ektacolor 20 Paper (not R.C.) made in U.K.

P.E. Iv'e got Ektacolor 20 paper down as 1965, Ektacolor 20 Type 1870 as 1967, and Ektacolor 20 RC Type 1822 as 1968, but have no other information to verify these dates. Your dates probably correct?
I hope you find this interesting. Some of it maybe inaccurate but I have very little other information on Kodak papers of this age to cross-check!

P.E. What was Type III Ektacolor paper in 1946? This sounds interesting! I have never heard the name Ektacolor used as early as 1946. It's not mentioned in "Kodak Color Films" booklet of 1950.Any more information on Ektacolor Type III gratefully received. Thanks again for the info. M.T.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Thanks for catching a goof. The Type III in my post should read Type II in 1946 and all professional papers on my history were labeled Ektacolor Professional. Since it was not sold outside the company at that time, perhaps the name is moot.

This particular paper was very similar in some ways to the Type III photofinisher paper introduced about 2 years later, except for some emulsion and coupler differences. It contained a UV absorber as well. I guess it qualifies as the first professional paper with yellow on the bottom.

My data shows Ektacolor 20 T-1852 in 1963 and 1870 in late 1964 or early 1965. These may be the dates of announcement.

The other early yellow on the bottom paper that I have is Type III photofinisher paper, used internally only. It used CD-2 as developer and had no other Type #. It was first used in about 1951. It featured a UV abosrber for the first time.

They Type 1348 you refer to was the second photofinisher paper with the yellow on the bottom and Type "C" sold at about the same year was also the second professional paper with this design feature.

The feature of having the yellow on the bottom is necessitated by 3 things. Namely: 1. the masking of the new color negative films, 2. yellow layer dye stability and use of UV absorbers, and 3. the desire to use red filtration to avoid cyan filtration.

One paper I have no data on is the "Worlds Fair" paper in the 60s, produced specifically for long term high illumination conditions for the US Worlds Fair. It ceased production immediately afterwards and was only produced and used for that single event. It had a pre-release version of special couplers not used later, but was a test run of the high stability dye chemistry of Ekctacolor 30 paper.

From Ektacolor 30 onwards, Kodak color papers all featured added stabilzers in two forms. These are free radical chain stoppers to prevent oxidation. In addition, they contained the first couplers with high glass transition temperatures to prevent oxidation and hydrolysis of the dyes. The couplers used were all specially designed for using the Ferric EDTA blix rather than a ferricyanide bleach then fix process.

Your process information is accurate. I didn't include that, nor did I include details on couplers and the other changes, just generic data. I have no information on UK papers although I did discuss it with people from Harrow.

Just as a benchmark, comparing Ektacolor 30 paper with the very first Type-I paper, the overall dye stability had improved by a factor of about 100X from 1941 to 1970 and has been climbing ever since in a very steep curve.

Dye stability, contrary to what Henry Wilhelm says, was one of the major driving forces in all R&D. The second was lower pollution and the third was simpler, faster processes as your data and mine show. Along with these went better keeping and easier manufacturing.

PE

 

[Michael Talbert]

History of Kodak Color Papers

P.E. Many thanks for more info. I made a mistake on the intro date of Ektacolor 20 paper in the UK, should be 1966 not 1965. I have the original instruction sheet which was included in each pack.
Ordinary Ektacolor paper was still on sale in the UK as late as 1966. My Kodak Dealer catalog for April 1966 lists the paper in three sizes. This is possibly Ektacolor Paper 1583.

By 1971 Ektacolor 20 paper was listed in the Kodak Professional catalog as having an RC base, high gloss surface, and acailable in roll form only. Also on the market in the UK at that time was Ektacolor 47RC paper, with N and Y surfaces for photofinishing, roll form only. These papers were for Ektaprint C and not produced in sheets. They were not on the market for long, and would be replaced by Ektacolor 30RC .

I take it you mean "Kodacolor Type II " paper introduced in 1946?

Because of the introduction of the orange mask in Kodacolor film E.K. must have increased the sensitivity of the Blue layer and Green layer of the Kodacolor paper that they were using at the time (1949, certainly by 1950).Maybe they changed the sensitivity in this way of Kodacolor II paper.

I can't imagine there were any "professional" type papers before 1954 as E.K. only marketed Kodacolor film on an amateur basis. The Professional photographer had the Kodak Dye Transfer process, which he could also, if he wanted to , work himself. As far as I can find out, Kodacolor prints were being made up to 11x14 ins. in 1950. I can't find any data on larger sizes being made from Kodacolor negatives at that time.

I don't have any data on the "Worlds Fair" paper either, other than "special Ektacolor Paper". But what is interesting is that the prints were 36ft. x30ft. made up of 3 12ft.x 30ft, sections. I wonder if E.K. made the paper rolls 12ft. wide and then printed the negatives onto one 12ft. x 30ft, section at a time. I should think it could have been possible. Quite an acheivement if they did! M.T.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Michael;

At that time, Kodak's coating plant in B-57 at Kodak Park could only coat 42" wide paper, no wider. AFAIK, they could not coat 12 ft wide. The development of that paper was being done when I joined Kodak.

The blue speed of papers intended for printing from masked color negatives must be about 1.0 Log E faster than the red layer, or more simply expressed the blue density of the negative + the yellow filter in the filter pack. The green speed must be faster than the red speed by the green density of the negative + the magenta filter in the filter pack.

To achieve this, the yellow layer is a near camera speed emulsion with a grain size of about 1.2 microns and the cyan layer is a paper type emulsion with a grain size of about 0.2 microns. When filtered back by the negative and filter pack, the speed is a paper speed, but the unfiltered paper speed has a blue speed of about ISO 100 or higher.

This speed differential allowed inversion of the layer order, and allowed a big improvement in dye stability as the yellow dye is more sensitive to oxygen and UV, both of which are reduced by having the yellow layer on the bottom.

PE