Alternative print mediums-HELP

jfg-pbs

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I'm interested in printing on materials other than photo paper. I have ideas for printing on newspaper, canvas, metal and the like. Can anyone give a heads up on where I can find a description of the processes and chemicals involved; or any links to other threads on APUG or other external websites? Is there any photography books that I can look for?

Any direction would be really appreciated!!
 

TheFlyingCamera

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What kind of printing media do you want to use? Do you want to make your images in silver-gelatin (aka Liquid Light), or in some other alternative process, like cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, or platinum? Liquid Light goes on to all kinds of surfaces, even non-porous ones. Cyanotype, VDB and platinum need a more receptive surface to work well - I know many folks have done cyanotypes and VDBs on fabric as well as various art papers. Platinum might well work on fabrics too, but I am unfamiliar with anyone attempting it.
 

Vaughn

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For newspaper you may need to tape it to a substrate that will keep the newsprint in one piece when you get it wet.

Christopher James' new edition of The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes is great -- on both the history and how-to of all the processes. Do an advance search here on "books" under the sub-forum of Alternative processes and you'll come up with an extensive list.

Vaughn
 

Gary Holliday

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Do a search for liquid emulsions on this site and altavista.

Silverprint sell the SE1 liquid emulsion (Kentmere) and they also sell Maco Black magic emulsion.

http://www.silverprint.co.uk/PDF/Emulsion.pdf

http://www.mahn.net/TaBM.htm

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Oh and welcome to the forum!
 
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jfg-pbs

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Thanks for the welcome Gary!

Wood is cool idea with the right composition. I have a rough idea of how to print on canvas but the specific idea i want to work on involves printing onto a sheet of metal. Will it work generally the same(using liquid light)?? Are there some metals that work better than others? Do i need to worry about corrosion or discoloring in the plate or the exposure? I guess that would be a bit more specific...

And thanks to those who have already replied. I'm checking into the links and looking for other interesting ways to print photographs.
 

Dana Sullivan

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The carbon process can also be printed on metal. It's a transfer process, so as long as you can prep the final receiving media properly, you could do carbon prints on just about anything.

Carbon is also an extremely durable and archival process, so if you coated it with a clear lacquer or something similar, it would be suitable for long term outdoor display as well.
 

Aurum

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The alternative photography website is well worth a look.

One heads up though, is that a lot of the alt-processes, when you step away from brushable emulsions like Liquid light , and most things silver based, tend to be contact processes. In other words if you want a big picture, you'll need a big negative.
A big internegative can be done easily enough in the darkroom, or (Horror of Horrors) even printed out onto acetate with a laser printer if you want, but it does restrict you to printing on surfaces you can stick a big sheet of plastic onto.
i.e reasonably flat (ish)
 

Aurum

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Oh and my alt-process of choice at present is gum Bichromate, or PVA and bichromate.
Advantages: Cheap, and easy to play with, and the sensitiser (Ammonium or Potassium Dichromate) isn't in the same realms of toxicity as some of the other methods. IMHO no more hazardous than standard developer/fixer etc.
Disadvantages: Prints need a lot of soaking to get the results, so the media you print onto needs to withstand this. I would be reluctant to try this method on newsprint
 
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