Asphaltum , any magic or possible to hack its qualities

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Hello ,

I found stone printers were using asphaltum as a photosensitive material in continious tone reproduction. And I read and heard couple of times , stone lithography have high qualities. I thought , if that material is cheap , it would be possible to use at a camera. I have a recipe from 1910 to increase its sensivity. Is it possible to hack its use for today ? What were the magic qualities ?

Umut

 

[gzinsel]

Ya , lithography used the better system on stone- that would be Collotype. You can prepare a stone for Collotype, however most people today use a regular float glass. and then print on a hand proofer, instead of a transfer press. The asphaltum you speak of, was experimented with back in the late 19th century and through the 20 th century, but to no avail. You can read about that in "the keepers of Light" book.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Thank you. If someone shed some light on how asphaltum keep the tonal continious tone , I would be happy. I read at some website , it cant be painted or inked and it does repel the ink. Is it true ?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I used to do a lot of lithography years ago. Yes, it can be used as paint and does not repel ink.