Colour Alternative Printing Processes

Are their any colour alternative printing processes? There seems to be a lot of B&W ones.

Thanks, Art. (Polaroid doesn't count)

Art- there's carbro. You shoot three color separation b/w negs, and then print them on sheets of carbon tissue, and then overlay them in precise registration. Wickedly difficult, and wickedly expensive. It takes something like three or four days for an experienced carbro printer to make one finished print. The upside- truly archival color prints. The final image is nothing but carbon pigment in gelatin, on acid-free paper. And unless exposed to heavy direct sunlight, they won't fade or discolor either.

"B&W" is certainly not what alternative processes are about. cyanotypes are blue when not toned, and even the simple pt/pd print offers a range of shades. Chrysotypes offer a much wider range, and any dichromate process, like gum, oil, carbon, is suitable to print with nearly any pigment, and multiple layers, which means you are free to print any negative in the colours you desire, including, if you have colour separation negs, in full linear colours.

gr82bart said:

Are their any colour alternative printing processes? There seems to be a lot of B&W ones.

Thanks, Art. (Polaroid doesn't count)

Click to expand...

In fact almost all of the alternative processes are characterized by some color other than B&W. That would include gum bichromate, cyanotype, silver processes such as albumen, salted paper, and many forms of Pt./Pd. printing methods.

If the issue is true color, the practical choices are usually three-color gum or gum over cyanotype. You need color separations for these true color processes, but that is easy enough to do, either in-camera or with the computer. Three-color gum is capable of realistic color, though most of the work I have seen of this kind is more painterly in nature.

Colro carbn and carbro are capable of highly realistic color, but these processes are rarely used today.

Sandy King

Next time you're in town, stop by the John Stevenson gallery and ask to see some color alternative work. He usually has Fresson prints, and there are a few people who show there who do multi-layer gum prints. Cy Decosse's 3-color gums are very vivid.

Bromoil also comes to mind. Either single color or full color prints have been made this way.

There are a number of them in older books on color photography.

PE