Cyanotype - Can the three primary colors be obtained in one photo?

[mohmad khatab]

I am new to this photographic branch - so - I would have liked to inquire about the possibility of obtaining the three primary colors in one image?
What chemicals produce the pure green color?
What chemicals produce the pure red color?
What chemicals produce yellow (if available)
Of course blue and brown are available. There is no problem with that
I will be very grateful for your responses
God bless you

 

[Donald Qualls]

Cyanotype as such produces Prussian blue -- which is a deep, rich blue. Cyanotype prints can be toned to give browns ranging from barely noticeable to virtually black.

I've seen (pictures of) red toned cyanotypes, but I don't know how they're made. I don't think you can get green or a reasonably pure yellow, starting with cyanotype chemistry.

If you're interested in making your own color prints from separation negatives, look at either tri-color gum (gum bichromate or ferric gum with cyan, yellow, and magenta pigment in the gum) or tri-color carbon transfer (dichromate hardened gelatin with pigments, transferred from the exposure substrate to a receptor -- necessary because the gelatin hardens from the surface downward and the hardened gelatin needs to be supported to develop a sharp image).

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I've never ever seen tri-colour cyanotypes... and there's probably a reason for that. As Donald suggests, try tri-colour gum. Your cyan can be a cyanotype, then you lay yellow and magenta gum over top. That's how I do it. I've also made tri-colour carbon prints... a lot of work but absolutely gorgeous. In the end I preferred the look/feel of gum.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Also, if there are local/national restrictions on chromates (as is the case in Europe, for instance) ferric gum apparently does anything gum bichromate does, only easier (sensitize and expose, and only then apply the gum) and with better sharpness (the gum hardens against the paper, rather than from the top down). There was a thread here just a week or so ago on ferric gum process. Both tricolor and CMYK have been demonstrated with ferric gum process.

 

[nmp]

You can get a lot of different shades by toning - Christopher James' book has quite a list of ways. For example, yellow can be obtained by toning with trisodium phosphate. I guess the problem is you can't tone one layer at a time without affecting the layers underneath so it wouldn't work as a multi-color process.

For pure red there is a cuprotype process that is similar to cyanotype but gives copper ferricyanide at the end:

http://www.altphotolist.org/lists/alt-photo-process-l/200710/msg00135.html
http://members.casema.nl/cordieuwke/Cuprotype.html

 

[BJ68]

http://www.alternativephotography.com/multi-colored-cyanotypes/

Not directly what the OP want...

bj68

 

[awty]

http://www.alternativephotography.com/multi-colored-cyanotypes/

Not directly what the OP want...

bj68

That is pretty cool.

 

[BJ68]

Other more "artistic"* possibility: http://www.alternativephotography.com/cyanotypes-painted-with-acrylic/

*= because I am a noob in painting....my first try: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/sycamore-photogram-wet-cyanotype.163721/page-4#post-2282265
in the postings above that user NedL used watercolors for painting...

bj68


Edit: Other way.... https://www.keh.com/blog/experimenting-with-cyanotype-on-photo-paper/ combined either with acrylic like the link on top or (have to try it out) with https://rockaloid.com/Printint for coloring film.....

Edit2: Found a other source for "film dyes": https://www.rohrer-klingner.de/?page_id=1007&lang=en and https://www.fotoimpex.com/retouching/

 

[awty]

*= because I am a noob in painting....my first try: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/sycamore-photogram-wet-cyanotype.163721/page-4#post-2282265
in the postings above that user NedL used watercolors ..

Thats great, think you did well.

 

[pentaxuser]

Not really what you want, Mohmad Khatab, or at least I don't think it is but have a look and anyone else interested in colour with B&W at lostlabours.co.uk and the section on Developer, fixers, toners and more There is an amazing "colour " photo that isn't of a model and a fill explanation as to how this was obtained.
It is Ian Grant's site, a member her and someone with a reliable pedigree

pentaxuser

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Here's a cyanotype that uses multiple ideas to get great looking colours:

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10223201852416388&id=1285568738&