Lumi Inkodye

[Terry Christian]

Has anyone tried the new Lumi Inkodye light-sensitive dye yet? I received some today and attempted to print an image with my enlarger, but it seems that even with my lens wide open, too little light was getting through to excite the dye and I didn't want to run the risk of warping the film negative I was using. As of right now, the sun has set, so I'm trying to contact print something onto Inkodye-coated paper under my bathroom lighting (4 60-watt bulbs). Lumi lists an 8-minute developing time for full sun and 16 minutes for a cloudy day, so this contact print should be done sometime in the next century! If my math is correct, that's a sensitivity of ISO 1/480.

 

[Dan Williams]

I have never seen or heard of this stuff so I don't really know anything more than what you and the product website say but it maybe that this stuff, not unlike many alt-photo processes, is UV sensitive. The website doesn't say. If so, the 60 watt bulbs are unlikely to work much better than your enlarger did. Sounds to me like your best bet is trying it outside on your next sunny day. I don't know what January in Memphis is like but, where I live, sunshine is going to be kind of scarce for the next couple of months.

Good luck with your project. How about posting your results?

Dan

 

[Photo Engineer]

Had you ever considered that this stuff might be only UV sensitive and thus could never be exposed using tungsten lighting?

I think this might be the case.

PE

 

[guitstik]

Take it to a tanning bed Terry.

 

[Terry Christian]

Slight update: I left it about 24" under a couple of 10W compact fluorescent bulbs while going out to dinner tonight, and when I came back I had gotten a slight coloration (I bought the blue Inkodye). I looked just now and it's a little better, definitely blue. It's working, then, but slowly. Those bulbs are always on, so I'll just let it continue overnight and see how it looks in the morning.

P.E., I think you're right. No documentation anywhere says anything about using light other than sunlight, so it may indeed be UV-sensitive. If someone wants to pay for a suntanning session, I'd be glad to do a more scientific test of UV light vs. non-UV light.

I'll indeed post my results. I had made a gobo a while back from a sheet of overhead transparency film that I'd laser-printed with a nice pattern. I paintbrushed Inkodye onto some 65# card stock (unexposed, it is a translucent white liquid), and sandwiched it with the gobo sheet into a contact printing frame.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I think that you should pay for that suntanning session! You appear to have bought it or used it without all of the needed information.

Caveat Emptor.

PE

 

[Terry Christian]

Here's my first "Inkodye-type." The edges are rough because I only paintbrushed the Inkodye onto the cardstock: I originally intended to enlarge a smaller negative onto it but had to go with the contact printing option instead. Colors are accurate, no Photoshopping, scanned directly from the finished product. Now I'm wondering if washing off the unexposed Inkodye will ruin the print! Inkodye is intended for use with cloth and other washable materials -- this was just a preliminary test.

 

[guitstik]

Terry, I do all of my Lumen prints using UV bulbs purchased from Lowes and metal shop lights hanging over them. You might want to try that.

 

[Hologram]

I have never seen or heard of this stuff so I don't really know anything more than what you and the product website say but it maybe that this stuff, not unlike many alt-photo processes, is UV sensitive.

See:
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtodyewithlight.shtml
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/vatdyes.shtml

 

[sillywabbit]

I've tried Inkodye, but with little success

Has anyone tried the new Lumi Inkodye light-sensitive dye yet? I received some today and attempted to print an image with my enlarger, but it seems that even with my lens wide open, too little light was getting through to excite the dye and I didn't want to run the risk of warping the film negative I was using. As of right now, the sun has set, so I'm trying to contact print something onto Inkodye-coated paper under my bathroom lighting (4 60-watt bulbs). Lumi lists an 8-minute developing time for full sun and 16 minutes for a cloudy day, so this contact print should be done sometime in the next century! If my math is correct, that's a sensitivity of ISO 1/480.

I'm responding to this because I have been searching the internet for some insight on how I might project an image from an enlarger/projector on a surface treated with Inkodye. I have so far experimented with 250W photo bulbs, compact flourenct bulbs, and 15W and 75W UV or "black light" bulbs. I was successful in developing the Inkodye under the black lights after just a few minutes, but the bulbs were not strong enough to project an image through my Artograph projector. I am still hoping to find a solution, but I am pessimistic.
I was really hoping that this method would be successful, because I have had no luck with transparencies. I loaded images in Photoshop, adjusted their contrast, and printed on 8.5X11in transparencies, but only a very faint image would appear when doing the contact print method. Any advice as to how I might improve my transparencies or the contact print method in general? I was really hoping to create some successful results for a project for school.

 

[Terry Christian]

So far I've been unsuccessful, too. I've tried using transparency sheets as well, but I think that black ink printed on transparency lacks the opacity to effectively shield the treated fabric from light. It seems to be only functioning as a sort of neutral density filter that blocks the light a few stops, but can't hold it back completely.

(I have an inkjet printer, and inkjet transparency film is difficult to find here and is quite pricey, so I was using inkjet window cling sheets, which is transparency film coated with a low-tack adhesive on one side.)

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

You can maybe stack a few transparency sheets together to create a darker layer. I have used this alternative process with a laser printer for my stencil work as well as for photograms.

Too bad this product isn't that sensitive, I would have liked playing with some. Maybe a future version will be better. For now I'll stick to hand cut stencils and spray paints.

 

[bsdunek]

I haven't tried it yet, but how about Lithographic Film? That seems to be quite dense.