Polaroid Emulsion Lifts...How To!

[Melisa Taylor]

Melisa Taylor submitted a new resource:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists) - Polaroid Emulsion Lifts...How To!

Getting Started....You will need to use Polaroid 669 or 690 (depending on your camera's film size) film for this process. The colors are slightly more saturated with 690 film.

This site Dead Link Removed has lots of info on the types of cameras (which you can find on ebay cheap) that take this film...you could also use a slide printer to print on 669 or 690 film. If you have a Daylab Slide Printer, you can by a 4 x 5 base and use type 59 or 559...

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

 

[Sean]

comments from the previous article system:

By Malc Raggett - 02:19 PM, 02-01-2005 Rating: None
I have a couple of variations on your technique Melisa (applies to Type 59 film, which I've used, probably works on the other "transferable" types as well)
(1) I put a few drops of ammonia solution in the warm float water (making the water slightly alkali seems to soften the emulsion, whereas acid seems to harden it)
(2) I don't find I have to wait 8-24 hours, but maybe the alkali helps, or maybe I'm just impatient!
(3) the transfer tray is better if it is flat bottomed rather than a ridged phototray. I use a cat litter tray (the cat has to cross her legs!), which is about 300mm x 400mm (12" x 14&quot

By Melisa Taylor - 02:10 PM, 02-25-2005 Rating: None
Hi Malc: I discovered the other day that i can do a lift right after exposure, too. I was always under the impression that you had to wait, but apparently not.

 

[HerrBremerhaven]

Just to add to this, since I do many Polaroid manipulations, there can be a variation that might work to get around some frustrations. If you find like I did that rubbing the emulsion off the backing resulted too often in breaking the emulsion, then try this variation:

- Get the water to a slightly hotter than usual method (be careful, since you will not be able to put your fingers into the receptor)
- Toss you Polaroid into the hot water in the pan/receptor, making sure it is completely submerged
- Use a wooden stick to move the Polaroid around a bit, or just stir the hot water slightly a few times
- Then the variation is to leave the Polaroid in the hot water, until the water cools quite a bit; when this happens, often the emulsion will simply float off the backing . . . in other words, no rubbing the emulsion off the backing. Obviously, nothing is perfect, so you might find a corner still sticking to the backing, though some people I have taught this hotter water method find it slightly easier.

Things to consider: the hotter water has a tendency to cook out darker colour areas on 669 film, so the shadow areas of your image might be slightly lighter than if you used the hot water to cooler water method. If you get the water way too hot (like boiling), you might actually cook the emulsion and severly bubble the Polaroid.

This hotter water variation happened to me by accident. After a slightly frustrating time destroying Polaroids, I ended up heating the tea kettle to whistling. Then I poured the steamy hot water into a baking dish, and chucked a Polaroid into it. Almost immediately at that point I got a phone call. Five minutes later, when the phone call ended, I walked back into the kitchen, to see the emulsion floating in the water, with the backing paper detatched. I let the water cool a bit more so I could get my fingers into it, retrieved and disposed the backing paper, then transferred to acetate and to my art paper.

Another note to add to this is that you can get whiter or sometimes brighter results on your final transfer to paper by rinsing with white vinegar. Not everyone likes the smell of that, and the effect is subtle, but effective.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
Dead Link Removed

 

[russ]

emulsion tray

just curious.
even if you clean the tray after you've:confused finished doing emulsion lifts, can you eat/cook out of it? what are the dangers of eating out of a pan that you've done an emulsion lift in?:confused:

 

[ashvdub74]

Hmm, I an having quite a bit of trouble with the black and white Polaroids. The paper separates but the emulsion isn't going anywhere. I will try boiling water but what I have been using is darn close to boiling!
I am really eager to get this to work. It is my first day, and my very first (690) was a success despite a few tears. I applied it to canvas so I was able to submerge in water. The second two bubbled way too much and I was not able to separate them from the layer of clear emulsion stuff.