Printing processes not requiring enlarger

josephchesshyre · Jan 12, 2018

Hello, I'm not sure if this is the right sub-forum to use for this question but hope it is.

Over the last few years I've got into 35mm B&W reversal processing and am gradually refining and improving my technique. The reason I initially chose this method is because I was desperate to develop my own photos but don't have a darkroom or access to one currently. I also love projected slides, so I was delighted to find that it was possible to create your own with only a changing bag and developing tank.

My question is: is there any analogue printing/print-making method possible from slides that does not require a proper darkroom and enlarger? Because of the small size of 35mm slides I'd want the process to involve some magnification rather than being a form of contact printing. I don't mind how close or otherwise to the original the print is i.e. I'm completely open to the result being an 'interpretation' of the original rather than just a copy.

locutus · Jan 12, 2018

Not really, your only other option is scanning and printing if you cant have a darkroom with a enlarger.

josephchesshyre · Jan 12, 2018

I guess one thing I could do is the old artists' trick of projecting the slide onto paper or canvas and tracing a drawing which then becomes a drawing or painting in its own right. Not technically printing but this is the sort of process I'm definitely open to - basically any process where I can use my slides as the physical basis for another artwork or medium.

ic-racer · Jan 12, 2018

You need a bellows or frame that goes from the paper to the lens. "Daylight" enlargers have been constructed like this.

removed account4 · Jan 12, 2018

does it have to be done with 35mm ?
you can easily bring your film to any xerox / copy shop
and ask them to make a paper or transparency enlargement for you ( as a negative )
and then make prints using the sun. no darkroom is needed

jim10219 · Jan 12, 2018

You could try gum bichromate, casein print, carbon transfer, or tempraprint. They're all color contact prints (unlike cyanotype, Van Dyke, platinum/palladium, kallitype, etc.). You'll still have to enlarge the negatives, but you could scan them into a computer and print your own negatives on transparency paper of any size you wish. Another bonus is they only react to UV light, so you don't need a completely dark room (though a fairly dark room is still recommended, and one free of UV light). So a standard bathroom without windows and a little light from the old tungsten bulbs should be fine. Then you can expose them in the sunlight. So they don't require enlargers or a proper darkroom. Though you'll still need to scan them into a computer, use some software to enlarge them and separate the colors, and a printer with pigment ink (not dye based) to print onto the transparency paper, and a contact printing frame (or two pieces of glass to sacndwich to between them.

josephchesshyre · Jan 12, 2018

Thanks for these suggestions : D

ic-racer said:
You need a bellows or frame that goes from the paper to the lens. "Daylight" enlargers have been constructed like this.

This looks GREAT. I did not know these existed. Will do a bit of searching.

jnanian said:
does it have to be done with 35mm ?

At the moment, yes, as I can't afford a new camera right now.

I was hoping not to involve any scanning to a computer - I don't have a great setup for doing so (just a Panasonic Lumix digital camera and a slide holder with lenses and extension tubes) and besides I'd like to keep it in the physical realm if possible. That said, the above processes suggested by jim10219 sound very appealing.

removed account4 · Jan 12, 2018

you can take your processed film and bring it to any copy shop and ask them to make 8x10 transparency negatives ( or paper ) for you
it takes very little effort at all .. paper negatives are like ¢6 each and ¢75 for OHP film ..
cyanotypes cost pennies each, its kid-safe ( as tested by the republic of california ) and requiers no darkroom ... just running water
and if you want to reduce your wash time ... a capful of hydrogen peroxide for the wash... ... you can bleach the blue out of it
with a dilute solution of baking ( or washing ) soda and water .. and tone in tea ..
premade cyanotype paper is available through a few places, or you can get a "kit" from bostic and sullivan or the formulary and
coat your own much easier than a daylab or digital enlargement or scanners &c

jeffreyg · Jan 12, 2018

I have a Vivitar Instant Slide Printer gathering dust in a closet that is similar but not as elaborate as the one shown above. It would make a Polaroid print from a slide. That was positive to positive. I don't know if any of the current instant films fit it. I guess a reversal b&w 35 could be put in a slide mount and you could make a print but it would only be the size of the instant film. As suggested scanning and printing will be the easiest route. There are excellent papers and printers and you could do whatever manipulation you can do in the darkroom plus somethings you can't do in the darkroom. I print both ways and just consider each to be a different medium.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

josephchesshyre · Jan 12, 2018

Are there any types of light-sensitive paper or other materials that would be able to be used in a darkened room (but not a full-on darkroom) with an image projected onto them with a slide projector?

josephchesshyre · Jan 12, 2018

jeffreyg said:
I have a Vivitar Instant Slide Printer gathering dust in a closet that is similar but not as elaborate as the one shown above. It would make a Polaroid print from a slide. That was positive to positive. I don't know if any of the current instant films fit it. I guess a reversal b&w 35 could be put in a slide mount and you could make a print but it would only be the size of the instant film. As suggested scanning and printing will be the easiest route. There are excellent papers and printers and you could do whatever manipulation you can do in the darkroom plus somethings you can't do in the darkroom. I print both ways and just consider each to be a different medium.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Is it like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Vivitar-Instant-Slide-Printer/152662087997 ?

I wonder what paper this uses and if it's still available. I think though that although it would be fun, the print size would be too small for my purposes.

removed account4 · Jan 12, 2018

you might look into screen printing ...

ic-racer · Jan 12, 2018

Printing to 'instant' material could be done with some of the items currently on the market. For example, a device like this, which prints your iPhone screen, could be used for slides. One could use the iPhone screen as a white light to backlight a slide.
I'm actually working up to doing this in a full darkroom. That is, project slides with my enlarger onto Fuji Instax film to make prints.

pentaxuser · Jan 12, 2018

josephchesshyre said:
Are there any types of light-sensitive paper or other materials that would be able to be used in a darkened room (but not a full-on darkroom) with an image projected onto them with a slide projector?

I'd have thought that in the dark nights of winter any room without windows or only small windows, easily covered, might work OK. In fact depending on the light pollution where you live just thick curtains over quite a large window might well work OK with a small safelight and enough space for at least two trays of developer and fixer then exiting the room for washing.

Not sure whether the intensity of light from a projector which was pretty close to the paper for small projections such as 8x10 would reduce the exposure to periods too short to measure effectively but a dim projector bulb might be an answer.

Just thoughts from the top of my head, you understand. I have no experience of this at all.

pentaxuser

jeffreyg · Jan 12, 2018

Yes Joseph that is exactly the one. It used Polaroid film packs. There are some crude brightness adjustments and as I recall some slight horizontal adjustment. I haven't used it in many years. The light source is some sort of a flash. The film size was 4x5 with possibly a border. For what it is it worked pretty well. A makeshift darkroom is not too difficult to set up. A table for an enlarger and trays and running water can be in another room to wash prints. I don't know if projector lenses have the resolution of enlarging lenses and as far as I know none have aperture settings. I always try to keep things as simple as possible so a real enlarger or scanning and printing are sure things.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Printing processes not requiring enlarger

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