The history of Kodak color papers

[Photo Engineer]

My exact list of color paper types, content and purpose ends in April of 1978. I have more data after that, but it is quite inaccurate having to rely only on my memory, and not on exact notes.

PE

 

[John Shriver]

Another interesting source on this topic is http://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Colour_Darkroom/Early_Kodak.html

 

[nworth]

This is all Kodak, which is the total experience of most of us. I am old enough to remember (just barely) Kodachrome prints that looked like they were on a white opaque film base. Nobody has mentioned those here. I can also remember the similar Ansco Printon, which could be processed at home or in independent labs. After it, there were several paper based products from just about everyone (Ansco, Agfa, Mitsubishi, Ferrina, and many others) . These often were coupled with proprietary processing materials. About the time of Ektaprint 2, the other manufacturers began to standardize on the Kodak processes for color negative printing. I suspect many of them rebranded Kodak paper. Reversal printing was still specialized, and only a few papers existed, mostly for only a short time.

 

[railwayman3]

This is all Kodak, which is the total experience of most of us. I am old enough to remember (just barely) Kodachrome prints that looked like they were on a white opaque film base. Nobody has mentioned those here.

Interesting to know if these original Kodachrome prints used a similar involved multi-developer process to the Kodachrome films ? If it were that, and adding-on the usual intricacies of reversal printing, it must have been quite something to get good results !

 

[sepiareverb]

I learned to print from color negatives in the early 80s, and my memory tells me I was printing on a fiber based Kodak paper. I'm curious about the supports used, and finishes available for color papers. I also recall lots of snapshots from my childhood (60s & 70s) marked Kodachrome Print on the back. They always seemed to me to be a SW fiber base paper, and look ferrotyped.

 

[RPC]

I am old enough to remember (just barely) Kodachrome prints that looked like they were on a white opaque film base. Nobody has mentioned those here.

PE did in his OP, at the end.

 

[RPC]

I learned to print from color negatives in the early 80s, and my memory tells me I was printing on a fiber based Kodak paper. I'm curious about the supports used, and finishes available for color papers. I also recall lots of snapshots from my childhood (60s & 70s) marked Kodachrome Print on the back. They always seemed to me to be a SW fiber base paper, and look ferrotyped.

I too started printing color in the early 80s and all I remember being available were RC color papers from Kodak.

Perhaps the Kodachrome print you remember was simply a standard reversal print made from a Kodachrome slide?

 

[sepiareverb]

I too started printing color in the early 80s and all I remember being available were RC color papers from Kodak.

Perhaps the Kodachrome print you remember was simply a standard reversal print made from a Kodachrome slide?

I'll have to find some of those old snaps and investigate. You're memory appears better, looks like there was only RC paper by 1982, wish I could put my hands on one of those prints now.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Kodak stopped making FB color papers in the late '60s and switched entirely to RC.

Kodak quite making Kotavachrome (Kodachrome) prints when they went from the original diffusion controlled Kodachrome process to the new 3 color reversal process. You could not expose through the base of the print very well. From that point, they either made internegatives and printed using Type C or made direct prints on Type R papers.

PE

 

[sepiareverb]

Hmm. So much for my capacity to remember…