Following is a step-by-step process for making albumen paper, as published in The Photographic News on June 29,, p. Be sure to visit me on Facebook , Instagram or Pinterest, or on my website at keithdotson. Link to my own personal sample of an albumen print by P. Wikipedia Commons, Eadweard J. All About Albumen Prints. Prev Next. Quick reference: characteristics of albumen prints Thin paper, often mounted on rigid backing board especially in carte de visites Coated emulsion, slightly glossy Coloration tends to be warm in highlights and deep brown to reddish-brown in image areas Dates from s to s History of albumen prints The albumen print was first introduced sometime around , in the midst of the daguerreotype era.
View from Inspiration Point, by Carleton Watkins However, once you had a successful negative, you could make endless reproductions. An print ad for Oscar Scholzig, who sold light-sensitive versions of albumen papers made by the Dresden Albumenizing Company What do albumen prints look like?
Muybridge, Valley of the Yosemite, from Rocky Ford, , Albumen print on a cabinet card, circa You May Also Like. From my personal photo collection: An antique albumen print of Eqypt. Tax Stamp With Video. Previous Article Previous post:. Next Article Next post:. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. A final wash is needed to rid the paper of extraneous chemicals. View Next Page. Skip to main content.
Toggle navigation. This was the basis of the commercially produced "ready-sensitized" papers. Printing was usually carried out not in direct sunlight but in diffused daylight, since direct sun tended to produce "flat" prints, unless the negative possessed a very long density range.
The fact that albumen prints are produced by a "printing-out" mechanism no chemical developer is necessary has some important consequences for the appearance and permanence of the resultant prints. The fundamental silver image particles produced in all silver printing-out papers are very much smaller than the image particles produced by the action of a chemical developer.
Because of the phenomenon known as light scattering, after fixation the smaller Image particles of printing-out papers do not appear neutral black, but instead appear brown, red or even yellow. For this reason a toning step was included in the processing sequence of most printing-out papers, wherein a deposition of gold or platinum or both was made on the silver image.
Gold toning of albumen paper produced the familiar purple or purplish-brown image colors found in historical prints. Platinum toning was not used with albumen paper, although it was extensively used with collodion printing-out papers. Another important consequence of the very small image particle size In albumen paper is the resultant huge increase in the surface area of the particle relative to Its total mass. Because of this enormous surface development, the Inherent vulnerability to superficial chemical attack is much greater in albumen prints than in most develop-out papers.
All the chemical processes of deterioration must begin at the surface of the grain and therefore an increase in surface area allows the reactions of decay to proceed more rapidly.. In addition, since the image color in albumen prints is a result of the particle size and to a lesser extent the surface characteristics of the particles , then a small change in size induced by chemical attack has an immediate effect on the color and density of the print.
One of the primary sources of chemical attack on albumen print images is the presence of residual fixer and residual chemical products of fixation. Albumen prints were fixed in a strong solution of sodium thiosulfate, then washed in water to remove the sodium thiosulfate and silver-thiosulfate complexes. Although sodium thiosulfate is effective in removing the silver chloride from albumen prints, it was discovered as early as that some silver remained in white non-image areas of albumen prints.
This is not the case when gelatin or collodion prints are fixed in sodium thiosulfate, and the retention of silver in albumen prints seems to be related to the interaction of silver and egg white proteins. The conversion of this silver to silver sulfide is the immediate cause of highlight yellowing in albumen prints.
Highlight staining may also be caused by incomplete fixing or washing; in this event the staining will be all the worse because of the extra silver retained by the albumen itself. Image fading and detail loss are characterized in albumen prints by a change in image color as well as a loss In density. The conversion of the Image silver to silver sulfide seems to be the primary mechanism of print deterioration. The breakdown of residual fixer Is one of the primary sources of the reactive sulfur necessary for this chemical change.
Other possible sources of sulfur include atmospheric pollution and Improper mount boards and mounting adhesives. Research is now being undertaken to understand more fully the causes and mechanisms of albumen print deterioration and to develop new approaches to the preservation of these materials.
The albumen and the silver nitrate form light-sensitive silver salts on the paper. When a glass negative is placed directly on the paper and exposed to light, it forms an image on the paper. Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change?
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