The photographic news

• Bandzählung: 6.1862
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1862
• Sprache: Englisch
• Signatur: F 135
• Vorlage: Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Digitalisat: Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Digitalisat: SLUB Dresden
• Rechtehinweis: Public Domain Mark 1.0
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-db-id1780948042-186200003
• PURL: http://digital.slub-dresden.de/id1780948042-18620000
• OAI: oai:de:slub-dresden:db:id-1780948042-18620000
• Sammlungen: LDP: Historische Bestände der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Sammlungen: Fotografie
• Bemerkung: Seite 1-72 fehlen in der Vorlage. Vorlagebedingter Textverlust.
• Strukturtyp: Band

• Digitalisat: SLUB Dresden
• Strukturtyp: Ausgabe

not do it ed quite ie dealer and buy j smaller n for dry ossess a ither by y adding grains of filtering, collodion of which ■ be used rax and tie more instruc- specific he plate In your jy repel- drops of r. Also, time of use is to lite lead ation, as film you d in the radually ianges of there is ep them y well in y known ? the de- hing not &c., they nd then erve the you had In order •x, use a lutes be* is about, I soft ab- Luiring ? ns. You ty. You lata with inic Tod h oillxo nd if on ire coin- >ooks in, n of the amount alescent Che only f instan- , llodion, J manipu- I tailer of J impos- . the two I judging J ou have / pe pur is ortho htly too > to dry made to sent is •e ; with letailed. Judan rough a town aS enquiry m paper nto con* lphuric ty of our uses is a ill sec if Varner’s ,te. ndents: er unti* THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. Vol. VI. No. 181.—February 21, 1862. VARNISHING AND WAXING PRINTS. air •11. — P---" 1 P'P "‘O more brilliancy, depth, and transparency to the ; and protect it from the destructive action of varied the enclosure of left for of using it. A variety of varnishes and other substances have been re- commended, and used, to give a highly-glazed surface to Photographs. Perhaps the most perfect surface is that ob- tained by the French method of applying a coating of gela- tine. A piece of plate-glass with a very perfect surface is carefully cleaned, then sponged with fresh ox-gall. Before 1t is quite dry it is coated with a hot solution of fine gela- ine, about twenty grains to the ounce. When it is well set ami free from tackiness, but not so entirely dessicated but what 1 w ould retain the impression of the finger, the picture is laid uPon it, face down, and pressed all over; carefully avoiding ic encla f air bubbles. When firmly in contact, it is 1 some hours to harden. When quite hard the edge may lifted with a penknife, and if the operation has been PDPer Y conducted, the picture will leave the glass with a getn surface of the most perfect character. This gives a Spnovfestato the photograph ; but it is sadly suggestive 0 107 r8 of those pretty French boxes which contain bon °00 omn andled with damp fingers, moreover, the gela- tine becomes tacky and dull. To obviate this it has been propo 1t coat the plate with a tough collodion, and We have received several enquiries recently as to some effi cient means of varnishing photographic prints ; the objects for which such a process is proposed being two-fold: to give " "" 1" 1 x- 11 picture; cl atmos ¬ pheric conditions. From the earliest production of paper proofs, photographers have had a hankering after some means of giving increased depth and transparency to their shadows; or, rather, of giving full effect to all that really existed in the picture. The mode in which photographic prints are obtained has always had a tendency to produce the picture slightly within the texture of the paper, rather than entirely on its surface, and hence a slight loss of detail and transparency in the shadows. The application of a var nish tends to rendeem this defect by making the image “ bear out” more perfectly. The use of albumenized paper, which, by keeping the image on the surface, has tended to give more brilliancy and sharpness, came into vogue chiefly on this account, and is, we apprehend, at least for the present, likely to continue in use. To our own taste the use of albumenized paper, although under existing cir cumstances a necessary evil, is bad enough ; but the addi tional use of varnishes is worse. The use of glazed sur faces for photographic pictures is, we believe, purely a conventional taste, which has arisen rather out of the exigencies of the art, than from any beauty such surfaces possess. We cannot doubt for one moment that, if prints equal in depth and vigour, purity, brilliancy, and detail could be produced on plain paper, albumenized prints would be at once scouted as vulgar and inartistic, and var nished prints not less so. , In the present state of our printing facilities, however, it is clear that a" the detail and brilliancy that is in the nega tive cannot at all times be secured in plain paper, nor even on all samples of albumenized paper. Many photogra phers will, therefore, prefer the delicacy and sharpness, depth and vigour, to be obtained from a glazed surface, to the chaste and pure, albeit sometimes feeble and dull, sim plicity of plain paper. For the benefit of those of our readers interested in the matter, therefore, we have a few suggestions to make on the choice of material, and the mode pour the gelatine on that, so that the completed picture will have a surface of collodion. A step beyond the gelatine surface is that obtained by the principle of French polishing. The picture is first coated with gelatine, applied with a large brush. When this is per fectly set, a solution of white shellac in spirits of wine is ap plied with a piece of cotton wool rolled up in a piece of linen cloth. The method of applying this is, as we have said, analogous to French polishing, a light circular motion being used. It requires some manipular skill, and produces, when well done, a very fine, hard, and brilliant surface; but quite as meretricious and vulgar-looking as the gelatine. Varnishes of all kinds may be used, from the old-fashioned solution of Canada balsam in turpentine, to Shne varnish. If the print be on plain, or very slightly albumenized paper, it will require sizing or coating with gelatine, to prevent the varnish being absorbed in patches and bearing out with an uneven surface. If the paper be highly albumenized, prepara tion or sizing is not necessary. On pictures of any size the varnish should be applied with a brush, but in small ones it may be flooded as on glass plates. We have experimented with several kinds of varnish, and found little difficulty with any. The common crystal varnish answers well; as do several spirit varnishes. It is important in order to produce an even, fine surface, that a full-bodied varnish be used—a thin one being apt to sink into the paper, and dry irregular and dull. We have found that advertised as “penetrating varnish ”—which on paper prints does not penetrate—work the best. Whatever spirit varnish be used, should be applied near a fire to avoid risk of chilling. By far the best application, however, giving depth, transparency, and detail to the shadows, without adding offensive gloss, is a coating of wax. This may be applied to plain paper or albumenized paper, and whilst it brings out all that lay hidden in the shadows, it can be used so as to leave no perceptible gloss on the lights of the picture. Just so much may be applied, in fact, as appears to enter sufficiently into the surface of the paper to give it trans parency without laying on it to give it gloss. Regarding the second purpose which these coatings have been intended to serve, we shall not say much. If a photo graph have received full justice in the processes of printing, fixing, and washing, we believe it should not fade, without any protective varnish. If it contain within itself the elements of its own destruction, a varnish may delay, but cannot prevent its doom. Some of the substances proposed may even accelerate its destruction. A coating of gelatine may decompose under the influence of moisture, and in its own decomposition hasten that of the print. The same is true of a thin varnish of gum arabic, which has been proposed. Most gums and resins have, moreover, in them selves a tendency to become yellow, and may thus aid in destroying the beauty of the print it was intended to protect. Regarding wax, it is also slightly liable to discolour, but the very slight amount it is necessary to apply makes this consideration of little moment. The mode in which it is applied and the solvent in combination with it, is of some importance. A correspondent in a contemporary has recently been recommending the application of wax to prints on slightly albumenized paper, as removing the necessity for the use of highly albumenized paper, which he has found difficult to tone satisfactorily. He there recommends the use of turpentine as a solvent of the wax. This is decidedly wrong. The purest white wax should be used, and a solvent