Glossary

A C-type colour resin-based paper made by Fuji. It offers excellent colour reproductions and has superior archival properties (over 70 years if kept in controlled conditions).

A C-type colour paper made by Fuji which offers an extreme gloss finish.

A positive is, obviously, the opposite of a negative – that is, it is an image which is not reversed. Positive images are made through a double negative: silver salts react to light producing a negative which, when projected onto photographic paper (more silver salts), produces a positive.

Matt, gloss, supergloss, satin and pearl are all finishes available on different paper types. Satin and pearl are different names for the same finish (somewhere between gloss and matt).

Selenium gelatin photogram: see photogram and selenium toning. Selenium toned gelatin print: See silver gelatin print and selenium toning. Selenium toned photogram: see photogram and selenium toning. Selenium toning: A type of toning using the metal selenium to replace silver salts. Used both for the aesthetic benefits of a slightly warmer tone and greatly improved archival properties

A stencil is made up for each colour of the image and put over a fine fabric mesh that is stretched over a metal frame. The coloured ink is spread over the mesh and stencil and the ink falls through the stencil to the underlying material (usually an art paper) to produce the image. The…

Resin-based paper Plastic-based paper type. The most common paper type for printing colour images as it gives greater gloss potential than fibre-based papers (e.g. supergloss on Fujiflex). R-type paper R-type papers work in the opposite way to traditional papers. A transparency (positive) is projected onto reversal paper which thus develops a positive image.

Polaroid is a manufacturer/trademark of a photographic system which gives ‘instant’ prints, by which film, paper and developing solution are combined in one unit. As soon as the film/paper is exposed the image begins to develop, developing fully within a maximum of 5 minutes. All Polaroids on eyestorm have been professionally ‘stopped’ and removed from their…

Pigment, unlike dye, is a powder made up of tiny granules that will not dissolve completely in solution. This means that pigment-based inks leave particles of pure colour bonded to the surface of the paper that they are printed on. The resulting images can thus appear very rich and physical, densely saturated in colour –…

A single image built up from several photographic prints.

A photogram is a photograph made without a lens or camera: objects are placed directly on top of a sheet of photographic paper which is then exposed to light. Where the objects obstruct the light, the paper remains unexposed (light in tone), while the rest darkens through exposure.

P.F.T.s, or Print Film Transparencies, are positive colour reproductions from original negatives, produced as transparencies.