Glossary

  • 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.
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  • 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).
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  • 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 benef...
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  • 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 surplus ink is washed away. Once ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 profes...
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  • 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...
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  • A single image built up from several photographic prints.
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  • 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.
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  • P.F.T.s, or Print Film Transparencies, are positive colour reproductions from original negatives, produced as transparencies.
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  • NTSC VHS video format used in North America and Japan. PAL VHS video format used in Australia and Europe (excluding France).
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  • Term used in multiples publishing when only a limited number of any print, book, sculpture or other artwork is produced. Editions can be limited to almost any number depending on the nature of the work.
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  • Gicler, a French verb meaning 'to spurt', is another industry term for inkjet printing. See inkjet.
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  • 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).
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  • Paper or material-based paper type used in printing black and white images from negatives (C-type). Available in all surface finishes, this thicker paper has a high-quality texture, gives an excellent finish, and adds 'depth' to the image through the faint weave of the paper/fibre.
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  • Dye, unlike pigment, dissolves completely in solution (pigment-based inks leave tiny particles floating in the solution). This means that dye-based inks are entirely absorbed into the paper that they are printed on - the image is in fact a highly controlled stain. The resulting images can thus appear very slick and eve...
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  • Digital printing that produces images directly on to the material (e.g. canvas or special paper surfaces) from a digital file through a stream of very fine dye drops controlled by the computer system. (See also Giclée prints)
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  • Digital colour coupler Colour coupler prints, or chromogene prints, are very similar to standard C-type prints, but the silver salts 'couple' with coloured dyes, rather than being replaced by them. The end result is very similar to standard C-type prints. Colour coupler prints have the benefit of using the same extreme...
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  • An Interneg produced by digital means, rather than traditional photographic methods. Digital internegs are made by scanning an original negative or its positive image, before laser-writing the digital negative.
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  • C-type printing involves printing colour paper enlargements from small, colour negatives. This is the most common type of colour printing found in the high street and mini-labs.
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  • CMYK is an industry standard abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. These are the colours used in standard four-colour printing (as in inkjet and Iris printers).
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  • Chloro-bromides share the features of all silver gelatin prints, giving deep rich blacks and crisp whites on a high gloss paper, as well as having good archival properties. Compared with silver bromides or silver chlorides, they have a warmer brownish-black tone.
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  • Different types of photographic paper have varying degrees of susceptibility to fading over time. The main cause of this is exposure to UV (ultra violet) light, although humidity, temperature, pollution and acidity are all contributing factors. Exposure to direct sunlight should be avoided, and UV-resistant glass can b...
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  • Using acid-free mount boards prevents acid burns (yellowish-brown burn lines) from appearing on artworks over time.
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  • Toning, or toned black and white: toning images allows an artist/printer to alter the colours of a photographic print (by replacing the silver in the silver salts with another metal). Toning can be used as an aesthetic decision by the artist, or it can also be used to improve the archival properties of a print. Titing...
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  • Regarded as one of the best digital printers. It uses three lasers (Red, Green & Blue) to print digitised images onto traditional photographic paper. This allows consistent reproduction of large run editions with the same quality as traditional print techniques. This process typically uses C-type paper. Lambda on crys...
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  • Although it may seem too obvious to mention, may people are unaware of what exactly constitutes a print. Put simply, a print is a method of image-making that allows the work of art to be created more than once. The size of the edition (i.e.the number of prints produced of the one work), the significance of the work in ...
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  • A sheet of transparent film coated with silver salts which react when exposed to light (usually in a camera). In black and white negatives, one layer of salts reacts to white light (the full spectrum of light). The result is a reversal of normal vision: the shadows are light, the highlights dark. In colour negatives th...
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  • Also known as heliogravure, photogravure is arguably the finest photomechanical means of reproducing a photograph in large editions. Copper plates are acid-etched directly from an original silver print; the etched areas then hold differing amounts of ink in order to correspond to the tones of the original print. If pri...
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  • A particular type of reversal (R-type) colour paper and printing process which gives strong colours (often with striking reds) and creates a long-lasting print. Printing in this way from a positive image results in exactly the same colour saturation as the original, and greater contrast.
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  • Silver salts Silver salts are light sensitive chemical compounds. When exposed to light – either in a camera (in the case of film and negatives) or in the dark room (photographic papers) – the silver salts react by darkening in proportion to the amount of light reflected from the subject. Silver bromide Print Si...
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  • The autochrome is an early color photography process, patented the 17th December 1903 by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Before the commercialization, they diffused the autochrome technique to some favored photographers, like Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky. The commercialization started in 1907 and the technique was used between ...
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