Silver type prints

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

Silver 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 chlorides or chloro-bromides, they have a neutral, deep black tone.

Silver chloride print

Silver chlorides 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 chloro-bromides, they have a cooler, bluish-black tone.

Silver gelatin print

Silver gelatin prints typically give deep rich blacks and crisp whites on a high gloss paper. They have extremely good archival properties, lasting over 100 years without visible fading if kept carefully. There are three key types of black and white gelatin prints: silver bromide, silver chloride and chloro-bromide.

Similar Posts

  • Digital Inkjet

    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)

  • Archival properties

    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 be used when framing.

  • Negative

    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…

  • Autochrome

    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 1907 and about 1932. A lot of photos of the First World…