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.

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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 extremely light-sensitive silver salts as…

  • 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…

  • CMYK

    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).

  • Polaroid

    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…

  • Toning & Titing

    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….