F "ON D EMT! r 'N !. i'K!X T il: MANUAL 01 -I’HOT • v ■ i-'STINT,. i • IJ A ' : ’ H •’ ‘ VIVI vi. t I I.:. liMA) I ‘ < KK - - \k . \ M * V. OO ' V ' . ■. l»> o / If - . L l > /:, /SJh t t w. s ♦* * i A* Jf 5 I Second Edition THE PRACTICAL PRINTER: A COMPLETE MANUAL OF PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING, By CHARLES VY. HEARN. CONTAIN ING FULL DETAILS CONCERNING ALL THE STYLES AND PROCESSES OF PLAIN AND ALBUMEN PAPER PRINTING, AND OF PRINTING ON PORCELAIN. WITH AN EXAMPLE OF PRINTING , ANI) NEARLY IOO ILLUSTRATIONS, VALUABLE TO BOTH THE LEARNER AND PRACTICED PRINTER. PH ILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY EDWARD L. WILSON , 11G North Seventh St. 1 8 7 S. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S78, By EDWARD L. WILSON, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 1). C P R H F A C E. In the preparation of this work it has been the aim of the author to make it of practical value to those who are about to commence the study of photographic printing, or those who de¬ sire to perfect themselves in it, and for this purpose he has en¬ deavored to place in it only such information and advice as can be relied upon, and which will aid the learner in acquiring speedily the modus operandi of general Albumen, Plain Paper, Glace, and Porcelain Printing. The writer has purposely, in many chapters of this work, treated of cases which are not very often found in the majority of galleries, yet, as they are in a few, they have for that reason been taken up and disposed of. All of the different classes of negatives mentioned have been real ones with the author, and not imaginary, for they have all at some past time been given to him to print from, and have been “doctored,” printed, etc , by some of the methods men¬ tioned. IV PUEFA CE. It is not the printing from excellent negatives that teaches the learner, for fine prints from such are very easily obtained ; but it is the printing from poor negatives that instructs him, and it is on this account that many printers in poor galleries often understand best the printing of difficult negatives, because they are more accustomed to print from such. The elegant specimen of photography embellishing this work is from the well-known photograph gallery of Mr. G. M. Elton, of Palmyra, N. Y. CONTEN TS. The Printing-Room, INTRODUCTION. I'AOE .13 The Silvering- and Toning-Room, ....... 17 The Drying-Room, .......... 18 PART I.—ALBUMEN PAPER PRINTING. CHAPTER I. The Positive Rath for Albumen Paper, . . . . .21 CHAPTER II. Silvering the Albumen Paper, ........ 30 Drying the Paper,. CHAPTER III. .34 CHAPTER IV. Fuming the Paper, .34 CHAPTER V. Preservation of Sensitive Albumenized Paper; Washed Sensitive Paper,. Cutting the Paper, CHAPTER VI. .40 CHAPTER VII. The Printing-Boards, .42 Keeping Tally, . CHAPTER VIII. .44 CHAPTER IX. Vignette Printing-Blocks, ......... 4i. CHAPTER X. Treatment of Negatives before Printing, . . 47 VI ('OXTENTS. CHAPTER XI. pA<;B Filling of the Hoards, ......... ">4 CHAPTER XII. Fitting Vignette-Hoards to the Negatives for Printing, . . . f>0 CHAPTER XIII. Medallion and Arch-top Printing, ....... (13 CHAPTER XIV. Fancy Printing, .......... 70 CHAPTER XV. Vignette Cameo and Medallion Vignette Cameo Printing, . . 73 CHAPTER XVI. Printing the Hendann Backgrounds, ...... 76 CHAPTER XVII. Printing Intense Negatives, ........ HO CHAPTER XVIII. Printing Weak Negatives, ........ 80 CHAPTER XIX. A Few More Remarks about Printing—Treatment of Broken Nega¬ tives, .02 CHAPTER XX. Cutting the Prints, .......... !••’> CHAPTER XXI. Washing the Prints,. ......... 102 CHAPTER XXII. Acidifying the Prints, ......... 104 CHAPTER XXIII. Toning Baths, ........... 106 CHAPTER XXIV. Artistic Toning, . . . . . . . . . .114 CHAPTER XXV. Fixing Baths and Fixing Prints, ....... 120 CHAPTER XXVI. Final Washing of the Prints, ........ 123 CO A TEXTS. CHAPTER XXVII. PAGE Mounting the Prints,. 128 CHAPTER XXVIII. Finishing the Prints, ......... 181 PART II.—PLAIN PAPER PRINTING. CHAPTER I. Salting the Paper, . 138 CHAPTER II. Positive Baths for Plain Salted Paper, ...... 140 CHAPTER III. Silvering Plain Salted Paper,.141 CHAPTER IV. Drying, Fuming, and Cutting the Paper, . . . . .145 CHAPTER V. Treatment of the Negatives before Printing, . . . . .147 CHAPTER VI. Printing-in False Backgrounds, . . . . . . .151 CHAPTER VII. General Plain Paper Printing, . . . .153 CHAPTER VIII. Further Treatment of the Prints after Printing, .... 155 CHAPTER IX. Causes of Failures in Albumen and Plain Paper Printing, . . 150 PART III.—PORCELAIN PRINTING. CHAPTER I. Selection of the Porcelain Plates,.171 CHAPTER II. Cleaning of the Porcelain Plates, . . . . . .172 CONTESTS. viii CHAPTER III. „ AGF Albumenizing the Porcelain Plates, ...... 174 CHAPTER TV. Making the Porcelain Collodion, ....... 17b CHAPTER V. Coating, Fuming, and Drying the Plates, ..... 180 CHAPTER Vt. Porcelain Printing-boards, ........ 182 CHAPTER VII. Placing the Sensitive Plate on the Board for Printing, . . . 188 CHAPTER VIII. Printing Vignette Porcelains, ........ 184 CHAPTER IX. Printing Medallion Porcelains, ....... 185 CHAPTER X. Washing the Porcelains, ......... 18(1 CHAPTER XI. Toning the Porcelains, . . . . . . . . .188 CHAPTER XII. Fixing the Porcelains, ......... 1811 CHAPTER XIII. Final Washing of the Porcelains, ....... 11*1 CHAPTER XIV. Drying and Tinting the Porcelains, ...... 192 CHAPTER XV. Varnishing the Porcelains, ........ 198 CHAPTER XVI. Causes of Failures in Porcelain Printing, ..... 195 PART IV.—GLACE PHOTOGRAPHS. •_'( 12 (Race Printing, THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. INTRODUCTION. THE PRINTING-ROOM. For good success at printing, it is necessary that the printing- room should be convenient to work in, and well supplied with those materials, etc., which are so necessary for fine work. A good printer, like a good surgeon, may do very well with a few conveniences, but he will more likely do better with more. A good draughtsman may do very well with his pen and parallel rulers, but he can do much better by the use of a set of instru¬ ments, and that necessity, a “T square.” The term instruments, in the general sense of the word, is applied to anything by which an effort is brought about, and con¬ sequently our printing-boards, vignette-blocks, etc., are instru¬ ments in the case of the photographic printer, as well as the case of surgical tools are instruments in the hands of the surgeon. A skilful workman, when once asked by the foreman of an estab¬ lishment what was the instrument he had used to enable him to do his work so nicely, replied: “My hands are the best instru¬ ments I have outside of my brain.” So it is with the photographic printer, for his hands are- subor¬ dinate to that mightier and more valuable instrument, the brain; and consequently “a thinking man” is far more successful than a merely mechanical one (although the latter may have all the conveniences possible), for “the brain conceives what the hands execute;” and if a person does not use his brain to good advan¬ tage, verily his work will show it. 14 THE PRACTICAL PR I.X TER. Now, the whole attention of the brain can be used very advan¬ tageously/// the printing-room of a gallery, as well as in the “sky¬ light and the dark-room.” There is a great mistake often made in the “fitting out” of a photograph gallery, in placing about all of the money in “the reception-room,” and leaving a few dollars to go into the printing department, and a few more, per¬ haps, in the dark- and operating-rooms. A good housewife does not commence at the parlor and furnish (down to the kitchen, but she commences first at the culinary department, and after she has furnished that (her work-room), she then commences to furnish her sitting-room, and finally her parlor. This is the way it should be with the photographer: he should loo\ first to the skylight, and then to the nicely fitting out of this, the operating-room, which of course includes the cameras, lenses, backgrounds, etc. He then sees to his dark-room, and next, but by no means least, he sees to the printing-room, and then, finally and lastly, to his reception-room, which he furnishes as his means will permit. An elegantly furnished reception-room does not vouch for good work, although it may indicate that the proprietor had money, or that he had found somebody who would trust. A customer, when she wishes her “ likeness taken," does not look to see if the reception-room is nicely furnished, and thus decide as to whether she will be suited or not; not at all; she wishes to see samples of work, and then decides. And since this is so, should we not endeavor to have conveniences, etc., in doing our work, so that the samples and work in general will be excellent, since it is this, and not the elegance of the reception- room, that brings in the customers? Another illustration that the elegance of the apartments, etc., is not the criterion by which the customer judges the work of the photographer, is very well illustrated in that of a well-known Parisian gallery, where the patrons of the establishment are obliged to leave their carriages at the entrance of, and walk through, a narrow lane, up three flights of stairs, and directly into the operating-room, as the gallery has no reception-room what¬ ever worthy of mention. The ladies usually make their engage¬ ments through a gentleman friend, and then proceed, all attired, in their carriages to the studio, and are then immediately posed. It may be well to mention here that the patrons are obliged to THE PRINTING-ROOM. 15 keep their engagements to within five minutes, or so, or they lose their appointment for that day. The general opinion among photographers is, that any place will do for a printing-room, and it is on this principle that print¬ ers are so well known to have very inconvenient rooms, etc., where they almost invariably are obliged to labor under extreme difficulties. Printing-rooms should be so arranged that the poor printer will not freeze in winter nor roast in the summer; and, outside of the printer’s own personal comfort, the temperature of the rooms is a matter worthy of the strictest attention on the part of the photographer, or else he cannot expect good work, and if he does expect it, without proper attention being given to the conditions under which the negatives are printed, then he is sure to be disappointed. The negatives should no more be printed out of doors in the winter-time (more especially if the day is very cold) than they ought to be taken there, posing and all being accomplished while there is light sufficient to enable the photographer to “take a picture.’’ As before said, the fitting out of the printing-room is a matter of the utmost importance, and although it has not been recognized by the many photographers, yet it has by the few. I will, in the first three figures of this book, illustrate what may be termed model printing, silvering, and toning rooms. The original rooms may be recognized by those persons who are ac¬ quainted with the gallery of Mr. J. H. Lamson, Portland, Me., as they are almost similar to his ; indeed, they were originally intended to be exactly like them, but were afterwards changed a little, as I wished to give a model suit of rooms rather than to copy any particular ones. The size of the main room, Fig. i, is 10x15x10 feet. A is the printing-shelf, upon which the negative-boards are placed out to print. B is the sash of glass, through which the light enters on the shelf, and which sash is kept in place by the hooks C. I) is a window which swings back and forth by means of the hinges L)'. This window, when closed, is fastened by the button E. This window was arranged to permit the printer to open it in the winter-time and sweep the snow from the glass, without the trou¬ ble of removing his frames, and then taking the sash of ground- glass in. There is another sash of plain glass made which is 16 THE PRACTICAL PR EX TER. placed out, in place of the ground one, when it is so desired by the printer. F is the window-cord by which the curtain is pulled up or let down, as occasion requires. G is the drawer in which the albumen paper is placed when it is ready for printing. H is the drawer in which the prints are placed when printed, through the little aperture K, which is cut in the bench, and supplied with a cover of tin or zinc, so as to avoid opening the drawer so often as to discolor the whites of the prints therein contained. L is the drawer in which the albumen paper is kept. M is a drawer in which the plain salted paper may be placed ; and N is another drawer in which the 7/wsalted paper can be placed. P P are nega¬ tives which are to be printed, and which, when they are printed, are temporarily placed as at P', until they are filed away, which is done in another room. The shelves RRR are also negative shelves, which are used Fig. 1. for special purposes, such as “ the family negatives,” etc. The wide shelf is made for the storing away of negative-boards, vign¬ ette-blocks, porcelain printing-frames, etc., all of which are kept in order. The filling of the boards, etc., will be spoken of further on; suffice it, for the present, to say that this filling is done on TIIE SILVERING- AND TONING-ROOM. 17 the bench T. U is the door leading to the ‘ ! silvering- and toning- rooms.” V is the fuming-box, which will also be explained further on. W is the box in which the old or used hypo bath is poured, and zinc is thrown into it. X is a bench which is used for one thing and another; also for keeping bottles, etc., upon. THE SILVERING- AND TONING-ROOM. The principal use of this room is to sensitize the paper after it is albumenized, or in the case of the plain paper, after it is salted, and then later in the day, when the sensitizing is through with, to tone and fix, as well as to wash the prints in, all of which things can be done without at all interfering with each other. A is a dark curtain, which in the figure is partly raised, but during the silvering and toning process it is brought down to A , Fig. 2. and the white bleached cloth screen B (which is shaded in the figure so as to show it more distinctly) covers the rest of the glass, and thus, in the toning, a soft and diffused light is given to that part of the room (the shelf C) where the toning is done. D is the silvering-dish, and D' is the place where this silvering-dish is kept when not in use. E is where the kettle of potash is kept for the purpose of cleaning old plates, h is where the nitric acid 2* 18 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. tray is kept. G G are two sinks. H is a shelf on which the toning-bath bottles may be kept. K is a rack with three over¬ lapping pieces of wood, to which there are a number of spring clips attached, which hold the pictures while draining, as they are removed from the water. L is a washing-tank which has a perforated false bottom, through which the water passes into the lower part, and thence into the waste-pipe L'. The stop¬ cock M is adjusted after the tank becomes three-quarters filled, so that it will permit the water to flow out as fast as it enters through the pipe N. P P is an overflow pipe, which conducts the water, when it reaches that place, into the waste-pipe L'. R is the place where the hypo dish is kept. S is the place where the two-gallon hypo bottle is placed. This bottle is always kept full of a satu¬ rated solution of hyposulphite of soda. V is the door that leads . into the drying-room. THE DRYING-ROOM. Fig. 3. This room was intended originally to only dry the paper, but" it has finally been used for a variety of purposes, mostly all con¬ nected with porcelain printing. A is the gas stove by which the room is heated. B is the paper as fastened to the clips for drying. C is a shelf on which the silver-bath bottles, as well as the collodio-chloride bottles, are placed. I) 1) 1) are porcelain plates, each hung upon two nails. DISHES, SCALES, GRADUATES, ETC. 19 THE NECESSARY DISHES, SCALES, GRADUATES, ETC. Graduate. Test-tube. « Iron Upright for the Printing- frames to rest upon. Whole Size Porcelain Dish, I^alf Size, . . . . Scales, Apothecaries’,. Filtering-paper, . Test-tubes, . Hydrometer, Filtering Funnels, Glass Mortar and Pestle, Large Iron Kettle, Graduates, . Tack Hammer, Wide-mouth Bottles, . Ground-glass, Silver Knife, Iron Uprights, NUMBER WANTED. . One. . One. . One pair. . Two packs—one large, one small. . Two. . One. . Four or five of various sizes. . One. . One. . One lfi oz.,one 8 oz., one l-8th oz. . One. Twelve of various sizes. A number of various sizes. . One. . Twelve. Besides the above, there are a number of other dishes, etc., which are needed, and which will be mentioned further on in various parts of this work. 20 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. * THE NECESSARY CHEMICALS. Acid, Acetic. » Citric. » Hydrochloric. » Muriatic. » Nitric. » Oxalic. » Sulphuric. » Tartaric. Alcohol, 95° and Common. Alum. Ammonia, Aqua. Ammonium Chloride. » Nitrate. Beeswax. Benzole. Calcium Chloride. Camphor. Cotton, Filtering and Negative. Ether, Sulphuric. Glass, Porcelain. Glue, Bonnet. Glycerin. Gold, Chloride. Gum Arabic. Lime, Carbonate. » Chloride. Lye. Magnesium Nitrate. Oil Bergamot. » Lavender. » Rosemary. Potash, Caustic. » Nitrate. » Cyanide. Silver, Nitrate. Sodium, Chloride. Soda, Bicarbonate. Soda, Sal. Turpentine, Spirits. Wax, White or Virgin. Whiting. The above are about all the chemicals that are used in the printing department of photography. The object of the writer in naming all the necessary dishes, scales, graduates, and chemi¬ cals, is to aid the beginner at photography in selecting those things which are indispensable in photographic printing, as he will at times need them all, and if he gets them in the first place, it will save much trouble afterwards in obtaining them. Part I. ALBUMEN PAPER PRINTING. CHAPTER I. THE POSITIVE BATH FOR ALBUMEN PAPER. To prepare the albumen paper, so that it will become sensitive to the light, it is necessary that it should be floated upon a positive nitrate of silver bath ; so called on account of its being the means by which the paper is enabled to receive the positive im¬ pression from the negative. This bath is chiefly composed pf crystal nitrate of silver and pure water. The strength should vary according to the temperature of the weather and the brand of paper used. A few years since there was considerable discussion in the lead¬ ing photographic publications, as to whether a strong or a weak bath was best for printing; a number of the leading photogra¬ phers being in favor of a strong bath, and about as many more in favor of a weak one. It might be supposed that a weak silver bath would generally necessitate a longer time for floating than a strong bath would ; and also that a bath weak in the number of grains of silver to the ounce of water would be more economical; but such is not the case. When a sheet of salted albumen paper is floated upon a bath of nitrate of silver, the salt in the albumen will take up the silver which it needs, whether the bath is a strong or a weak one, and chloride of silver will be formed. The albumen will also take up some in the form of albuminate of silver (Vogel’s Handbook) ; and then, if the sheet is allowed to remain on the bath too long a time, there will be more of the solution absorbed than what is really necessary, which will penetrate through the mere surface, and far into the albumen. The paper thus 22 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. floated and printed will have a sunk-in appearance, owing to the silver discoloring, which is absorbed far into the albumen, as before said, during the lengthened time of sensitizing. This sunk-ih appearance is not the only fault with long floating on a weak bath, for the albumen will be dissolved off, being left in the bath, and the paper will not print brilliant, but dull, and often flat prints will be.the result. A strong bath necessitates a long time of floating, because the albumen on the paper is at first coagulated by the strong silver- bath, and it takes quite a number of seconds for the albumen to commence to take up what silver it needs; whereas the albu¬ men on the paper not being coagulated by the silver in a weak bath, it will more readily absorb that silver which is necessary for the production of a good print. From this we find : 1. That a strong silver-bath requires a long time of floating. 2. That a weak silver-bath requires a short time of floating. 3. That a medium silver-bath requires a medium time of floating. There are, however, bad results obtainable by floating the paper a long time on a strong bath, as well as floating a short time on a weak bath. When we float the paper a long time on a strong bath, it will, when printed, make a bold and brilliant print; but the shadows will be very much bronzed, even when the prints are mounted. When we float the paper a short time on a weak bath, it will not be at all bronzed, but the prints are likely to be weak; and, on the other hand, if we float the paper a long time on this kind of a bath, the silver will be, as has been said, sunk in, or, as it is sometimes expressed, the paper will be “woolly,” i. e., with a surface fuzzy like wool. I do not mean by the first two remarks made above, that the extremes are to be indulged in, for then, in a measure, arises the bad results named ; and in the case of the weak bath, the abuse of the remark will be more especially a source of failure. We cannot, to obtain good results, use a bath weaker than thirty-five grains, or stronger than sixty grains of silver to the ounce of water, with many of the brands of paper which are gener¬ ally used ; while with other brands, thirty grains in summer, and sixty to seventy grains in winter, are best. For the excellent brand of paper known as the “Morgan,” the THE POSITIVE BATH FOR ALBUMEN PAPER. 23 writer found that a medium strong bath, say thirty-eight grains in summer and forty-eight grains in winter, of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water, was best; while with the “Hovey” brand of paper, a bath of not more than thirty-three grains, or less than twenty-eight grains of silver to the ounce of water, with twenty-five seconds’ floating, was necessary during the summer¬ time; and in the winter, when the negatives were printed out in the cold, he has known (not experienced himself) of a bath of seventy grains of silver alone, and from two to three minutes’ floating to be required to obtain good prints from the very thin negatives that were made. A weak bath loses so much after silvering a dozen sheets or so that it needs strengthening about all the time. A strong bath loses also, but the silver is not taken up in so large a proportion as it is from the weak bath; and the strong bath can be used for a much longer time, even until there will not be enough solution to sensi¬ tize the paper, without giving the printer any trouble whatever. The prints will be better in many respects with an average bath than with either the extremes, as a trial will show to the obser¬ vant printer. All of the solution that is on the paper should be, as much as possible, on the surface of the albumen, to prevent “woolliness,” and so as to have bold, vigorous prints, which can be easily freed from the nitrate of silver in the washing. In the making of the bath, good nitrate of silver and pure water are required. In about all cases where pure water is re¬ quired, filtered rain- or clean ice-water will answer. For the benefit of beginners, the process of making a silver- bath for sensitizing the albumen paper is here given. To make a bath of sixty ounces of solution, and forty grains strong of silver to the ounce, the number of grains of silver re¬ quired would be two thousand four hundred grains, or five ounces, at four hundred and eighty grains per ounce.* * The beginner must bear in mind that there are only four hundred and thirty-seven and a half grains to the ounce of nitrate of silver sold by the chemists, and not four hundred and eighty grains, according to which cal¬ culation the author mentioned as “ two thousand four hundred grains, or five ounces.” He buys it with four hundred and thirty-seven and a half grains to the ounce, and then re-weighs it, calculating on four hundred and eighty grains, simply because it is much easier to carry in the head. THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. 24 _ Pour into a large wide-mouth bottle sixty ounces of pure water. Now carefully weigh out five ounces of good nitrate of silver, and add it to the water in the bottle. Dissolve thoroughly, by shaking the contents of the bottle, which is very easily done without spilling the liquid, by holding the top of the bottle firmly with the left hand, and revolv¬ ing the bottom in a steady, circular motion with the right. The bath as now made is called a “plain nitrate of silver bath,” because of its being composed simply of nitrate of silver and water, and is used by many of our best photographers, ex¬ cept that the strength of it varies, sometimes being greater, and often less. Mr. H. T. Anthony, of New York, was the first to advise the use of alum in the printing-bath. It is, indeed, one of the very best things that can be added to the silver-bath, to give brilliancy and richness of tone to the prints. The theory of the alum, as an improvement when used in the printing-bath, is as fol¬ lows : The alum hardens the surface of the albumen paper when it is floated upon a silver-bath containing it, so that the solution is kept more on the surface, and when the paper is dried quickly, the resulting prints appear very brilliant, printing finely, es¬ pecially in the shadows, and are more easily and better toned and fixed, and the final washing is more likely to be thoroughly done. A small lump of alum is placed in the funnel through which the bath is filtered, and the solution, as it filters, will take up the quantity it needs. Mr. John R. Clemons has recommended the use of glycerin in the printing bath, in the proportion of one and a half ounces of pure glycerin to every sixteen ounces of solution. It has re¬ ceived great praise from many of the finest photographers in the country. Sal soda is often added to the silver-bath, in the proportion of a half ounce of the saturated solution of the soda to every sixty ounces of solution. On adding this, the bath will immediately turn milky; after the solution has been thoroughly stirred, it should be allowed to settle for awhile, and then filtered into another bottle before use, leaving the carbonate of silver (the Till? POSITIVE BATH FOR ALBUMEN PAPERS. 25 deposit) in the first bottle. When through silvering the paper, pour the solution back into the bottle where the deposit is, and again shake the contents. In the morning, the solution will be thoroughly clear, although the bath may have been very much discolored when it was poured into the bottle the night before. Let there always be a sediment of carbonate of silver in the bot¬ tle, and every other night add a few drops of the sal soda. Keep an “adding solution” always on hand, made up a little stronger, and as just described above, and every night, after a hard day's work, add a sufficient quantity thereto to keep up the quantity, but as to keeping up the strength of the bath, a half-ounce of a solution of one hundred and twenty grains strong of silver to the ounce of water should be added after every four sheets have been silvered. The writer has used a bath of this kind for months, and although the bath has often been very foul at night when poured in the bottles, it has never failed to be clear in the morning. Citric acid is also sometimes added to the printing-bath in a greater or less degree, according to the time the paper is re¬ quired to be kept, for this is principally the reason why the acid is added. When the paper is only required to be kept a day or so after sensitizing (so as to prevent it from turning yellow by being kept over night, on account of a sudden storm, etc.), the solution is made a very little acid, viz., a few drops of a weak solution being added. Fume fifteen minutes. The paper will print a little red, but it will most probably be very rich,.but this depends upon the negatives, etc. If it is desired to keep the paper a longer time, see Chapter V, Part I. The “citric acid printing-bath” should be tested at least every morning, if not oftener, to ascertain the degree of acidity. Never let your bath be acid with nitric acid, unless it is very, very slightly so, as the prints, besides being of a poor (photographically considered) red color, are very liable to be weak and flat. Nitrate of ammonia is very often used in the printing-bath, in the proportion of as many grains of the nitrate to the ounce of water as there may have been grains of nitrate of silver added. After adding the nitrate of ammonia to the printing-bath make slightly alkaline with liquid ammonia. 3 26 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. Sunning the bath for about half an hour or so after the nitrate of ammonia has been added and the solution made alkaline, is a good plan. Filter before use. A few formulte for baths for print¬ ing are now given, which have been found excellent. No. I.—Crystal Nitrate of Silver, .... 40 grains. Nitrate of Ammonia, . . . . • 35 “ Filtered Rain-water, ... .1 ounce. Saturated Solution Bicarbonate of Soda, about 8 to 10 drops, or enough to make the bath slightly alkaline. In place of the sodium, liq. ammonia can be used equally as well. Make up a sufficient quantity, and before filtering through cotton, place a lump of alum in the funnel, about quarter the size of an ordinary butternut. In the winter season, increase (about eight grains) the strength of each of the nitrates. No. 2.—Nitrate of Silver, Nitrate of Soda, Glycerin, Pure Water, 2 ]/ 2 ounces. • 3 . 40 << Make it a little alkaline with aqua ammonia. This bath is very- good, indeed, for the “Clemons” brand of paper, and can be used also for the “Hovey” brand; but for the latter paper we would recommend a bath as follows: No. 3.—Nitrate of Silver, Nitrate of Ammonia, Pure Water, 30 grains. 30 it i ounce. Make alkaline with ammonia, and add alum while filtering, as given above; or, if you prefer, add a grain of the alum to every ounce of the solution. The latter is probably the best. The alum, if added in this way, should be added before the bath is filtered. Float the paper, being sure that it is a little damp beforehand, from twenty to thirty seconds ; draw over a rod, and blot off the superfluous quantity of silver that is still on the paper between large sheets of white bibulous paper; dry quickly and thoroughly, and fume ten minutes. The Extra Brilliant S. & M. Dresden paper works finely with a plain silver bath of fifty-five to sixty-five grains strong of silver to the ounce of water, according to the time of the year, and THE POSITIVE BATH FOR ALBUMEN PAPER. 27 from one to one and a half minutes’ silvering. Fume not over two or three minutes. The above formulae and modes of working are for summer use but for winter the temperature of the solution should not be below fifty degrees, and the strength of the nitrates should be increased as well as the time of floating. Print, in the winter, in the printing-room under glass, and do not keep the tempera¬ ture of the room below fifty degrees Fahrenheit. There are some photographists who prefer an acid positive bath to an alkaline or a neutral one, because the resulting prints are red, and the red tone (which was so much in vogue at the time of writing the first edition of this book) is more easily obtained (?), so they say. If the bath is acid with nitric acid the result will not be as fine as it would be if citric acid were used, as the bath, if any more than very slightly acid with nitric acid, would so affect the paper floated upon it, that it would present a disagreeable red tone, often being weak and flat. The best results are obtainable with a bath which is either a trifle alkaline or just neutral. A good way to regulate the alkalinity of the printing-bath, is to note the way the paper is printing, and act accordingly. If it prints too blue, a drop or so of nitric acid, C. P., should be added to the bath; if too red,then a few drops of liquid ammonia. In testing this way, however, the printer should be sure that the paper is properly finned, and that the results are not occasioned by poor judgment in fuming. Place a piece of blue litmus-paper into the solution before you commence to “doctor” the bath, and note the exact color it turns. Nitric acid should always be added to the positive bath when it is not desired to make the solution acid for the purpose of printing red, but only to lessen the alkalinity of the bath. RECTIFYING THE POSITIVE BATH. The bath discolors, after it has been used for some time, owing to the albumen of the paper being left in it after floating, or dirt and other impurities having got into it through accident; or by leaving the dish uncovered when the bath was not in use; imper- 28 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. feet filtrations, and chemical matter which was impure, and by age having shown itself, also cause discoloration. Permanganate of Potash. —When the bath is only a little dis¬ colored, and it is a new one, this solution for awhile will answer capitally: Permanganate of Potash, . . . . .60 grains. Pure Water, ........ 6 ounces. Add about half a dozen drops, and stir the solution well with a clean glass rod. At first the bath will turn a dark rose color, and it will then considerably lighten, and if it does not stay so, but utterly disappears, then add a few drops more until a tempo¬ rary rose color remains. Now place the bath out in strong sun¬ light for half an hour, and after it has thoroughly cleared, and the rose color disappears, the organic matter can, in a great measure, be filtered out. Mr. Elbert Anderson in his book, The Skylight and the Dark¬ room, accounts for the action of this permanganate as follows: “As soon as the permanganate comes in contact with the bath, the organic matter becomes oxidized, and permanganic acid is liberated, forming permanganate of silver, which remains in the bath, and is precipitated to the bottom in dark, brownish-black flakes, whilst the permanganate itself is converted into peroxide of manganese. As soon as the solution is perfectly clear, most of the organic matter will be filtered out. Thus the permanga¬ nate precipitates most of the organic matter without the least injury to the bath.” Kaolin. —This is often used for clearing the printing-bath. A little of this powder is placed fin the bottle containing the dis¬ ordered bath, and the solution thoroughly stirred with a glass rod, and then allowed to settle for the space of a few minutes. Filter the decanted solution through cotton, and at night pour the bath again into the bottle containing the kaolin. Thus the same kaolin can be used a great many times. Chloride of Sodium. —Common table salt is very often used as a rectifier of a foul silver-bath, by making up a saturated solution of the salt with pure water, and adding about one-cpiarter ounce of the decanted solution to the bath, shaking the contents during the addition, and more briskly for a couple of minutes after. THE POSITIVE BATH FOR ALBUMEN PAPER. 29 Allow to sun, and filter the decanted solution. As there is a little of the silver thrown down in the form of a chloride, it will be found necessary to replenish the strength of the bath a few grains. Boiling the Solution. —About once every week or ten days, the printing-bath should be boiled down about two-thirds. Add a few grains of bicarbonate of soda, and then place it in an evapo¬ rating-dish on a sand-bath. Let cool (after it has boiled suffi¬ ciently) on the bath of sand; filter through paper, and then test by means of Pile’s test-tube and solution. Add pure water to reduce the strength of the silver, and then add whatever other ingredients you may see fit. As in making up a new bath, see to the alkalinity, filter again, and the bath will be ready for use. Fusing.-— Place the bath in a suitable size evaporating-dish, and boil down to dryness at a gentle heat, by means of a sand- bath. Scrape the silver which has ad¬ hered to the sides of the dish down to the bottom, and stir the solution with a glass rod until all the bubbling has ceased. Now turn the gas-jet off, and stir the mass constantly with a glass rod until it has cooled, and then it will be broken up, which is very desirable. In an hour or so, dilute the bath with pure water to the proper strength, and then remake the bath as just described above. The organic matter will be left in the filter. Sunning the Bath. —Make slightly alkaline always before sun¬ ning; and to prevent evaporation keep the bath cdvered. Filtering the Bath. —This can be done either by means of com¬ mon filtering-paper or through cotton. Good filtering-paper can be obtained from almost any stock- dealer, all prepared for use, of various sizes. Sometimes the filtering-paper is rendered useless on account of there being traces of hyposulphite of soda in it, but it is seldom the case. It can be tested as follows: Take a couple of sheets of the suspected paper, and place it in a small and perfectly clean evaporating-dish, in which there has been placed a small quantity of warm distilled water, say five 3 * Fig. 4. 30 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. ounces. Cover the dish over with a glass, and let the paper soak for a few hours, and then boil the water, with the paper still in it, for half an hour. Take a clean test-tube, and squeeze about an ounce of the water from the paper itself into it. This should be done with perfectly clean hands. Now dissolve about five grains of permanganate of potash in about an ounce of distilled water, and then add ten grains of bicarbonate of soda to it. When thoroughly dissolved and mixed, then let fall about three drops of it into the test-tube containing the water squeezed from the filtering-paper. If there is a trace of the hyposulphite in the water, the liquid will turn a more or less greenish tint, according to the quantity of the soda there may be in the so¬ lution. Look sharp! If there is none, the rich color of the test solution will not be lost, although its deepness may be lessened. When the latter is the case, the filtering-paper is all right. When it is desired to filter through the filter¬ ing-paper, fold it into six or eight different folds, so it will permit the air to escape through the spaces during filtration. In using cotton, first wet with alcohol, rinse the alcohol out by pure water, and after throwing the cotton in the filter¬ ing-funnel, it is then ready for filtering. If it filters too fast, press the cotton down in the neck more; if too slow, loosen with a glass rod. CHAPTER II. SILVERING THE ALBUMEN PAPER. For the purpose of silvering or floating the paper, a porcelain dish should be obtained and cleaned; when the printing-bath is properly filtered the solution is poured into it. Bubbles forming on the surface of the bath while pouring the solution in, if they do not break of their own accord, should be skimmed off with brown wrapping-paper. If they do not break, the bath is impure, and for temporary relief pour a little alcohol *in the solution. Considerable mechanical skill is required in silvering paper SILVER TNG THE ALBUMEN PAPER. 31 properly, for by proper treatment of the paper whilst silvering, many of the photographic printer’s troubles are, in a great meas¬ ure, lessened. Many printers, in placing the sheets of paper on the bath, take hold of two corners diagonally, and place the centre of the sheet on the bath first, and then in turn the two sides. In this way there will be a roiv of bubbles (minute in size) at that place where the paper first touches the bath, and which will take all the spare breath of the printer to break by blowing, and while' this blowing is being done, the paper will be silvering unevenly. Lay the dish on a bench in a room darkened with dark yel¬ low curtains (see page 17), and have the length of the dish run from your right to your left hand, as you stand facing it. In preparing to lay the sheets on the bath, first turn up the four corners of the sheet of paper to be sensitized at about one-eighth of an inch from the edge, so that you can readily lift it from the bath without having your fingers come in contact with the solution. Remark. —The sheet of albumen paper, as it lies before you in the drawer, or on the shelf described in the figure of the silver¬ ing-room (Fig. 2), is supposed to be back up, and consequently albumen side down. Take up the upper right-hand corner of the sheet (the length of it should run from right to left) with the right hand, and the lower left-hand corner with the left hand, and let the sheet as¬ sume a curved position, the right hand being highest. Lay the lower left-hand corner of the sheet (which you have hold of with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand) on the upper part of the dish (see Fig. 6), midway between the right- and left-hand corners, keeping hold of the turned-up corner while it is there, for the purpose of guiding the corner to its proper place in the dish. Now draw the corner that is on the solution gently towards the lower left-hand corner of the dish, and at the same time slowly lower the paper on the bath with the right hand, so that by the time the lower left-hand corner of the paper reaches the proper place, the whole of the sheet will be lying on the solution. 32 T1IE PRACTICAL PRINTER. The drawing of the paper towards you drives the bubbles that may be on the bath away from the sheet, so that when the sheet is all on the bath, the bubbles, if there are any, will be along the edges of, and beyond the paper. A slight tap on the back of the paper may be necessary, but that is all. While drawing the corner towards you, and lowering the others, be careful that the edges of the sides of the paper do not dip below the solution. If there should at any time happen to be any drops on the back of the paper, blot them off with blotting-paper. Frequently when the sheet is first placed on the bath, especi¬ ally during the cold weather, the edges of the paper will curl over. This is a frequent occurrence at all times of the year, where the albumen paper has been for a long time albumenized. Breathing gently ( not blowing) will immediately flatten it. The principal reason why this occurs is because the paper is too dry, as the moist air of the breath plainly proves, and hence a remedy shows itself: keep the paper in a very moist room for a day before sensitizing it. After the sheet has been silvered long enough, it is then to be raised from the bath. Take hold of the lozaer left- hand corner with the left hand, and slowly raise the paper until the upperleft- hand corner can be caught hold of and held with the right hand. Keep slowly raising the sheet until all the corners are off, and then let the few drops drain off that corner which ruas placed on the bath last. Hang the paper in a dark closet to dry, having that corner Fig. 7. the lowest from which the solution was drained off into the bath. Use a spring nipper to suspend the sheet by while drying, or hang it on poles, the sheets being placed diagonally, albumen side up, the pole running from corner to corner under the mid- SILVERING THE ALBUMEN PAPER. 33 die of the sheet. An even coat of the solution is thus given to the paper, so that all parts of it will print alike. The bath should be stirred every time a sheet of paper has been removed frotn it. It is an excellent plan to draw the sheet of paper, upon re¬ moving it from the bath, across a glass rod (Fig. 7), or if the edge of the dish is even, then over that, so as to leave the super¬ fluous solution in the dish. Do not pause while drawing the sheet over the rod, as it will show a mark in printing, The author is very much in favor of using blotting-paper for the purpose of blotting the paper, as it leaves the bath (Fig. 8 ), and then give the final drying to the paper by artificial heat. After the bath has been standing for some time without being in use, there will be a red¬ dish scum on the surface of it, which should be removed with strips of white bibulous paper before another sheet is floated. The time for floating the paper depends upon the strength of the bath, the temperature of both the bath and weather, the brand of paper used, and the class of negatives that are to be printed. As a general thing the paper is floated from twenty to sixty seconds in the summer, while in the winter season it is floated from forty-five seconds to one minute and three-quarters, but as there are so many local things to be taken into consideration, it is almost impossible to state exactly how long the paper will have to be floated, and the beginner will have to make this his con¬ stant study, to learn the exact number of seconds necessary. The double albumenized paper should be silvered a little longer time than the single, and to prevent cracking of the film, the paper should be a trifle damp before handling it for floating, and the finished prints, after washing, should be kept wet until mounted. When the bath is not in use, and you do not expect to use it again during the day, pour it back into the bottle at once, and place it out to sun. If you do expect to use it again, keep it covered up until wanted. 34 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. CHAPTER III. DRYING THE PAPER. [See Silvering-room, Fig. 2.J The sheets of paper, while drying, should, of course, be kept away from white light, and dried by means of a small je. of gas or a gas-stove, a soapstone about 6x8 inches in size being placed over it. In the summer-time the paper dries quite quickly, and the gas, therefore, is not needed until the latter part of the silvering, and then only for a few minutes, to dispel the slight moisture, if objectionable, that remains on the paper. Never allow, as a practice, the paper to dry spontaneously, unless in a very warm room, as the surface dries dead in lustre, but when heat is used it imparts a brilliancy to the surface which is of material benefit to the paper in its future stages, even before the completion of the printing process. To prevent the paper from curling up while drying, a stick, having a spring nipper attached to each end, is fastened to the lower part of the sheet. CHAPTER IV. FUMING THE PAPER. The paper, when thoroughly dry, is to be fumed. The advan¬ tages of fuming are: 1. The paper prints richer, quicker, and more brilliant. 2. The prints tone easier and the finished pictures are much more pleasing and satisfactory. The printed fumed paper (when the nitrate bath is in good order, and worked properly), will print a very rich purple tone, tending slightly to blue in the hair, background, and light shadows, while in the deepest shades the color will be very bril- FUMING THE PAPER. 35 liant and beautiful. It is well known by experienced printers that the better the paper prints, the better will be the finished pictures, and since fuming undoubtedly improves the printing-paper, it has come to be a very necessary part of the printing process. Fig. 9. The construction of the fuming-box is very simple. Take any common wooden box large enough for the purpose, and make a door of suitable size for it, which, when shut, will totally Fit; 9 exclude all light. Make a false bottom in this about six inches or so from the real one, and perforate it with holes of about the size an extra large gimlet would make. These holes should be exceedingly numerous, and at the centre of the board there should be, if anything, a smaller number of them, because the saucer containing the liquid ammonia is generally placed at the centre of the real bottom of the box. It may, perhaps, be better, since it does not retard the time of fuming so much, to have a fine wire gauze placed about the same number of inches from the bottom of the box, as was recommended above for the false bottom, and then the fumes of the ammonia will ascend more rapidly. A piece of pasteboard 36 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. could be placed advantageously at the centre of the gauze, over the saucer, for the purpose of equalizing the fuming. The sheets could be suspended in this box, by having a nipper nailed at each end of a stick of sufficient length, which is fastened at the top of the box, parallel to the bottom of the box. Several of these strips could be placed at about three inches apart, and thus quite a number of sheets could be fumed at one time. The common concentrated liquid ammonia is generally used to fume the paper, about half an ounce of it being placed in a saucer at the bottom of the box. Carbonate of ammonia is used by some on account of its cheapness, but it is rather an inefficient mode of fuming. A little of the liquid poured on the carbonate answers very well. Sometimes, during damp weather, the fuming of the paper is attended with unsatisfactory results, on account of the great moist¬ ure of the paper, which tends towards turning it yellow; but this is generally overcome by pouring a little chloride of lime on the bottom of the box. This chloride of lime has powerful bleach¬ ing qualities, and prevents the paper from turning yellow. It also improves the printing qualities of the paper in such weather, and imparts a virgin whiteness to vignettes. The time of fuming the paper depends upon the state of the nitrate-bath, the quality of the negatives, the temperature of the weather, and the brightness of the light. Paper silvered on an acid bath needs much longer fuming than when silvered on an alkaline or a neutral one; paper for intense negatives less fuming than weak ones; during the summer less fuming than during the winter; and on a dark day less of fuming is required than on a bright day. All these things are to be taken into account, and the beginner will do well to note them care¬ fully. As in the case of floating the paper, the beginner will best learn by experiments. PRESERVATION OF SENSITIVE PAPER. 37 CHAPTER V. PRESERVATION OF SENSITIVE ALBUMENIZED PAPER; WASHED SENSITIVE PAPER. For amateurs, and for those professional photographers who only print now and then, say, not more than half a dozen times a month, a durable sensitive albumen paper would be an excel¬ lent thing, and for that reason the subject is worthy of the strict¬ est attention. For the purpose of preparing the bath so that it will keep the paper when floated upon it in good condition, such acids as oxalic, citric, and tartaric, are added in various proportions to a plain silver-bath, ranging from twenty-five to forty-five grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce of solution. The paper is then dried, and kept between large white sheets of blotting-paper, or in dark drawers in which there is a box placed containing chloride of calcium, which is there for the pur¬ pose of absorbing the moisture from the air, so as to keep the paper thoroughly free from it, which is very essential if the pho¬ tographer desires to keep it for any length of time. An excellent method, and which is used very successfully in England, is to make up a bath of about forty grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water, neutralizing it with sal soda. The paper is floated from forty-five to seventy-five seconds. Make up a carbonate of soda solution, from twenty to twenty- five grains of the soda to the ounce of pure rain-water, and float large sheets of blotting-paper upon it until they have become thoroughly saturated with it, and then remove and dry them thoroughly. The sensitive albumen paper, when it is about three-quarters dry, or while there is a moisture to the surface, is placed between sheets of the dry carbonate of soda blotting- paper and evenly pressed. The paper is then removed to fresh blotting-paper, until the moisture has all been absorbed. The paper will then have carbonate of silver in its composition, which renders it very sensitive to the light, prints finely, and it will tone much more beautifully, on account of its alkalinity, 4 38 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. % than an acid bath will. This paper will keep in good condition in the summer for one month, if it is kept in a cool and totally dark place, and in the winter it will keep two or three times as long. Mr. Charles F. Richardson, of Wakefield, Mass., has perfected a permanent sensitive albumen paper for the trade, which is ex¬ cellent; at one time I remember having placed some of the paper in my own toning-bath with my own sensitive paper, where it worked so nicely that it could hardly be selected from the other prints, so perfect was the action of the gold upon it. Try it. WASHED SENSITIVE PAPER. Paper sensitized in the usual way and then washed, acquires keeping properties similar to that floated on a bath prepared es¬ pecially for the purpose. The paper when washed should never be soaked in a bath of water, but only drawn through it once , and should not be permitted to remain in it one second longer than is really necessary, or it will surely make flat prints. The paper is floated upon the silver-bath as you would do for ordinary sen¬ sitizing, and when drained sufficiently it is drawn through a luke¬ warm bath of pure water, permitted to drain again, and then hung up to dry. Long sensitizing on a strong bath is necessary for the success of the washed paper, and the water should be fresh every time you wash a sheet of paper. The used water can have the silver in it thrown down in the form of a chloride by sprinkling a little salt in it. An excellent bath for the paper that is destined to be washed is made as follows: Nitrate of Silver, . Nitrate of Amm., . White Sugar,. Pure Water, . 60 grains. 30 “ 3 ounces. 1 ounce. Make neutral (/. e., neither acid nor alkaline) with bicarbonate of soda; float two minutes, let drain, and then pass the paper quickly through a citric acid bath of one grain of the acid to the ounce of pure water. Dry thoroughly, and pack away the paper PRESERVATION OF SENSITIVE PAPER 39 in the dark without fuming, being careful at no time to expose it to the light. This paper will keep white for months if it is packed between blotting-paper in a box which is made air-tight. To preserve the paper for a long time, it is necessary—first, to prevent white light from ever striking the surface until it is to be printed; sec¬ ond, to always pack the paper in a dark room, and the packing should be so conducted that the paper in the boxes should be perfectly protected from the air;*third, the packed boxes should be placed in a cool and dry place, and not in a place where the atmosphere is apt to be changeable. The paper should be fumed from twenty to twenty-five minutes, when about to print it, and chloride of lime should be in the fuming-box at the time, to absorb the moisture of the ammonia and to keep the paper white, for preserved sensitive paper turns quite yellow while being fumed. Paper is often, instead of being drawn through water, floated upon a bath containing alum in the proportion of four or five grains of alum to the ounce of water, or on a bath of water in which there is a .little hydrochloric acid. There is some fault found with the acid on account of its being too insensitive. Objection is also raised to the simple citric acid, but in the latter case, instead of its being too insensitive, it is the reverse. In the case of the citric acid, if the number of grains to the acid to the ounce of water is not too large, it will work well. Durable sensitive paper, whether washed or not, should always be fumed before use. TONING. For good success at toning the citric acid (durable) paper, whether the acid is in the composition of the printing-bath, or win ther the paper is drawn through or floated upon a bath of diluted citric acid, the washing before toning should be com¬ paratively very slight, and although the paper may be red, you should soak the prints in a very weak bath of acetic acid and water (a minim of the acid to the ounce of water) for five minutes, and then rinse well. For toning citric acid paper, have the bath very alkaline, and if the prints should refuse to tone nicely, drop in about six or eight minims of a plain silver solu- 40 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. tion, ten grains strong of the silver to the ounce of the water. Stir well, and let stand for five minutes. Warm the toning solution quite warm, and then allow it to cool to a lukewarm state before using. The ordinary toning-bath can be used very successfully in toning the durable paper; indeed, there is no necessity for any other bath than the ones which will be given in a future chapter. The alum-bath paper will tone more easily than the citric acid, and in toning this paper the toning-bath need not be so alka¬ line. CHAPTER VI. CUTTING THE PAPER. The hands should be perfectly dry, free even from any perspi¬ ration, for if this is not strictly regarded in the handling of the paper, “ finger stains ” will appear on those parts of the paper with which the fingers come in contact. In cutting the paper, an ivory newspaper cutter, about eight inches long and an inch wide, together with a suitable size pair of shears, are used. In cutting the pafSer for large prints, such as 13x16, 14x17, 16x20, etc., the beginner had best (to obtain the right size) lay over the sensitive paper the proper size mat that is to be placed over the print when finished, and then cut accordingly. Con¬ siderable paper can be saved in this way and be printed in card size. In cutting the paper for an 11x14 print, the length of the sheet is generally placed before the printer, and bent over one- half, and then cut, leaving the size of the paper about 11)^ X19 inches. If printing vignette pictures it is best, perhaps, to bend over a little more than one-half to make certain of the size. The little less than one-half of the sheet left can be cut up into cards, etc. Fig. 10. In cutting cabinets out of a sheet, fifteen is all that CUTTING THE PAPER. ( 41 can very well be obtained, and to get that number, lay the sheet on a wide table (with the length of it running from right to left), and divide it into three equal parts. Five cabinets can be obtained out of each strip, or fifteen out of the whole. J u One-eighth of a sheet is used f for a 4-4, one-quarter of a sheet for an extra 4-4. To obtain thirty-two cartes de visiles , quarter the sheet, and divide each quarter into eight equal pieces. Fig. 11. To obtain thirty-six pieces out of a sheet it is neces¬ sary for convenience to first quarter it, and then divide it into three equal strips taken from the length of the paper. The pieces thus cut will measure 3^x9 inches, which » will answer admirably for the stereoscopic jj size. Each one of these strips of paper can " be cut into three generous cartes, making nine out of a quarter, or thirty-six out of a whole sheet. Fig. 12. Forty-two cartes can be obtained very neatly by lay¬ ing the sheet before you, and dividing it as indi¬ cated by the dotted lines. In making out the above calculations I have reck¬ oned on the sheet being 18x22 inches, but it is rarely that small, gener¬ ally nearer 19x23 inches. Forty-two cards is all that should be obtained from a sheet of paper, but there is a way of obtain¬ ing forty-eight, as well as fifty-two, but as that re¬ quires too much care at first for the beginner, I will not here give it, as it might possibly do irreparable mischief. Fic . 12. 18 inches. Fig. 11. N X CO 3% x 9 inches. Stereoscope. 9 inches. Fig. 10. 4 2-5 inch. 6 inch . 22 inches. 42 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. CHAPTER VII. THE PRINTING-BOARDS. For the purpose of printing from the negatives upon the sen¬ sitive paper, printing boards are constructed. They are of vari¬ ous sizes, and can always be found in stock at a dealer’s when the regular sizes only are required, such as 5x8, x8^, 8x 10, etc. There is a deep, as well as a shallow frame made, the former generally being used for vignettes, giving softness to the edges of the halo, if there is considerable space between the negative and the vignetting card-board , the latter frame generally being used for all plain printing. The back-board of all the different kinds of frames should have soft pieces of cotton-flannel glued thereto, napped side out, on the side, of course, which is placed next to the negative, as this gives a soft cushion to the back-board, which is a desirable thing. If loose pads are used in changing the frames, and after a fresh piece of paper is placed on the negative, the padding on the back of the frame can be dispensed with, but generally both classes of padding are used. There is a printing-frame which is of “home” manufacture (Fig. 13) which is very popular among printers on account of its convenience when tinting borders of oval or medal¬ lions, “printing in gray,” etc. Its construction is very simple, consisting of a flat piece of some hard wood, the width of which is cut into two pieces in such a way as to have one piece one-third larger than the other. The separate pieces are now joined together by means of a cou¬ ple of small hinges. A button Fig. 13. is fastened to the smaller of the two pieces. This button should / THE PRINTING-BOARDS. 43 be large enough to keep the two pieces together when it is but¬ toned. This arrangement will permit of the larger of the two pieces being lowered or not, according to the desire of the printer. The reason of this will at once be obvious. On the front part of the board, and at the lower part of it, two or three pieces of woollen cloth should be tacked, which will give the paper, when laid upon it, a soft, yet sufficiently hard, cushion for the purpose required. The negatives are kept in place on these boards, if printing is to be done, by means of some spring brass with wooden feet, each foot (two in number) being made of a piece of wood two inches long, one-third of an inch wide, and about one-half of an inch thick. These feet are fastened to one end of each spring by means of some screws; they are so fastened that they will move or not, at the option of the printer. The other end of these springs is fastened to the lower corners of the board. These frames are often used in vignetting, because the wooden feet are good to keep the pasteboard attached to the vignetting block in place. Figs. 14 and 15 represent the well-known patterns of frames known as the “shallow” and “deep,” made by the American Fig. 14. Optical Company, New York, and I would not do my duty to my readers if I did not place them in the way of getting the best sort of printing-frames, by alluding to the superior facilities which the American Optical Company’s make afford the printer, the backs being opened not only in the ordinary way (transversely in the centre), but one-third or two-thirds of the length of the 44 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. back, either transversely or laterally. They are made very carefully, of the best well-seasoned cherry, so that they do not Fig. 15. warp or shrink, as is too often the case with most of the goods in this line which are sold by irresponsible parties. CHAPTER VIII. KEEPING TALLY. Theke are various methods adopted for the purpose of “keeping tally,’’ but the writer will give only one, which is as good as any. A part of the main printing-board is cut away for this purpose, and that part should be the back of the frame. A piece of a common erasible tablet is either glued or tacked to the place made for it on the frame, and a soft lead-pencil (the marks can be easily era¬ sed with a damp cloth) is used in keeping the tally. It will be seen by a glance at the cut that ten prints have been printed from the negative in the printing-frame, and when two more have been printed the Fig. If). Keeping Tally. VIGNETTE PRINTING-BLOCKS. 45 order of twelve is finished. When done, another negative is placed in the frame, the number wanted written at left hand of tablet, after erasing the last memoranda, and the tally system kept as before. CHAPTER IX. VIGNETTE PRINTING-BLOCKS. In making vignette printing-blocks, well seasoned pine or basswood should be used. The opening of the blocks should be of various sizes, from a small carte de visite size up to an imperial, or 20-24 vignette. For the “whole size” impression, the width of the opening should be three to four inches, and the length should vary from three and a half to four and a half inches. For the next size larger head, 7x9, the width should be from three and a half to four and a half inches, and the length from four and a quarter to five and a half inches. For 11x14 negatives, the width should vary from five and three-quarters to six and three-quarters, and the length from six and three-quarters to eight and three-quarter inches. For 14x18 negatives, the width should be from six and three-quarter to seven and three-quarter inches, and the length from nine to eleven inches, and in proportion for larger sizes. The above-stated dimensions answer only for a trifle lighter background than the average ; for with a darker one, a dark piece of paper would have to be placed at the side, and if the dra¬ peries are dark, then there should also be a piece at the bottom part of the opening; for without it the block, and consequently the halo, would be too large. It is impossible to give the exact rule for the opening of the block in all cases; the only thing is to be guided by experience and good taste. The depth of these vignette-blocks is probably about the most important part of the making of them. 46 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. These blocks should be deep in proportion to the size of the opening of the vignette of the block. Thus, for a 4-4 up to an 8x10 size vignette-block, the depth should vary from about one and a quarter to two and a quarter inches. For 11 x 14 vignette-blocks, from two and a half to three and a half inches; and for 14x18 blocks, from three and a quarter to four and a half inches. This is, however, very changeable, according to a variety of circumstances, as the make of the printing-frame itself, the depth of tone to the background of the negative, as well as faulty grounds, etc., in the latter case, often especial blocks have to be made, which will, with the aid of one or two “dodges,” answer very well. The shape of the apertures of these blocks should be like that of an ordinary hen’s egg, the narrow end being intended for the head of the portrait, and the wider end for the shoulders. In the making of the blocks, the opening should be bevelled out quite a distance towards the under part of the block, all of the way from two to four inches, according to the size, so that it will not stop the halo from printing out, and thus occasion a sharp line on the print. The weight of the vignette-blocks, of the larger sizes especially, can be lessened by tacking thick pasteboard to the under part. It will be seen by the perusal of the above that we have alto¬ gether omitted writing anything about a vignette-block smaller than a “whole-size,” because, for these small sizes, it is not thought best to use wooden vignette-blocks, as will be shown more fully in Chapter XII; or better, Waymouth’s Vignette Papers, described further on. Fig. 17 TREATMENT OF NEGATIVES BEFORE PRINTING. 47 » CHAPTER X. TREATMENT OF NEGATIVES BEFORE PRINTING. Before printing from the negatives, the beginner should hold them up and study them by transmitted light, to see which is the best way to improve them. The negatives, as they are received from the retoucher, should, in the majority of cases, be ready for printing without any further treatment of the printer; but, as a general thing, if careful to note every little thing, the printer can in some way improve their printing qualities. As this is one of the most important parts of the printing, it is well worth all of the printer’s attention to excel in it. Let us here note the several parts of the negative to be studied and improved. THE BACKGROUND. Often there are streaks (Fig. 18) running through the back¬ ground, which should be filled up with lead to the opacity of the surrounding parts, when said streaks are not as dense as the rest of the background when viewed through transmitted light. Sometimes the background is very bad indeed, so much so that the pen¬ cil will not thoroughly remove the streaks. In such cases the negative, besides (if consistent with position, etc.) being printed in a small vign¬ ette to get rid of a large proportion of it, may have upon the back of it, over those transparent places likely to be visible in the print, some trans¬ parent color. The writer generally uses for this purpose Prussian blue water color, which is applied by means of a brush, in smooth and even Fig. 18. 48 TIIE PRACTICAL PRINTER. stripes; and then the background, according to how nicely this blue painting has been done, will print proportionately better. Often “smoking the negative” is resorted to, which consists in moving constantly the back of the negative over a smoking lamp until the smoke has gathered on the negative to the right opacity. Then, after removing the smoke that may be on the face, hands, and other parts of the figure, you proceed to remove it from that part of the background which prints the lightest on the print, and leaving it on that part which prints the darkest, and then the smoke, if not too thick, will stop out about enough, so that the background may print pretty fairly in a vignette or illuminated print, as the case may be. Always print negatives with bad backgrounds in vignette style, if possible. Another way to clear or equalize the background, is to flow some of “ Hance’s Ground-glass Substitute” on the back of the negative, clear it away from the face and figure with a rag damp with alcohol, and with a stump rub plumbago on the “substitute ” immediately over the places where the stains are. Always print such “doctored” negatives under tissue-paper. THE SHADOWS. The Face .—In life, all of the shadows of the face are trans¬ parent, i. e., there is always plenty of detail in them. In a negative, however, this is often different, the shadows being generally quite black, more so by far in the majority of cases than they should be. Under the eye there is often a heavy line, and over it a very heavy shadow, which in life does not show as plainly as it does in the negative, partly because they are flesh color, and because —unless the person is in direct sunshine—there is no marked contrasts between the light and the shade, and even then, if we do not look for them, they are very seldom attracted by an eye unaccustomed to the studying of the different effects of light and shade throughout all nature. In a photograph where everything is either black or white, with proper gradations, these shadows and lines are more observable than they are in life, on account of their printing black. TREATMENT OF NEGATIVES BEFORE PRINTING. 49 These shadows, etc., to be true (at least as far as possible) to nature, should be removed more or less, according to circum¬ stances (Figs. 19 and 20). The lines under the eyes should then Fig. 19. Fig. 21. Fig. 20. be removed in a great measure, in many cases (according to the age of the person, etc.), only leaving a trace of each line there, and they will then be as observable in the photograph as they are in life. The shadows under the eyebrows should then be very much removed, unless there has been considerable time given to the negative in exposing, and thus soft shadows with plenty of detail obtained. As long as there is detail and softness to the shadows, there is never much need of having them lightened more than a mere trifle. In lighting the shadows in printing, young beginners often carry it too far—so far as to make the prints in the neighborhood of the eye, or wherever the place maybe, look very flat (Fig. 21), and thus have an equally bad result, but in another way. About the eye there should always be a proper amount of shadow, so as not to make it look swollen. This lightening of the shadows can very nicely be done by striping evenly or stippling some transparent color on the back of the negative, exactly behind the place to be lightened. As has before been said, we generally use Prussian blue, which comes in little cakes, costing about seventy-five cents per cake. It is applied with a suitable brush wet with a little water, and upon which a little of this blue is dissolved. The thickness of this color can be determined only by a great deal of experience, and to blue paint a negative nicely is accomplished only after con¬ siderable practice. The lines between the eyes can be touched out best by the use of a Siberian No. 2 lead-pencil. In touching them, do not take them thoroughly out, unless the scowl was occasioned by the strong light in which the sitter sat, and is not habitual. 50 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. There are sometimes very heavy shadows occasioned in light¬ ing—“ after the manner of Rembrandt” (?)—and the shadows are sometimes so very heavy as to be displeasing; then it be¬ comes necessary to soften them. This is done before printing, by placing a proper coat of ‘‘blue paint” on the back of the negative and over the whole side of the face. Considerable skill is required in placing this on so large a place, because if it is not placed on even it will print spotty. Sometimes there are heavy shadows under the nose, chin, and often in the ears. Treat as above. It is necessary sometimes to prepare the lights of the negatives for printing, although generally they are doctored during and after the time of printing. For instance : very often the lightest side of the face will be too light when the shaded side is fully printed, and to prevent this it is sometimes necessary to blue- paint (as we shall hereafter term it) the shaded side as described above, so as to permit the light side to print without overprint¬ ing the shadow one. Generally while printing, when the shaded one is done, and there is some detail on the light side, the print is taken off, and the blank white side shaded or tinted a little in strong light, by permitting the light to pass through a suitable aperture, cut in a dark piece of paper, on the side to be tinted. More of this further on. Never do the shading as last described unless there is some detail on the light side, because if there is not, the discoloring of the light side will flatten it very much, and thus be the means of ruining the prints. Your object is to soften a little, and not flatten a great deal, and as before said, there should be some detail on that side to accomplish the desired result. In shading this side, a very few seconds’ exposure to the sun¬ light will suffice. INTENSITY. In glancing through a negative the intensity of it is also to be thought of, because it is necessary to adopt a certain n>ode of treatment for such a negative, whether it is intense, weak, or medium. TREATMENT OF NEGATIVES BEFORE PRINTING. 51 An intense negative, as shown under the head of Printing In¬ tense Negatives, is so called on account of the whites of the negatives, such as the face, hands, arm, etc. (when viewed by transmitted light), being quite dense; more or less so according to the degree of intensity. Such a negative will yield prints that will be correspondingly light. When the negative is too intense, the whites of the prints will be what is termed “chalky,” and if the exposure of the print is so far continued as to print in detail on those whites, then the shadows will print too black, thus making a decided black and white print. This is, however, treated under the head of Print¬ ing Intense Negatives. My object, at present, is to explain the treatment of intense negatives necessary before printing As such negatives should be printed quickly, it is best not to have any color on the back of them, to take out shadows, etc., as described above, because it will then be necessary to delay the time of printing them a little, to prevent this color from printing a harsh edge on the prints, as it will certainly do if the negatives are placed in the direct ra}'sof the sunlight. Fill up these places, if necessary, with lead from the pencil on the varnished side of the negatives. If one coat of varnish will not take enough lead, then varnish again with a thin varnish, and then this new surface will probably take all the lead that is necessary. If, however, this will not answer, then blue-paint the negative and print in strong sunlight, after having covered the printing-frame with one or more ground-glasses, and even with a tissue-paper, if it is found necessary. In printing intense negatives, print more for the shadows than for the lights. WEAKNESS. Weakness in negatives is the contrary to that which is described above, in relation to intensity. Weak negatives are very thin, i. e., they are semi-opaque, or have more transparent lights than an intense negative, and when held to the light, objects beyond can be distinctly seen through the densest parts. Of course the rays of the sun would pass through such a nega- 52 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. tive more quickly than it would an intense one. The beginner must remember that the (juicker the light passes through the nega¬ tive the less bold will the result be. The methods of treatment for such negatives are very numer¬ ous. I have frequently blue-painted the whole of a face and hands of such negatives (with the exception, of course, of the eyes and shadows in the former), so as to permit deeper printing of the hair, dress, etc., while the face and hands are printing, thus making the prints bolder.than they would be if it were not done. This in a great degree prevents flatness, as the resemblance between the light, shades, background, hair, dress, etc., is said to be very effective, as it permits the shadows and those parts of the negatives which should print dark to print a shade darker than they would have printed before this treatment. Printing under yellow and blue tissue-paper is sometimes very good, but the prints do not work so well in the further operations as they would if they were printed under white and not colored paper, Printing under a ground-glass laid flat on the back of the nega¬ tive, ground side down, or a piece of porcelain glass, or printing in deep shade, are all very good for weak negatives. The advantages and disadvantages of what has been said about weak negatives and their treatment, will be described more at length under the head of “Printing Weak Negatives.” DRAPERIES. One of the most important parts of a negative, to the ladies at least, is the dress, etc., and upon this often depends solely their liking or disliking the photographs. Wrinkles in dresses, especially about the upper part of the body, are to be carefully prevented from printing, if the wrinkles spoil the beauty of their otherwise fine form. Never, however, touch them if they do not spoil the figure. If the figure is a standing one, and there are many wrinkles about the waist of the dress, caused by an ill-fit on the part of the dressmaker, they should be taken out; this can be done with the lead-pencil. Does the lace-collar show well ? If not, touch up the lace-work, TREATMENT OF NEGATIVES BEFORE PRINTING. 53 or, better still, send the negative again to the retoucher, and get him to finish his work. All of these little things should be looked at by the printer before he prints from his negatives, and if there should be any¬ thing that you notice, and which escaped the notice of the re¬ toucher, then you should never fail to get that artist to improve them, by a little more work, before a single print is made towards the completion of the order. Are the dresses in the negatives white ? If they are, do you think that they will print well ? Draw your pencil along the tops of the folds, so as to make the dress print bold, by having some contrast between the lights and slight shades. The above answers for a dress that has been about rightly ex¬ posed, but for an overtimed one, after the face, hands, etc., of the lady are printed enough, take a cloth, and, placing the nega¬ tive-board out in the sunlight, keep moving it over these parts of the negative, and let the dress print still more. This is sometimes a most tedious operation but a very good one. The negative, if you choose, can be printed by placing first one thickness of tissue-paper over the whole negative, but on to the outside of the printing-board; and over the head, hands, etc., of the negative, paste (if possible also on the board, but over the other tissue at any rate) several other tissues cut to the size of the places that you wish to prevent from overprinting, viz., the face, hands, etc These pieces of tissue-paper should be pasted on the other whole piece of tissue, and directly over the places to be shaded. Do not place paste overall parts of the small pieces of tissue that is to be placed on the boards, but just touch the pieces sufficiently to make their edges stick to the rest of the paper. Print face to the sunlight. This treatment will permit the dress to print darker without the tedious operation of shading by hand the face of the nega¬ tive to prevent it from overprinting. This is particularly advan¬ tageous when a dozen or two prints are to be printed from this negative, and all the time and trouble that is required is only while printing the first print, as the rest of the order can then be printed like a plain print. 54 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. After the order is printed the tissue-paper can easily be packed away in an envelope on the glass side of the negative, and thus saved for future use. Dark dresses should sometimes be permitted to print after the face and other parts of the lights, such as the face, hands, etc., are done, so as to obtain fine, rich draperies. Are there any tufts of hair projecting out beyond the head, and which you think do not look well? If there are, touch them out. Are the frizzles on the lady’s forehead regular, and do they look pretty ? Can the hair be improved in any other way than what has been mentioned ? Are the frowns removed as much as they should be, taking into consideration the age of the subject ? How are the deep, heavy lines in the face; are they all right? The hollow cheeks, cheekbones, and the ears; how are they? Do the veins on the hands and the cords in the neck need “doctoring?” Since we have examined about all parts of the negative before placing them out to print, we will watch and notice to see if the places doctored are properly done ; that the prints are as bold and brilliant , yet as soft, as they should be, and if there is as much detail in the prints as we wish. CHAPTER XI. FILLING OF THE BOARDS. When a young man first commences to print he should then be taught the carefulness required in filling the boards, and in hopes that this chapter may arrest the eye of the young beginner, I have attempted to show in what respects carefulness is required. When a printer has learned to print carelessly then it is very hard to instruct him to be careful, and consequently such a printer will always be making mistakes all his life, however experienced FILLING OF THE BOARDS. 55 at printing he may be. Then the placing of the negative in or on the printing-boards is not the simplest thing in the world; and then again, glass sometimes cracks if it is allowed to fall in the frame. Always see that the edges of the negative is cut clean, as rough, ragged edges invite a cracking of the glass. If the negative is too large, cut it smaller, and don’t try to force it in the frame ; if it is too small, place in a plain glass, and set the negative thereon. The dusting of the negative, to remove any dust that may have settled on it, should be accomplished by a wide, soft blender of camel’s hair. To dust the negative, never lay the flat side of the brush horizontally to the negative and then draw it along, but hold the brush perpendicular to it, and use the tips of the camel’s hair. Immediately after dusting, place the paper on the nega¬ tive. In placing the paper on, many printers spoil their prints by not placing it up high enough on the negative, and then again by placing it too high. Paper with metal and albumen spots on it, can be very often saved when the albumen spots are not too large, by placing that part of the paper containing the spots on the deepest shadow parts of the negatives. In placing paper on vignette negatives, choose the very best, and never place paper on them that has the water-mark on it. As a rule, always place the imperfections of the paper, when you think that it can be saved, on the negative so that they will come in all cases either in the hair, draperies, if dark, or in the shadow parts of the negatives. After placing the paper on the negatives, a cloth or two should be placed in, so as to secure better contact between the negative and paper. Care should be exercised that in placing pads in, that there are not too many placed there, as there is danger of breaking the negative if the pressure in closing the frame should be too heavy. A few years ago fuming-pads were used behind the sensitive paper, which were intended to fume the paper during the process of printing, but of late yeafs it seems to have been discarded. Often negatives are broken by means of loose tacks laying around on the printing-bench, sticking to the pads, and then 56 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. being laid in the printing-frame on the paper, and the pressure applied ; hence always shake the pads before placing them on the paper. In adjusting the pressure, always have it as gentle and even as possible, as strong and uneven pressure endangers the negative. Clean the back of the negative with a woollen rag wet with a little common alcohol, before placing it out to print. CHAPTER XII. FITTING VIGNETTE-BOARDS TO THE NEGATIVES FOR PRINTING. In fitting vignette-boards to the negatives for printing, there are several things to be thought of and taken into consideration. Due regard should be given to the background, for generally one side of it is darker than the other, especially when the light¬ ing is after the so-called Rembrandt, for then it is generally the custom to have the background on the lighted side of the face darker than that on the other side, and vice versa, so as to give boldness and vigor to the prints from such negatives. When the background is as described, the vignette-board should not be placed so far on that side of the figure that has the darkest side of the background, because the vignette on the print will not be even, but one-sided. The vignette-board, card-board, or paper, as the case may be, should either be placed more over towards the other side, or if you do not wish to print so far on that side (the lightest), then you can paste a piece of dark paper on the vignette-board, in such a way as to cover up a great part of the dark side, and then upon printing it face to the sunlight, the prints from such negatives will be much better, being more evenly vignetted. Often it will not in every particular answer to paste this paper on all of that side, because it may make the drapery print badly. When, in lighting his subject for the shadow effect, the operator allows the light and shade to act strongly on the drapery as well as the face, then the former will print light on the side where FITTING VIGNETTE-BOARDS TO THE NEGATIVES. 57 Fig. 22 the background prints dark, and when we place paper on the dark side of the background to prevent it from haloing out too far, we thus in a measure, if not careful, prevent this already light side from printing as much as it ought. To remedy this, it is often necessary to cut out still further the vignette-board where the draperies are, in such a way as to permit all to print nicely on that side, without permitting the background to print out too far. Thus the outside of a vignette-board will often have a very bad appearance as regards the shape, sometimes having the shape shown in Fig. 22, and for this reason it is better to make the vignette opening out of paste¬ board, as it will be a difficult thing to alter the shape of an opening if made of wood. Another advantage in using average thick pasteboard is because greater softness is imparted thereby to the halo of the vignette, if the pasteboard is raised to a proper dis¬ tance from the negative. The great disadvantage of many of the wooden vignette-blocks is that the opening of the under part of the blocks is not bevelled out far enough for the purpose of obtaining soft halos to the prints. When we fasten such a vignette-block on to a printing-frame for vignetting, the under part of the block rests on the negative, and when the opening of the block is m^ bevelled out far enough, the diffused light will cause a too abrupt edge to the halo. This is the reason why soft halos are so hard to obtain with wooden vignette-blocks, and there are some printers who cannot obtain them, try as hard as they will, because they do not look to the block as the cause of their trouble. When the block is not bevelled out far enough, the diffused light entering will cause the sharp edge to print just where the block touches the negative. This can be prevented by bevelling the block out further, and also softer. The light, as it enters through the tissued aperture, will diffuse out almost exactly as far as you are able to see under the block by applying your eye close to the vignette-block and looking under. If, while looking, you see the edge of the bevelling of the block touch the negative, you can depend upon not obtaining soft halos until the defect in the block is remedied. 58 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. But softness to a halo can be obtained better by the use of a common cardboard, with an aperture suitable to the size of the negative, etc., because in this case there is nothing to stop the diffusing of the rays of the sun, as there is in the wooden vign¬ ette-block, but the light diffuses out nicely and softly, the softness depending upon the distance of the cardboard from the negative, as well as upon the amount of tissue-paper over the opening. As a rule, never place the cardboard nearer than a third of an inch from the negative, unless in case of some faulty place that is to be avoided in vignetting the negative. If the figure is to be illuminated, so as to get rid of a defect in the background, then it is best to make a light proof of the nega¬ tive, and cut close in and around the figure, being careful not to cut in too close to the neck, so as to give an ugly look to the vignette, which will always look like the cut-out, although, per¬ haps it may have a softer outline (Fig. 23). Place the outside of the pieces cut on to a suitable size piece of cardboard, and cut out the piece B, which is thrown away. Place the piece A over the back¬ ground of the negative, about half an inch from it, on to the raised out¬ side of the printing-frames, and after adjusting it properly, then tack it in its place. Paste a piece of tissue- paper, C (French copying-paper is best), over the cardboard, so as to permit diffused light to pass through the aperture when you place it out to print in the diffused rays of the sunlight. If, upon examining the print, the halo does not blend out soft enough, then place the cardboard a little more away from the negative, and try another print. If it blends out too far, place the card¬ board a little nearer to the negative. The manner in which I obtain these different degrees of depth from the negative to the cardboard without much trouble is, if the printing-boards are not raised in the making of them, to have made and ready at hand in case of need, some flat pieces of bass¬ wood, of different thicknesses, which can be tacked on to the sides of the frame when needed, and the cardboard tacked on to these. Have plenty of these pieces close at hand, and in tack- Fig. 23. FITTING VIGNETTE-BOARDS TO THE NEGATIVES. 59 ing them on, do not use more than a couple of tacks for each piece. If you wish to obtain a halo to a vignette that will commence close to the head to blend out, and extend out to the very edges of the card, both in the background and drapery, then the dis¬ tance of the cardboard from the negative should vary from a half to a full inch. The opening of the cardboard should be about the ordinary size of a vignette aperture. The greater the distance from the negative to the vignetting ar¬ rangement the smaller should the opening of the vignette be. Never use ground-glass in vignetting when you desire soft halos ! but tissue-paper should be used, and a good quality at that. Always be sure that the head of the negative is balanced by having plenty of the body shown. In your mind’s eye draw a line fro?n each side of the face down through the body. The shoulders should always show from a third to a half of the length of the face beyond this imaginary line, and the le?igth of the body should rarely be less than one and a quarter tunes the length of the head. There are many things sometimes to prevent having the above principles carried out in the vignette, but always do so if possible. waymouth’s vicxette papers. These papers, although they are a great deal in use, are by no means as extensively used as they would be if their value were better known, and, consequently, more fully appreciated by the printer. Some have purchased, used, and condemned them with¬ out the least sense of fairness in their judgment, as they had used them incorrectly; whereas there are many others, who, having used them once, would not be without them. The writer, know¬ ing full well the difficulties that printers, as a class, are obliged to contend with in vignette printing, to say nothing of the time it takes to make the vignette forms from cardboard, etc., would here briefly call the attention of those who are not already aware of it to the advantages to be derived by the use of the Waymouth Vignette Papers. The impression gained ground among the photographic frater¬ nity a few years ago, that all that was necessary in using these 60 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. vignette papers, was to paste the corners of the paper ( after having matched the vignette opening to the figure) on to the back part or glass side of the negative, and then place the frame out to paint in the sunlight, thinking possibly that the blending of the vignette paper would indicate its exact counterpart in softness in the picture; and because it did not, they were disappointed, and Fit;. 24. Fig. 25. the “ Waymouth’s” were rejected. If they are to be judiciously used, it is necessary that the paper vignette should be removed from the negative all of the way from one-half to one and a half inches, depending somewhat upon the negative, and the de¬ gree of softness desired to be obtained. The frame is built up with strips of backboard, and the vignette paper fitted to the negative through transmitted light, and then it is tacked in its proper place. They are easily adjusted, and have the advantage of being already made, thus saving the time of the printer in cutting this and that size form out of cardboard, which, when done, is not only a waste of time, but is also, except, perhaps, in very rare cases, not nearly as good. The sizes are very well arranged from No. i, which -is intended for vignetting large locket pictures, up to the largest size, for vignetting four-fourth heads, together with the intermediate num¬ bers, which answer well for various sizes of card and cabinet FITTING VIGNETTE-BOARDS TO THE NEGATIVES. Cl negatives, either for bust, three-quarter length, or full figure. The use of the various sizes may be classified as follows : No. I. Large locket bust vignette; oval. Nos. 2 & 3. Very small size bust card vignette ; oval. Nos. 4 & 5. Small size bust card vignette; oval. Nos. 6 & 7. Regular size bust card vignette ; oval. Nos. 8, 9 & 10. Card vignette; various sizes; oval. Nos. 11, 12 & 13. Card vignette; especially good when good support of shoulders is desired ; pear shape. Nos. 14 & 15. Cabinet bust; two excellent sizes; pear shape. No. l6. Cabinet; splendid size for vignetting three-quarter figure; pear shape. No. 17. Cabinet; very fine size for vignetting full figure poses; oval. No. 18, etc. Good for vignetting eight-ten heads, etc. There is another advantage gained by using these papers*when “flashed” or “grayed” prints are to be desired (the pose being such as to admit of it), and it is the facility with which the gray¬ ing is done, simply by removing the tacks from one end of the vignette paper, bending the paper back out of the way, and then printing the negative as though it was a plain print, for a minute or so. This has the result of softening still more the edges of the vignette on the picture, besides also printing the rest of the nega¬ tive very slightly, thus giving to the whole print a very delicate effect of a vignette which had blended very softly and gradually even to the very edges of the print. When through flashing, the vignette can be turned back again to its place and retacked, without the extra trouble of readjustment. If the figure is a three-quarter or a full length of a lady, “in exterior ,” with the proper arrangement of accessories and back¬ ground, the result, when nicely done, is indeed very beautiful, as it softens down those parts of the background which are so neces¬ sary to give an artistic effect to the figure in relief, 'besides obvi¬ ating the bad effect of the white edges of the vignette print, as it would be if not grayed; or if grayed in the regular way under a plain glass with tuft of cotton, etc., it then overcomes the objection of seeing the trees, rocks, etc., which start out boldly near the figure, end in a dead gray hue, without the least indi¬ cation of detail towards the edges of the print. If the print is a plain bust, then “graying ” under a plain glass 6 62 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. is what is desired, and is best, because the negative cannot be exposed as a plain print after the vignette is nearly done; as the figure must not show down, but for a three-quarter or full length pose, with a suitable ground, it is excellent. It is a very pretty effect if the majority of the portrait cabinet negatives of the class just described are printed in vignette style, and then flashed just enough to be of a light, delicate tinge after finishing. It gives an elegance to the prints that the customers cannot fail to admire. In adjusting these vignette papers on to the built-up portion of the frame, for vignette purposes, care should be taken that the top of the vignette paper is not placed too high upon the nega¬ tive, but placed exactly opposite the top of the head of the portrait. If this is not looked to, the printer is likely to print a dark spot right over the head, and all subsequent flashing will not remove its hideous appearance. If this flashing is done only slightly, then very great care should be taken to have the vignetting especially soft, by building the frame fully an inch or more, as this delicate second printing does not suffice to soften the edges but very slightly, and although if flashed darker, the outlines of a harsh vignette picture could be softened considerably; in the case of a lightly flashed picture, it would, by no means, answer. In using these vignette papers after a while, the tissue-paper is likely to have little breaks and tears occur, which necessitate patching up in order that these places will not print in the pic¬ ture. In commenting with me one day in regard to these little annoyances, a friend of mine, Mr. W. F. Kidney, of Chicago, a most excellent operator and poser, suggested to me the simple plan of waxing a suitable piece of white tissue-paper, and, by means of gum-paper, to attach it to the exterior side of the vign¬ ette paper, so that in case of any accident the waxed paper would receive it, thus saving the “Waymouth.” When tried, it proved most effectual, the difference in time of printing being hardly perceptible. One more suggestion in regard to flashing. Do not attempt to flash very lightly if the figure and surroundings are quite dark in drapery. In such cases it would be better if the flashing is carried a trifle further; but if the drapery and neighboring sur- MEDALLION AND ARCH-TOP PRINTING. 63 roundings are light, then a very soft vignette, very slightly flashed, makes the most beautiful, delicate picture imaginable. Before closing this chapter I will attempt to state what the beauty of a vignette consists in. Sometimes vignettes are meant to supply the place of shadow, as when in photographing crosses, then we vignette in such a way as to have a shadow on one side of it. (See Fig. 26.) The beauty of such a vignette con¬ sists in the artistically printed shadow, and when we examine such a print we experience considerable pleasure in seeing the soft shadow caused by the cross, whereas if it were not there, or the shadow were on both sides, it would create anything but pleasure. Then again, the beauty of vignettes in ordinary portraits is the soft blending from quite dark in the drapery and close to the figure in the background, to a very soft and almost indistinguish¬ able edge on the outer part of the carte de visite, for which, and the Imperial this style of vignetting only is advisable. CHAPTER XIII. MEDALLION AND ARCH-TOP PRINTING. These are very popular styles for printing from the negative, both on accounnt of their beauty and because by their use the photographic printers are enabled to prevent defects in the nega¬ tives from printing. These are advantages which we sometimes have, and for which they are peculiarly adapted. For instance, a negative with a black velvet background is broken along the upper part of it in one place, and in another part of the plate it dried before exposing. These defects are in such a part of the negative, that a proof 04 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. printed from it plain cannot be trimmed unless these defects show, so much as to spoil the otherwise fine print. Such a negative then cannot be printed plain, and since vignetting it is not a very easy thing to do, on account of the very black background, we can most advantageously print it in either the medallion or the arch-top style. Besides the above, there are hundreds of cases in which the use of the medallion and arch-top are indispensable. To some the making and use of the medallion and arch-top are a source of considerable trouble and vexation, and the suc¬ cessful photographer is very often hearing complaints from his less skilled brother photographers of his inability to make and use them satisfactorily. The reason of this is because he is care¬ less as to what he uses in making or cutting them out, and not using them rightly after they are made. Mr. John L. Gihon, a well-known photographer, knowing the difficulty which many have experienced in the making and use of the medallions, has made for the trade some very fine medal¬ lions and masks or cut-outs of different sizes. To those who are Fig. 27. Fig. 28. Fig. 29. unable to make them for themselves, or those who prefer to buy rather than to make them, we recommend the use of his, believ¬ ing they will fully meet the expectations of the purchasers. The common card oval ferrotype mounts are very often used by some photographers in making of the medallion and mask. Some use a knife, and cut around on the inside of the mount, but as the soft cardboard is very readily made nicky, and thus this nicky appearance to the cut-out, this way of making them MEDALLION AND ARCH-TOP PRINTING. 65 is not advisable. It is better to buy such as are neatly made, like Mr. Gihon’s. In place of using a knife and cutting around on the inside of the mount, some place this mount on a piece of sensitive plain paper and print the inside of it quite dark, thus leaving the un¬ exposed part of the paper white. After cutting a little on the circumference of the dark inside with a sharp knife, the rest of the mask is carefully cut from the medallion with a pair of shears, the point of which is pressed through the aperture made by the knife. The cutting of the medallion and mask in this manner requires a very steady hand to have the result of your labor worth using. In making the medallion, or arch-top, I have always used brass mats of different sizes. These mats or guides are perfectly even and true, and are made of metal, so as to permit the Robinson Photograph Trimmer being used around the inside, without any material damage to it, if only ordinary care is exercised in its use. The “cut-outs” are made of different sizes. The regular size for ordinary card work, when the head is not the so-called “Berlin,” should be 2x2^ inches oval. A size smaller is used when we do not wish to show as much as in the other; size, 1^x2^. A size used for smaller heads is i r \x 1^, but it is seldom the case. One of the most convenient of all of the different sizes is xi*(. It is most excellent for the purpose of printing nega¬ tives of babies, taken sitting in their mothers’ laps. A carte arch-top, size about ifo X2 ^4 inches, is about the only size or style arch-top that is used for the carte de visite, and for other sizes your taste will dictate, such as the Victoria or the Cabinet. Common yellow envelope-paper is best to make these medal¬ lions and arch-top cut-outs of, as this paper utterly excludes all light that will discolor the sensitive paper. If you prefer to use sensitive paper that is not fit for printing purposes, always use the plain and not the albumen paper, because the latter will curl up considerably, so much so as to make it very troublesome to handle. When you have selected, and have laid it on a glass, then 66 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. place your brass mats on the paper, and with a Robinson’s Trim¬ mer make a quick, clean, and even cut around the opening on the inside, leaving sufficient paper on all sides of the mats for the purpose of masking the sensitive paper in printing the different sizes, such as the carte de visite, Victoria, Cabinet, or larger sizes, as the case may be. The cutting out of these medallions and arch-tops may prob¬ ably be very difficult at the first few attempts of the beginner, but if he perseveres he will find that a little practice will soon enable him to do it successfully. Every mask or inside will fit its own medallion or outside (/. e., the one that it was cut out of) better than it will any other one, and if the printer will remember this I do not think he will ever meet with anything but good results. When the cut-outs are cut, and before they are moved, they should be marked in such a way that the printer can find the mask that was cut out of any particular medallion at will, for this is absolutely necessary if he wishes to obtain beautifully shaded lines on his prints. The way I always do this is to mark on one end of the medal¬ lion H, which means the head of it, and directly under it some name by means of which I can easily tell it from the others of the same size. On the same end of the mask, and on the same side of the paper, we also mark H, and directly under this the name which was written on the outside from which the mask was cut. To explain more understandingly what I mean, let us suppose that we have finished cutting a medallion and mask, and that they lay before us just as cut. Now, on the upper part of the outside we will mark H, and directly under it, and also on the outside, “Heathen Chinee.’’ Now, also, on the upper part of the mask we mark H, and under this, “ Heathen Chinee.” I will remark here that it is very essential to have the marks on the same side of the paper, and also at the top of each. The importance of this will readily be seen further on, when the border is to be tinted. In laying the outside on the negative to print from, always lay the side marked H up and close to the ?iegative, leaving the un- MEDALLION AND ARCH-TOP PRINTING. 67 marked side of the paper for the sensitive paper to come in contact with. In laying them on, considerable care and judgment should be exercised, so as to give a proper balance to the position and proportion to the print. The principal faults that occur in laying these medallions and arch-tops on the negatives for printing are : 1. The head is apt to be too high up, or too low down, in the medallion or arch-top. 2. The body looks as though it was either falling backwards, forwards, or sideways. The nose or the mouth, as a general thing, should be in the centre of the opening, although this is, of course, open to ex¬ ceptions. To avoid the necessity of having to place the medallion on the negative for every print, I stick the corners on the negative by means of a very little of a thin solution of gum-water. I use it thin so that it will readily come off when you wish it, but will adhere to the negative without any trouble or danger of slipping while the boards are being filled. In case it does not come off, dampen the place a little with your tongue. In sticking the medallion on to the negative, only stick it by the extreme tips of the two upper corners. Now, a print having been printed in the medallion, which we will suppose to have been the Heathen Chinee, we will proceed to shade the crescent line on it. Take a nice piece of glass of suitable size, care being taken that it has no bad bubbles in it, and lay the marked side of the mask on it, after having previously wet the centre of it with a little gum. The drying should not be hurried up over a flame unless the paper with the glass is under pressure in the printing- frame, because it is not apt to dry smoothly unless it is done in that manner. The air-bubbles between the surface of the paper and that of the glass should be rubbed away with the finger before drying. In laying the gum-water on the paper do not touch a place larger than the nail of a little finger. When the gum on the paper is dry the glass should be cleaned on both sides, and then laid on the print that is to have the line 68 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. shaded on it, the whole of which is then to be laid on a flat printing-board. When a line is printed, the size varies according to the in¬ tended size of the finished print. (See Fig. 30.) Fig. 30. Avoid large lines on carte de visite prints, c*r, better still, have no lines at all. On large prints, such as 11x14, etc., a proportionately large line is wanted, and when done nicely the effect is really beautiful. The size of the line on these prints, 11x14, should not be more than one-fifth, or less than one-tenth of an inch wide at the widest part. For 14x18 the size should vary from one-fifth to one-fourth of an inch wide at the widest part. For Cabinet cards the size of the line should be about one-twentieth of an inch ; and for the small cards the size should be about one-thirtv- second of an inch wide. Having determined as to which side of the print the line should be, the exact place on the side is governed by the direction the light falls on the face, and which is only ascertained by the study¬ ing of the negative or print. The way I should advise the beginner to shade the crescent line is as follows: Lay the inside or mask on the print so that it will cover ex¬ actly every part of the printed picture, leaving only the white outside exposed, which, if you were to imagine the medallion or arch-top to be laid exactly on the print as it was in printing it, you will see that the mask lies exactly in its own medallion or arch- top as it did when it was cut, and consequently a splendid and true line can be obtained. In laying the mask on the print, MEDALLION AND ARCH-TOP PRINTING. 69 always have the end marked H up to the head of the print, since the end marked H of the outside or medallion was placed at the head part of the negative in printing the print. Always bear the above remark in mind, and considerable annoyance in printing these styles of prints can be saved. Now, as you have the mask fitted exactly on the print, try in one move to place the mask over in the direction you have de¬ cided upon having the crescent line appear. In moving this over there will be a dark line on the other side of the print, which should, in all cases, be exactly as large as the intended white line. Bear this in mind. The reason why you should be careful and have the mask placed over in the right direction in one move is, because you will be more apt to have both lines alike, which, if the mask lay in a different direction from what the outside did in the printing, the result will not be so good. It is for this reason that I have advised the beginner to have his mask fit the print before he moves it to shade the line, and also to move it in one move, as this will give the desired result without fail. The required shade in printing the border of thejprint is ascer¬ tained by looking at the background, and then permitting it to darken as ?iear half way between white and the tone of the back¬ ground as you can judge. Many photographers prefer to have it tinted very slightly. If the background is very light, then print the outside black. In shading the print, never let the background and the border be of the same shade, for it will make the print appearflat and feeble. Failures in this direction are as common in medallion printing as bad and irregular lines, and a printer who does not take care to prevent the one, rarely does the other, for they generally go together. I do not give the above as anything entirely new, but judging from the very bad, irregularly-shaded medallions and arch-tops that are too often seen, I think it could be adopted by many with profit. 70 THE PRACTICAL TRUS TER. CHAPTER XIV. • i FANCY PRINTING. ' FANCY MEDALLION AND ARCH-TOP PRINTING. This fancy printing is sometimes very beautiful when the de¬ signs for making them are neat and pretty. There are very few designs for this fancy printing more beau¬ tiful than that of the fine parallel lines that we are so familiar with in the Ereneh writing-paper. Besides the parallel lines, a few others of a delicate design are used very appropriately. Always have the size of the intended prints and the fancy design in harmony with each other, i. e., the larger the size of the print the larger should the design be, and vice versa. It would be ridiculous to have large designs intended for an 8xio size pho¬ tograph used on the common card, as well as it would be to have small designs on large prints. I have seen a few frame photographs- printed in the fancy arch¬ top and medallion style that I liked very much, because the de¬ sign for this fancy work was so very appropriate for the size of the print. Generally speaking, however, these designs are intended simply for the carte tie visite and the Cabinet; sometimes, too, for the Victoria when that style print is made, but they are very seldom used for anything larger. The making and use of these medallions and arch-tops intended for this style of printing are exactly the same as was described in the preceding chapter, with the exception of the placing of the paper, with the design upon it, upon the print, and then shading the line upon the print by means of the inside mask, as usual. There is also another way, which will be described further on. The paper suitable for this work is known as the French writing- paper, the thinnest of which should be obtained. Figs. 31 and 32 represent some of the designs. A sheet of two or three differ¬ ent kinds will answer very well for a beginning. FANCY PRINTING. 71 Cut the sheets up to the proper size, and after placing your , print upon a flat printing-board, put one of these different kinds of designed paper over the whole print, which will be almost Fig. 31. Fig. 32. entirely covered. Now take the proper mask and proceed to make the crescent line on the print. This is rather difficult at first, owing to the very indistinct print under the white writing- paper, which thus renders the shading of the line rather trouble¬ some. By pressing the white paper in close contact with the print underneath in laying on the mask, and going to a part of your printing-room where you can plainly see your work, you will find that you will have no trouble whatever. In printing this outside let it darken to the same shade as you would in making plain medallions and arch-top prints; and what I said in regard to plain medallion-printing, about tinting the border to the same shade as the background of the print, is also applicable in this style of printing, the result being equally as bad, with the exception, perhaps, in this case, that there will be a kind of a fancy flatness to the prints, instead of a plain one. Besides the above, there is also another way to print these which is, perhaps, easier, because the French paper can be dis¬ pensed with, as the glass to which the mask is stuck answers the place of the paper. A very thin negative indeed is made of, say some moss, frost work on window panes, hypo, crystals left after evaporation of hypo, soda, etc., and developed, fixed, washed and varnished as is usual in negative making. The masks are attached to the face of the negative, but it would be better if they were not stuck at all, for the negative will, in a short time, be ruined by so doing, and after adjusting the mask the whole is then placed out to print as in ordinary plain medallion-printing. The negative being very thin, the 72 THE PRACTICAL PRIXTER. border will darken very rapidly, as quick, if not quicker, than when French paper is used. PRINTING IN GRAY. This term is generally applied to photographs which have been, or are to be printed first in the vignette style, and then the sur¬ rounding white border has been, or is to be, printed or tinted a little. The whole appearance of the mounted print is very often quite pleasing, the darker draperies, etc., of the print being of a rich warm tone, while the slightly tinted border will be of a “gray”-\s\\ tone. When skilfully done, this “printing in gray ” is a good thing, and serves to give variety to the printer’s results instead of the monotonous appearance they have in some galleries. In the first place, in the vignetting of the negatives that are to be printed in this style, do not show too far down in the draperies although considerable halo may be shown around the head. The reason why the draperies should not be printed too far down is, because in tinting the border the action of the light on the white sensitive paper develops the print in a measure where, in the first place, nothing of the draperies were visible. Bear this in mind. While the tinting of the border of the vignette print is carried on, the lights of the print would be very much discolored if they were not protected from the white light, and consequently a cut¬ out or mask is made, which answers the purpose admirably. To make this mask, cut a piece of spoiled sensitive paper a very little smaller than the figure, as regards the hair, dark draperies, etc., but not a particle smaller in regard to the face. Do not cut too far down in the draperies, or in tinting the print will be spoiled. The print to be tinted, having been removed from the vignette- board, is then placed in a flat printing-frame, in which a clean glass has been previously placed. Another glass of a larger size is then obtained, to the under surface of which is attached this cut-out, and then, placing the glass so that the cut-out on it will cover the figure in the print, we commence to tint the border of the print, keeping, in the meantime, the glass constantly on the move. It will take about five to ten seconds to tint all that is required. VIGNETTE CAMEO PRINTING. 73 In moving the cut-out during the tinting of the border, be sure that no part of the face is so exposed to the light as to discolor it. Always be careful not to tint the border so much as to occasion flatness. A very little tinting is all that is required. Cotton is generally used by experienced printers in place of cut-outs, but I should not advise the beginner to attempt it until he has had several months’ experience in printing. CHAPTER XV. VIGNETTE CAMEO AND MEDALLION VIGNETTE CAMEO PRINTING. To print these beautiful styles, a negative should be made ex¬ pressly for them, having an ordinary size figure, somewhat smaller than the “Berlin head.” To print in cameo, the same idea holds good as in printing medallions, etc., i. e., to show sufficient of the body to balance the head, but very little more. A ring made as described below, and called a “cameo ring,” should be stuck to the negative that is to be vignetted by the extreme corners, as if you were to print it in the ordinary medal¬ lion style, and after placing the sensitive paper on it, the negative is then ready to be vignetted. In choosing the vignette-block, or in making the cardboard opening for it, bear in mind that a much smaller one is needed than if it were to be printed in the ordinary vignette, and conse¬ quently pick out such a one as will show enough of the body to balance the head, and 710 more, although we might, if we were not printing this style, choose a block that would blend the print out to the very edges. The reason why this should be heeded is, because the finished vignette print, when pressed by the cameo press, ought not to have any of the halo show beyond the pressed-out surface, if you wish a very fine effect as is then the case, and the ring being 74 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. placed on the negative, prevents the halo from printing out fur¬ ther than where the ring is placed, and since this ring is made from the cameo press itself, it will, of course, when carefully pressed by it, give us the effect we wished, viz., all of the printed paper is pressed forward while the white border retires. It is almost needless to state that the halo should blend out quite softly, both in the draperies and elsewhere, so that there will not be a harsh appearance in the print, on account of its being stopped abruptly, hence the need of a small but deep printing-board and a piece or two of tissue-paper (according to its quality) for blend¬ ing it. In making the medallion vignette cameo, proceed as above, with the exception in the above case, that whereas the print is finished as regards to the printing when it is removed from the board, in this case there is to be an outside or border printed in, which may be of a variety of shades, as circumstances may permit. In making the cameo ring, place the die of the cameo press on a glass, with the paper that you are to make your cut-out of placed under it, and then with a sharp knife (Fig. 33) cut a quick and clean cut all around the inside of the guide. (See page 66.) In using the cameo ring, proceed as if you were printing the ordinary medallion, and in shading the outside, bear in mind to use the right mask for the cut-out used in printing the prints. (See Medallion and Arch-top Printing.) If the background is very light the border should either be lighter or darker, but never of the same shade. When the prints made are medallion cameo and are not printed in the vignette, then the background is darker than what it would be if vignetted, and consequently the border can be printed lighter than the background, but when, as is very often the case in printing the prints in vignette, the background is very light, then the border is generally printed until it bronzes, so as to give a decided contrast; this produces an effect quite pleasing. A new (or revived old) style, more especially for the Cabinet card, but can be used in the smaller card printing, has lately come in vogue. The negative is printed in a vignette, feathering out Fig. 33. PRINTING THE BEND ANN BACKGROUNDS. 75 very softly, until the medallion which was previously placed on the negative (varnished side) stops it, but very faintly so, and then a faint border of the same shade as the very edges of the halo is printed, and the print when finished is very fine. The exposure to the light, when printed as just de¬ scribed, should only be about two to three seconds , a sec¬ ond more often spoiling the print. There are a number of * cameo presses in the market. Fig. 34 represents Chute’s Universal Cameo Press, which is adapted to Cabinet as well as the common cards, and is the best. The beauty of the above styles of printing seems to be gener¬ ally acknowledged by at least the patrons of the galleries in which I have printed, if one might be allowed to judge from the orders that were continually being given for them. CHAPTER XVI. PRINTING THE BENDANN BACKGROUNDS. Of all the improvements within the last few years in the print¬ ing department of our art, nothing excels or even equals that of the use of “Bendann Brothers’ Backgrounds,” for the merit of which the “Holmes Medal” was awarded to them by the Na¬ tional Photographic Association, at their convention in St. Louis, Mo., in 1872. There are many designs, and among them a great variety of interiors, such as drawing-rooms, libraries, etc,, and some of them with beautiful paintings on the walls are very noticeable. The inexperienced printer is troubled a little when he first commences to use these background negatives, and for the benefit 76 THE PRACTICAL PRINTER. of such ones who may not understand the modus operandi, I have entered quite minutely into the details of using them. In making the portrait negatives for this kind of printing, do not have the background either too dark or too light; a medium light ground is best. When you have negatives with rather a light background, select a “Bendann Background ” that is not quite as decided in its con¬ trasts about the centre as others may be, such as some negatives of libraries that I have seen ; providing said library is suitable to the idea to be conveyed. As to the artistic results that can be obtained by the use of the backgrounds, let us notice a couple of instances which will, I think, illustrate what we wish. Would it be appropriate to select a*library background when the figure is that of a gentleman reading? A gentleman and lady in outdoor custom, standing conversing, he toying with his cane, she picking a flower to pieces—would not some one of the exterior backgrounds answer capitally? There are a great number of cases in which these backgrounds can be used with artistic results, but my space will not permit me to dwell further, and I will pass over this part with this remark, that the artistic photographer can indulge in a few such positions as promenading, conversation, reading, meeting of friends, col¬ lection of gossips, etc., with a plain woollen background and backgrounds either interior or exterior can be printed in, suitable to the dress of the figure and the idea to be conveyed in general, with such effect as to make the finished print look like (what it surely is) an artistic photograph. In preparing to print these backgrounds, first print the sensi¬ tive paper under the negatives until finished, and then remove them from the frame as you would do if there were to be no backgrounds printed in. Print the number of prints wanted and one extra. This extra print, which can be the worst print of all, is then used as a cut-out for use in the printing of the “ Bendann Background.” In cutting out, observe whether the dress, draperies, etc., are light or dark, and if light, cut in all around, but exactly on the edge of the figure down to the floor, leaving the floor in the cut¬ out. MINTING THE BEND ANN BACKGROUNDS. 77 It may be worth mentioning here that the floor of a print or negative—whether they are copies or life—should never be taken out, or the resulting prints will in every case be worthless. In cutting out the print mentioned above, if the draperies, etc., are dark, then cut a little inside of the edges and all around the figure, with the exception of the face, hands, etc., which should be cut as all light things should be, /.