AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE FINISHED PRINT
The film of ink on the dried bromoil print after the completion of the
brush work is as a rule not very tender, except where much soft ink lies
on the surface. It is not advisable, however, to put the print under
pressure, as for instance in a printing frame, for under strong pressure
the ink may still partially offset on the adjacent paper, so that the
image is damaged. No pressure should be applied until after the removal
of the fatty medium, which is described later.
When the brush work is completed, the whole surface of the bromoil print
shows a slight gloss, caused by the fatty medium of the ink. The shadows
show a stronger sheen, especially in those places where there is more
soft ink, for soft inks contain more medium. The surface of the print,
so far as the gloss is concerned, is like that of a finished gum print.
But with the latter the gloss cannot be removed; when it is desired to
get rid of the unpleasant property of gum prints, that the shadows are
more glossy than the rest of the print, it is necessary to make the whole
print glossy by painting it with a solution of gum. This is also the case
with the carbon process.
_With the bromoil process, on the other hand, it is easily possible to
remove the gloss entirely._ The shininess of a finished bromoil print
is especially unpleasant when seen sideways, but, in certain cases,
it imparts depth to the picture and may be made fairly inoffensive
by glazing the print. Prints which are to keep their gloss must be
exposed to the air for some days, protected from dust, until the ink has
completely hardened. Until this has happened, the surface of the picture,
especially where the ink is soft, is sensitive and ought not to be
touched.
DEFATTING THE INK FILM.—Before removal of the fatty medium from the ink,
_the print must be absolutely dried out_. It must be so dry that it rings
sharply when the finger is snapped against it. Also, the dish in which
the defatting is to be carried out must not contain the slightest trace
of moisture, otherwise trouble will be caused.
An easily volatile solvent of the fat, such as benzol, trichlorethylene,
carbon tetrachloride, etc., should be poured into the dish, and the
print immersed in the liquid and allowed to remain for some minutes
with constant rocking. On account of the danger of fire from the
vapors of benzol, no naked flame should be allowed in the room. Carbon
tetrachloride (carbona), on the other hand, is non-inflammable; its
solvent action, and that of the trichlorethylene, on fats, is much more
rapid than that of benzol.
The film of ink is, as a rule, not damaged by the solvent, though
care should be taken with prints which have been executed wholly or
mostly in soft ink. With such prints it may happen that the ink is
entirely dissolved in parts, or that irregular sharp lines and streaks
are suddenly formed. Soft ink prints should, therefore, be allowed
to dry for several days before they are defatted. By the use of very
energetic solvents, such, for instance, as trichlorethylene and carbon
tetrachloride, soft ink prints, as a rule, are completely dissolved.
_Benzol is, therefore, to be preferred in all cases._
The print should be removed from the liquid without touching the ink
film, softened by the solvent. This evaporates fairly quickly, and _now
the bromoil print has an absolutely matt surface of great beauty_. It is
here naturally assumed that the fatty medium of the ink is soluble in
benzol, which is usually the case.
_The solution of the medium from the fatty ink, besides the removal of
the gloss, has also the effect of fixing the surface of the picture and
making it more resistant._ While the film of ink before the defatting is
fairly tender, it afterwards has a stability at least equal to that of a
pencil drawing. The surface of the finished bromoil print is generally at
least as little liable to damage as the film of prints prepared by other
photographic methods. It seems as if the very minute grains of pigment
contained in the fatty ink are made firmly adherent by the drying of the
somewhat tacky gelatine film and therefore remain fixed even after the
removal of the fatty medium. It is only from places in which a specially
thick layer of soft ink was deposited, that a trifle of pigment dust can
sometimes be removed by light friction.
_The defatting is therefore a procedure which is advisable in most cases
and only after this is the bromoil print actually complete._ After it has
been carried out, the image consists of pure mineral pigment adhering
firmly to the gelatine. It is self-evident that a print treated in such a
way is absolutely permanent, provided that the inks used are non-fading,
which is almost always the case. One can also subsequently moisten or
soak the print without any danger if, for example, it is to be mounted on
cardboard.
RETOUCHING THE PRINT.—The defatted bromoil print is susceptible to the
most far-reaching mechanical modification. The picture now consists,
as already mentioned, entirely of extremely fine particles of pigment
adhering to the film about as strongly as the lines of a pencil drawing.
_This pigment can also now be treated with rubber exactly like a pencil
drawing. The ink, as far as it was put on by degrees, can also be removed
by degrees from any desired place by proper measures._
In the finished bromoil print the deepest shadows are formed by a
comparatively thick layer of pigment, while the lights have only a
very delicate coating of ink. We are consequently able to diminish the
thickness of the film by proper treatment, removing it layer by layer,
so that the shadows become more transparent, or the film of ink may be
entirely removed, so that the gelatine base is laid bare.
The best tool for this is a piece of a hard rubber eraser sharpened to a
fine point with sandpaper or a file. It is also advisable to use a very
soft sharpened eraser for treating very light places.
Every part of the print which is to be lightened should now be gone over
with the point of the rubber in fine lines very close together. The ink
powder, which is taken up by the rubber, must be removed from time to
time by rubbing the rubber on the sandpaper, or it will be left on the
print again in the form of dark lines. If gentle rubbing with the eraser
does not have the desired effect, it should be used more energetically.
Sometimes the ink adheres so firmly that the rubber must be used quite
vigorously in order to remove it. On the other hand, where soft ink has
been applied, one must work very lightly, or more ink may be removed than
is desired.
_Important details of the picture may be completely taken out with the
rubber_ without getting down to the paper, if the work is done carefully.
Thus, for instance, unsharp figures in the foreground of a street scene,
disturbing details in the background of a portrait, undesirable details
of a landscape, such as telegraph wires, ugly poles, trees, etc., may be
removed almost without leaving a trace behind. If this treatment does
leave visible marks, they can be easily made to disappear with brush and
ink.
For removing or lightening tiny spots or lines, or for removing brush
hairs and similar imperfections left during the inking, one may use a
sharp _lancet or penknife_, or a steel needle set in a handle. Yet in the
use of these sharp instruments one must be careful to scrape the surface
very gently and carefully, or the gelatine film may be cut, which leaves
noticeable marks.
The possibility of removing the ink from the finished print in layers
by the use of an eraser, without leaving any trace, gives the bromoil
printer another means for modifying the tone values of the print at will.
If preconceived ideas were not fully carried out in the application
of the ink, because tiny places could not be properly worked out with
the brush, or because they were overlooked, the desired change of tone
values can now be effected; with the aid of the rubber, also, _especially
effective lights_ may be added to the picture.
_If, in the application of the ink, large areas were not quite uniformly
treated, they can be corrected now without trouble. Dark spots of ink can
be easily removed with the rubber, and it is often easier to even out a
rather broken surface with the eraser than with the oil-printing brush._
Bare spots, white points, and other defects of the image, or places
from which too much ink has been removed with the eraser or penknife,
are best spotted with _water-color_ of proper shade, or in the case of
brownish-black prints, even with charcoal. The defatted film takes the
water-color easily and places treated with it remain perfectly matt; on
the other hand, _retouching with lead pencil should be avoided whenever
possible_, as this always produces a certain shininess, which is rendered
particularly prominent by the dull surface of the rest of the print. A
bromoil print which has not been defatted may also be retouched in the
same way, but the parts worked up with the rubber are then noticeable.
Filling up spots on such prints is best effected with oil-printing ink,
applied with a water-color brush dipped in heavy benzol so as to dilute
it.
It is thus possible in the bromoil process to produce very comprehensive
changes with rubber, needle and ink, without destroying the character
of the picture. With some experience this work is done so quickly and
easily that it is not necessary to retouch the negative at all, even
with portraits. The removal of imperfections in the complexion or the
softening of too sharp features can be effected much more quickly and
with more certainty as to the effect on the finished bromoil print than
on the negative, especially as retouching on the negative shows up
unpleasantly in enlarging.
The possibilities of after-treatment of a bromoil print are manifold.
Thus, for instance, by means of the eraser very natural appearing clouds
can be rubbed into the cloudless sky of a landscape not taken with
an orthochromatic plate, if in inking the sky is properly darkened.
In the background and subordinate planes of a portrait, a certain
draughtsmanlike character can be attained by suitable delicate strokes
with the rubber. Ugly lines of the hair or clothing which could not be
suitably dealt with in the inking-up, can now be altered with a little
skill. A dull landscape may be made more lively by picking out a few
lights.
Finally, it may be mentioned that it is also possible _to change the
color of the paper base of the print_, though this is best done before
the application of the ink. Commercial bromide papers as a rule are only
obtainable in white or yellowish tints. Another tone may be imparted
to the paper, for instance reddish or bluish for certain effects; this
is effected by swelling the bleached and fixed bromoil print in a dye
solution which has been found suitable by preliminary trial with white
paper. The paper fibers and the gelatine assume the desired color and the
print after soaking is removed and worked up as usual; this staining may
also be done with finished prints.
REFATTING OF THE PRINT.—As already mentioned, the finished bromoil print
shows on its surface places with different degrees of gloss, since the
parts of the picture which took a good deal of ink, as for instance the
shadows, are more shiny than the rest. In order to remove these sometimes
unpleasant effects; the finished bromoil print can be immersed in a fat
solvent, which completely removes the glossy medium from the ink film.
After the evaporation of the solvent the bromoil print has a perfectly
matt surface.
Frequently, however, this complete dullness of the surface does not
please the worker, because, especially with soft ink prints, it causes
a marked _loss of brilliancy_. It is thus necessary to choose between
a brilliant surface with unequally glossy places, or a uniform matt
surface. I have undertaken experiments to place in the hands of the
bromoil printer a means of imparting to his prints any desired degree
of gloss, after removal of the unpleasant uneven shininess. Attempts
to obtain brilliancy by the use of ordinary varnishes failed. Whether
the varnish was sprayed on or the print was immersed, there was always
a certain damage to the surface, since the ink film, which lies rather
loosely in the form of powder on the defatted soft ink prints, combined
irregularly with the varnish and caused some trouble. I was finally
successful with the following plan, which is a logical consequence of the
nature of the bromoil print and the varnish inks used in making it.
Dissolve from 5 to 10 ccm of linseed oil varnish in 500 ccm of benzol
(77 to 154 minims to 16 oz.). Then the defatted and perfectly flat print
is completely immersed in this solution for one minute and hung up to
dry. Perfect flatness of the print is necessary, otherwise troublesome
markings are formed in drying, which, however, may be removed without
difficulty by repeating the process. Irregularities may also be caused by
supporting the print by the fingers on the back before hanging it up; the
warmth of the fingers evaporates the solvent more quickly, so that spots
are caused. The print should only be handled by the edges until it is dry.
After the evaporation of the solvent, the linseed oil varnish dissolved
therein is very evenly distributed throughout the whole film of ink;
this restores to the ink a part of its varnish which was removed in
the defatting, but more evenly distributed, so that now the whole
print shows a gloss, which is hardly noticeable, but which considerably
increases the brilliancy. If this gloss is not sufficient, more varnish
should be added to the bath; if it is too strong, more of the solvent is
added. In this way any degree of gloss desired can be obtained. If it is
too strong, it can be removed again with benzol. When the bromoil print
is to be retouched it should be defatted before retouching and afterward
treated as just described, so that the varnish bath may also act on the
retouched places.
If no retouching is required, then the defatting can be effected in
the varnish bath, which then effects a kind of equalization, since the
shadows rich in varnish give up the medium, while the other parts of the
picture take it up.
By the use of weak varnish baths for after treatment of defatted bromoil
prints, surfaces of velvety appearance may be obtained.
APPLICATION OF INK TO DRY PRINTS.—When the gelatine film has been swollen
to the highest possible relief even the very soft inks take only with
difficulty and in consequence frequently irregularly. Sometimes the
formation of such places is unavoidable, especially when prints with
very great contrasts have to be used. We are then forced to choose a
relief which permits the inking of the darkest parts of the print.
The warm water, or ammonia, bath requisite for this acts so strongly
on the slightly tanned or untanned parts, that an excessive relief is
obtained, and then the ink takes with difficulty or not at all. This most
frequently happens with skies which are very dense in the negative.
Such parts of the print, resistant while it is wet, can, however, be
inked up without difficulty after the print has been allowed to dry.
Then they are inked up with a brush, using an ink of the same tint and
consistency as was used in making the bromoil print itself. The dry
gelatine takes the ink quite evenly, and in this way any desired tone
from the most delicate to the darkest may be obtained. By omitting to ink
in suitable places, clouds may be imitated, and if necessary these may be
worked up by retouching.
With polychrome bromoils, when the skies are too swollen, one should
carefully remove all areas of ink which project from the landscape into
the sky, and this is also advisable in monochrome work. The best thing
to use for this, especially with complicated outlines, is a water-color
brush dipped in two per cent solution of ammonia, which easily removes
the obtrusive ink from the gelatine. Larger areas should be carefully
rubbed with a point of wet linen or with the finger tip wrapped in a
wet cloth. In this way the highly swollen parts of the gelatine are
completely freed from ink; then the print should be dried and the sky
inked up as desired in the manner described above.
The method of applying the ink to the dry film is valuable for obtaining
other effects, as is more fully described in the next chapter, on bromoil
transfer.
In bromoil, photographic printing has been enriched by a process that
can fulfil every wish of the photographer who is striving for artistic
results. It combines in itself all the advantages of previously known
processes, but surpasses them all in the possibility of general and local
control, and especially in the fact that control can be effected at will
at any desired step of the process from the beginning to the end, that it
need not extend over the whole print but may be limited to particular
parts, and that the results of the control are visible immediately,
during the work. Not the least important, however, is the fact that the
flexibility of the process enables one to immediately repair any error
without impairment of the print. When it is further considered that the
bromoil process is independent of the size of the negative, that it
permits the operator to use any support, any structure, any grain and any
color, we should be warranted in saying that the bromoil process is the
process of the future for amateurs striving for artistic results.