Two new processes for taking photo tracings in black and color have
recently been published--"Nigrography" and "Anthrakotype"--both of which
represent a real advance in photographic art. By these two processes we
are enabled for the first time to accomplish the rapid production of
positive copies in black of plans and other line drawings. Each of
these new methods has its own sphere of action; both, therefore, should
deserve equally descriptive notices.
For large plans, drawn with lines of even breadth, and showing no
gradated lines, or such as shade into gray, the process styled
"nigrography," invented by Itterbeim, of Vienna, and patented both
in Germany and Austria, will be found best adapted. The base of this
process is a solution of gum, with which large sheets of paper can be
more readily coated than with one of gelatine; it is, therefore, very
suitable for the preparation of tracings of the largest size. The paper
used must be the best drawing paper, thoroughly sized, and on this the
solution, consisting of 25 parts of gum arabic dissolved in 100 parts of
water, to which are added 7 parts of potassium bichromate and I part of
alcohol, is spread with a broad, flat brush. It is then dried, and if
placed in a cool, dark place will keep good for a long time. When used,
it is placed under the plan to be reproduced, and exposed to diffused
light for from five to ten minutes--that is to say, to about 14° of
Vogel's photometer; it is then removed and placed for twenty minutes in
cold water, in order to wash out all the chromated gum which has not
been affected by light. By pressing between two sheets of blotting-paper
the water is then got rid of, and if the exposure has been correctly
judged the drawing will appear as dull lines on a shiny ground. After
the paper has been completely dried it is ready for the black color.
This consists of 5 parts of shellac, 100 parts of alcohol, and 15 parts
of finely-powdered vine-black. A sponge is used to distribute the color
over the paper, and the latter is then laid in a 2 to 3 per cent. bath
of sulphuric acid, where it must remain until the black color can be
easily removed by means of a stiff brush. All the lines of the drawing
will then appear in black on a white ground. These nigrographic tracings
are very fine, but they only appear in complete perfection when the
original drawings are perfectly opaque. Half-tone lines, or the marks
of a red pencil on the original, are not reproduced in the nigrographic
copy.
"Anthrakotype" is a kind of dusting-on process. It was invented by Dr.
Sobacchi, in the year 1879, and has been lately more fully described by
Captain Pizzighelli. This process--called also "Photanthrakography"--is
founded on the property of chromated gelatine which has not been acted
on by light to swell up in lukewarm water, and to become tacky, so that
in this condition it can retain powdered color which had been dusted
on it. Wherever, however, the chromated gelatine has been acted on by
light, the surface becomes horny, undergoes no change in warm water, and
loses all sign of tackiness. In this process absolute opacity in
the lines of the original drawing is by no means necessary, for it
reproduces gray, half-tone lines just as well as it does black ones.
Pencil drawings can also be copied, and in this lies one great advantage
of the process over other photo-tracing methods, for, to a certain
extent, even half-tones can be produced.
For the paper for anthrakotype an ordinary strong, well-sized paper must
be selected. This must be coated with a gelatine solution (gelatine 1,
water 30 parts), either by floating the paper on the solution, or by
flowing the solution over the paper. In the latter case the paper is
softened by soaking in water, is then pressed on to a glass plate placed
in a horizontal position, the edges are turned up, and the gelatine
solution is poured into the trough thus formed. To sensitize the
paper, it is dipped for a couple of minutes in a solution of potassium
bichromate (1 in 25), then taken out and dried in the dark.
The paper is now placed beneath the drawing in a copying-frame, and
exposed for several minutes to the light; it is afterward laid in cold
water in order to remove all excess of chromate. A copy of the original
drawing now exists in relief on the swollen gelatine, and, in order to
make this relief sticky, the paper is next dipped for a short time in
water, at a temperature of about 28° or 30° C. It is then laid on a
smooth glass plate, superficially dried by means of blotting-paper, and
lamp-black or soot evenly dusted on over the whole surface by means of
a fine sieve. Although lamp-black is so inexpensive and so easily
obtained, as material it answers the present purpose better than any
other black coloring substance. If now the color be evenly distributed
with a broad brush, the whole surface of the paper will appear to be
thoroughly black. In order to fix the color on the tacky parts of the
gelatine, the paper must next be dried by artificial heat--say, by
placing it near a stove--and this has the advantage of still further
increasing the stickiness of the gelatine in the parts which have not
been acted upon by light, so that the coloring matter adheres even more
firmly to the gelatine. When the paper is thoroughly dry, place it in
water, and let it be played on by a strong jet; this removes all the
color from the parts which have been exposed to the light, and so
develops the picture. By a little gentle friction with a wet sponge, the
development will be materially promoted.
A highly interesting peculiarity of this anthrakotype process is the
fact that a copy, though it may have been incorrectly exposed, can
still be saved. For instance, if the image does not seem to be vigorous
enough, it can be intensified in the simplest way; it is only necessary
to soak the paper afresh, then dust on more color, etc.; in short,
repeat the developing process as above described. In difficult cases the
dusting-on may be repeated five or six times, till at last the desired
intensity is obtained.
By this process, therefore, we get a positive copy of a positive
original in black lines on a white ground. Of course, any other coloring
material in a state of powder may be used instead of soot, and then a
colored drawing on a white ground is obtained. Very pretty variations of
the process may be made by using gold or silver paper, and dusting-on
with different colors; or a picture may be taken in gold bronze powder
on a white ground. In this way colored drawings may be taken on a gold
or a silver ground, and very bright photo tracings will be the result.
Some examples of this kind, that have been sent us from Vienna, are
exceedingly beautiful.
Summing up the respective advantages of the two processes we have above
described, we may say that "nigrography" is best adapted for
copying drawings of a large size; the copies can with difficulty be
distinguished from good autographs, and they do not possess the bad
quality of gelatine papers--the tendency to roll up and crack. Drawings,
however, which have shadow or gradated lines cannot be well produced by
this process; in such cases it is better to adopt "anthrakotype," with
which good results will be obtained.--_Photographic News_.
* * * * *