Wet Plate Emporium

The Photographic Method of Cyanotype Printing on Glass

Joseph J. McAllister
www.wetplateemporium.com www.facebook.com/joseph.j.mcallister

Author Notes: Original process by Joseph J. McAllister 2012. If you want to post my process to a website, please contact me, list my name and links. You can post it in forums or groups or share it at will. Thanks.

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PAPER CYANOTYPE PROCESS PROCESS 1) Mixing [Safe light] Bostick pre-mix A & B 50/ 50 2) Coating Use sponge brush 3) Drying Use fan In dark room Until the paper is slightly damp to the touch, but not visible unevenly damp 4) Exposure Expose immediately Yellow Dark Blue Light Gray: Finished 5) Washing Wash quickly in tub of lukewarm, 2 trays Only until yellow water & paper become clear Color fades out fast 6) Drying Lay print on paper towels Blot dry with paper towel on top Air dry only Print will turn dark blue after drying for 24 hours

COFFEE TONING PROCESS (Do not mix these baths together. You only need one bath per print to get the result of each bath) Gallic Acid 25 ml / water 500 ml Light Blue Gloves/ Respirator Borax 25 g / water 500 ml Dark Purple Safe/ Leaves chalky grit Coffee 4 tbsp / 4 cups Black & Sepia Best Hydrogen Peroxide straight Nothing

Notes: Filter the cyanotype solution before using to get any un-dissolved crystals out

Cyanotype toned using only coffee (Joseph J. McAllister 2012).

MCALLISTERS GLASS CYANOTYPE PROCESS (You can use any base formula to make the cyanotype. The formulas below have been tested.) USING BOSTICK & SULLIVANS LIQUID CYANOTYPE PREMIX (500 ML) Solution A: 250 ml Solution B: 250 ml Gelatin 5 oz USING DICK SULLIVANS CYANOTYPE FORMULA Total Volume 200 ml Green ferric ammonium citrate 27.2 g Potassium ferricyanide 9.2 g Oxalic acid 1g Ammonium dichromate 0.2 g Water 200 ml Gelatin (Ounces of dry powder) 17.5 g

400 ml 54.4 g 18.4 g 2g 0.4 g 400 ml 35 g

600 ml 81.6 g 27.6 g 3g 0.6 g 600 ml 52.5 g

PROCESS 1) Mixing [Safe light] Pour cyanotype chemicals into stainless steel sauce pan Stir to dissolve (Filter emulsion to get any un-dissolved crystals out) (Tilt the pan to check that the emulsion is free of un-dissolved crystals) Slowly stir in gelatin (Dissolve cold: Cakes in hot water) Slowly heat to 1200 F (480 C) stirring constantly (Remove from heat as soon as it reaches 1200 F or crystal formation will start & gel will burn on the sides of the pan) (Continue stirring the emulsion and tilting the pan until the gel coating the bottom of the pan is free of small gelatin specs) Let cool in fridge in light tight container 2) Coating [Safe light] Heat slowly in electric mini crock pot (If the gel boils its ruined. Turn off after coating plates) (Do not use a fast heating device. It will ruin the emulsion) Fill ladle with emulsion (Use a stainless steel spoon to skim bubbles off surface before pouring) Ladle emulsion onto center of plate (Hold the plate waiter style with one hand & pour with the other)

(Try to cover 80% of the plate with emulsion in the center) Tip plate to each corner allowing the gel to move slowly and not drip over the sides (Use two fingers to smear gel if spots are missed as you tip to each corner) Pour excess back into emulsion until stream turns to drips (Keep plate vertical: Do not allow gel to run back onto the plate The coating is only as thick as what is left on the plate after pouring off & what drains off as it dries vertically. Do not level until the plate is ready to expose! The coating will seem so thin that it will look as if the plate is clean with no gel at all. That is actually the correct amount. Thick gel will expose slowly, and blister off the plate when drying.) Place drip edge on paper towel and allow it to soak up the brim (Keep moving it to a new spot on the paper towel. When it starts to slow down it is ready for drying) Use a paper towel to wipe off any emulsion that may have spilled onto the back 3) Drying Fan dry until dry to the touch (25 min) Flip the plate & fan dry (10 min) (This step is to allow the gel burm at the button to dry) (The plate is done drying when the burm on the edge is dry enough that it wont stick to the paper during printing). (Do not over dry. The plate should have a clear dry film, not chalky or crystallized) Inspect gel for crystals, bubbles and uneven coating (If the coating is bad, the plate is not worth printing) (Use a razor blade to scrape off any over spill on the back, especially around the burm. Then use half of a damp paper towel to clean the over spill & the dry half of the towel to dry it) 4) Exposure Print until solarized (Expose until the contrast of the blue gel and the black of the print are equal, or until the emulsion stops reacting to light) 5) Wash I CAUTION: Extremely weak at this point In safe light, sit the plate in cold water 5 minutes. Dont agitate! The contrast of the print will increase as it fixes (This bath hardens the gel by removing the unexposed emulsion) Gently lift the plate from the water and let the water drip off the plate at the corner (Dont do any more until you have fan dried it. Then work it a bit more if its still light sensitive. Drying the gel after the first bath will harden it) 6) Drying II Fan dry (Step 7 & 8 may not be necessary if emulsion is non-reactive in light)

7) Wash II [White light] Wash with cold water under a faucet (The gel should be very strong at this point) (Use the faucets stream to work the green & purple tints out of the photo until they are entirely gone.) 8) Drying III Fan dry Place in dark box until you are ready to recheck them Recheck and continue washing & drying until photo is free of purple 9) Spot rinse Rinse the plate in distilled water to remove hard water spots Wipe the back down with a cloth Fan dry front

Notes: Heat & filter gelatin if you see the formation of crystals on the plate after drying Heating the emulsion above melting temperature causes the cyanotype to form large crystals Stirring the emulsion can cause bubbles and scrapes the cooked gel from the surface of the crock pot into the gel. Do not scrape the pot with a spoon when pouring heated emulsion back into the storage container. The dried gel on the surface of the pot is unusable. Oxalic acid (ox-l-ic), hydrogen peroxide baths seem to have no effect on removing the purple tone from the plates Tartaric acid (tar-taric) can be substituted for Oxalic acid in a cyanotype recipe

Glass cyanotype (Joseph J. McAllister 2012).

BASE FORMULAS You can use any cyanotype formula. (These are listed for a quick reference).

Dick Sullivans Recommended Formula Green ferric ammonium citrate Potassium ferricyanide Oxalic acid Ammonium dichromate Water 27.2 grams 9.2 grams 1 grams 0.2 grams 200 ml. E. Valentas Sensitizer (speed) Herschels Original formula Oxalic or tartaric acid (speed & range) Robert Hunt (speed/ shelf life, stops blue formation)

A Modern Cyanotype Formula Solution A Green ferric ammonium citrate Water Solution B Potassium ferricyanide Water 40 grains 1 ounce 110 grains 1 ounce

Filter before use. Use equal volumes of A and B, and develop in running water. If the water is alkaline, a little citric acid should be added to counteract the alkalinity, which should be followed by a final wash in two or three changes of plain water.

Hershels Original Cyanotype Formula Solution A Ammonio-citrate of iron Water Solution B Potassium ferricyanide Water
Equal quantities of A and B are mixed just before use.

20 parts 100 parts 16 parts 100 parts

Notes: 21F7 Prussian blue (Berlin, Milori or Paris blue). Cyanotypes are composed of the substance Prussian blue (ferric ferrocyanide), which was originally an artists pigment. In the 1800s cyanotype transparencies were used as lantern slides. A detectable range of cyanide gas is released during printing. Snowflake crystallization is due to overheating of the formula.

Dry chemicals.

GELATIN Knox original gelatine unflavored (32 oz). Food Grade. Wal-Mart $8.99.

TYPES Glass Cyanotype Cyanotype Orotype Coffee Toned Glass Cyanotype Cyanotype Lantern Slide

EXPOSURE (Layers from front to back in contact printing frame) 1 - Glass front 2 - Black paper vignette 3 - 8x10 Sheet Film (Emulsion side up or it may be ruined by gel over pour) 4 - Dry plate cyanotype (Emulsion face down towards white paper) 5 - White paper (Reflectivity decreases exposure time) 6 - Black paper (blocks light from entering back) 7 - Glass back

Notes: Use dodge and burn techniques to insure even exposure Check the glass to make sure its not heating up. If it is, back the light up. If the glass heats up the gel will start cracking and blistering off the plate Expose plate using a 500 watt tungsten fennel at 3.5 ft with medium focus Make sure the plate is facing the light directly and not at an angle If using the sun to expose, do not allow the plate to heat up

The exposure needs to be sandwiched to the glass or it will just wash off. This is why we expose with the emulsion side down. During exposure, the gel will turn from blue to light blue repeatedly allowing a deeper layer to be sensitized by the light. Print until the contrast of the blue emulsion and the black negative are equal in contrast (solarized). This shows that the emulsion layers are thick enough to make a good print.

Contact printing in 11x14 frame using paper vignette.

Alternate vignette technique.

Gelled cyanotype emulsion.

Mini crock pot and stainless steel ladle.

GLASS CYANOTYPE TONING Coffee 4 tbsp / 4 cups

Black & Sepia

Best

Toning with coffee takes a long time due to the strength of the gel at this point. On occasion it only takes 5-10 minutes, but most of the time the plate is left in the coffee bath over night to get the proper density.

Coffee toned glass cyanotype (Joseph J. McAllister 2012).

Coffee toned glass cyanotype (Joseph J. McAllister 2012).

Cyanotype orotype (Joseph J. McAllister 2012).

CYANOTYPE OROTYPE HISTORY Edward S. Curtis invented orotype photographs in 1916 which he nicknamed Curt-Tone (also known as orotone, goldtone or aurotypes). The photographs are an inter-negative ambrotype backed with a banana oil varnish giving the images a bronze tone. CYANOTYPE OROTYPES Joseph J. McAllister invented the cyanotype-orotype in 2012 while doing experimentation with glass cyanotypes. For an authentic method of gold toning the cyanotype, add bronzing powder to Sandarac varnish. Bronzing powder can be found at Michaels Art Supply stores in the gold leafing section. For a quick modern alternative, use Rust-Oleum bright coat metallic finish from Lows or Home Depot. Lay the plate flat on a table with a newspaper under it, wear a 3M painters respirator, layer the coat up to full thickness, blow drying the surface each time before adding another coat. Apply the lacquer or varnish directly to the emulsion side.

Coffee Toned Cyanotype Lantern Slide (Joseph J. McAllister 2012).

Cyanotype lantern slide on projector.

Projection from Cyanotype Lantern Slide.

PRINTING DEFECTS AIR BELLS Tiny bubbles trapped in the emulsion. These can leave a streak trail down the image as they slide across the plate during coating.

AIR BELL TRAILS Trails left by bubbles when pouring the emulsion off the plate. The trails can be dark, but are usually light.

SNOW FLAKES (CRYSTALLIZATION) Small snow flake like crystal formations on dry plates formed when the emulsion is over heated. Crystals are more prevalent in strong gelatin mixtures.

FRILLING Wrinkling of a gelatin layer at the edges during processing caused by the gel expanding and lifting from the plate.

BLISTERING Cracking and peeling of the gel layer from the plate during drying. This is caused from the gel layer being too thick. This can also happen during exposure when the glass heats up and the emulsion starts to dry and detach form the plate. GELATIN SPOTS Black chips in the final image. This happens when the gel is overheated and forms a hard burnt layer against the walls of the crock pot which may have been scrapped into the gel using a spoon. Never scrape the sides of the crock pot when pouring the gel back into the storage container.

UNDISOLVED CRYSTALS The dark specs are caused by un-dissolved cyanotype powder or gelatin. To avoid these, when making the emulsion, make sure the cyanotype chemicals before adding the gelatin, and the gelatin is completely dissolved before chilling. Keep stirring and tipping the pan to check for undissolved crystals. They usually disappear after 1-2 minutes of stirring.

DRIPS Drips happen during coating of the plate when the emulsion starts to cool before pour off. To avoid drips, make sure the emulsion is hot enough, and cover at least 80% of the plate when applying the emulsion.

EDGE BURM Edge burm is the build up of gel at the pour off edge. It forms when the plate is fan drying vertically. This can be avoided almost completely by taking time to absorb the emulsion at the drip corner after coating. Continue until the rate of emulsion being absorbed by the paper towel slows down.

HIGH LIGHT DETAIL WASHOUT In the print below you can see white patches where the high light detail has been washed out. This happens when the emulsion is dissolved during the initial wash. The highlights are the weakest part of the image. It is better to under wash it during the first wash and work out the green emulsion later when the gel has hardened, then to loose detail.

DOUBLE EXPOSURE Double exposures can happen during exposure when the glass in the contact printing frame heats up. As the glass expands, gravity takes hold and the print slides down. Try to avoid printing with the frame vertical. Be aware of this if you are using a cheap or oversized printing frame that was not really designed for printing.

WARNING: CYANIDE GAS Never dip cyanotype plates in potassium cyanide fixer or silver nitrate solution. This will remove all the blue from the gel instantly. This reaction releases cyanide gas from the ferric ferrocyanide (Persian blue) on the plate and from the potassium cyanide fixer as well.

NEGATIVE PRINT On occasion I have a print that turns negative when it is put into the initial water bath. This happens when the image is over exposed in direct sun light to the point where an ugly gray color starts forming. As you soak the image it will turn to a positive over 3-4 minutes of sitting it in the water bath. The image below was completely negative when I first put it into the water bath. It took 5 minutes for the image to appear.

Photo after initial water bath.

Photographer Peter Geo by Joseph J. McAllister 2013.

PURPLE & GREEN Using a strong gelatin mixture of (8.7 g / 100 ml), helps to keep the gel from washing off the plate during the initial wash, especially the high light detail which is the weakest part of the image. The draw back, is as you increase the strength of the gel, it becomes harder to wash the unexposed emulsion form the plate. The green color below is unexposed emulsion, while the purple is the green emulsion after it has been exposed to white light. If you have already washed and dried the plate once, the emulsion is now very hard. At this point you can use cold tap water to work the unexposed emulsion out. Let the tap pour directly onto the areas you are trying wash out. The gel is very strong at this point and wont dissolve. If some of the purple color wont wash, out you can bleach it out by putting the wet plate in direct sun light. Sometimes this will turn it clear, other times a light blue that matches the print.

LINKS UNBLINKING EYE: CYANOTYPE FORMULAS http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Cyano/cyano.html

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BOSTICK & SULLIVAN https://www.bostick-sullivan.com/

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PHOTO FORMULARY http://stores.photoformulary.com/StoreFront.bok

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FREE STYLE PHOTO: ARISTA 8X10 FILM SUPPLIES http://www.freestylephoto.biz/

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