Digital BW, The Print

The term ³traditional Carbon² printing has been discussed here before.  It
refers to a very specific process originating in the 1860¹s which is highly
archival.  Many references on the web to include my own site, and in
articles I have written.  A mixture of pigments (almost never Carbon for a
long time) is suspended in gelatin and poured over a temporary support.
After coating, then it is soaked ( or painted) in dichromate.  Actinic
radiation exposes it through a contact negative an ³tans/hardens² the
gelatin mix to a depth proportionate to the exposure it gets, resulting in a
thick layer for darker tones, etc.  This tanned gelatin layer is transferred
usually to watercolor paper or fixed out photo paper or whatever.  The
beauty of the monochrome carbon image depends not only this 3
dimensionality, but also on the interplay between light and the particular
MIX of pigments used (pthalo blue, Mars black , various reds  etc.)
Traditional monochrome (not B&W) prints were, and are, Jet Black, Deep
Black, Warm Black, Deep Brown, Chalk red, Green,  to name a few, but all
printed by the original Carbon method. Such prints have lasted well over 100
years.  Of course the pigment particle size is, I think, quite different
than we can put through a jet, and they are in a thick layer of gelatin
which has been ³cross linked² with a final formalin bath.

On 5/17/04 10:16 AM, "Peter Nelson" <pnweb@studio-nelson.com> wrote:

> 
> What is "traditional" carbon?    Various kinds of carbon black
> (channel black, charcoal black, bone black, etc) have been in use
> for centuries,if not millenia.  The pigments used in the black inks
> in my collection of stone-plate lithographs make between 1895 and
> 1915 (I think 100 years old qualifies as "traditional") are still
> perfectly black and exhibit no metamerism.
> 
> Also note that many watercolor blacks are NOT carbon black - they
> are often aniline black.   You can't go by the name on the tube of
> paint - for instance, many "cadmium red"s don't actually contain
> cadmium anymore.
> 
> Can anyone cite any authoritative sources for what the black ink
> (either OEM or 3rd party) is ACTUALLY using for a pigment?   The
> Epson UC Matte Black seems awfully warm for a "traditional" carbon
> black, whatever that is.
> 



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