A carbon print is a photographic print with an image consisting of pigmented gelatin, rather than of silver or other metallic particles suspended in a uniform layer of gelatin, as in typical black-and-white prints, or of chromogenic dyes, as in typical photographic color prints.

thumb|Carbon print of [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson by Elliott & Fry]]

right|thumb|1932 Carbro process color print by [[Nickolas Muray]]

thumb | Carbon print of Louis Armstrong playing Trumpet by the [[Harry Warnecke Studio, 1947]]

In the original version of the printing process, carbon tissue (a temporary support sheet coated with a layer of gelatin mixed with a pigment—originally carbon black, from which the name derives) is bathed in a potassium dichromate sensitizing solution, dried, then exposed to strong ultraviolet light through a photographic negative, hardening the gelatin in proportion to the amount of light reaching it. The tissue is then developed by treatment with warm water, which dissolves the unhardened gelatin. The resulting pigment image is physically transferred to a final support surface, either directly or indirectly. In an important early 20th century variation of the process, known as carbro (carbon-bromide) printing, contact with a conventional silver bromide paper print, rather than exposure to light, was used to selectively harden the gelatin. A wide variety of colored pigments can be used instead of carbon black.

The process can produce images of very high quality which are exceptionally resistant to fading and other deterioration. It was developed in the mid-19th century in response to concerns about the fading of early types of silver-based black-and-white prints, which was already becoming apparent within a relatively few years of their introduction.

The most recent development in the process was made by the American photographer Charles Berger in 1993 with the introduction of a non-toxic sensitizer that presented none of the health and safety hazards of the toxic (EU-restricted) dichromate sensitizer.

Carbon tissue

Carbon tissue, a layer of unsensitized pigmented gelatin on a thin paper support sheet, was introduced by British physicist and chemist Joseph Swan in 1864. Marketing began in 1866. Initially, his ready-made tissues were sold in only three colors: black, sepia and purple-brown. derived from mariotype

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| 1899||Henri Theodore Fresson||French||Procédé Fresson: sold in USA between 1927 and 1939 by Edward Alenias.

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| 1900||Fresson||French||Papier charbon Satin then papier Arvel to be processed with chlorine

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| 1902||Robert Krayn||American||N.P.G. Process: tricolor carbon process distributed in France by La Société Industrielle de Photographie

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| 1905||Thomas Manly||English||Ozobrome process: instead of exposure to light, contact with a silver bromide print selectively hardens the dichromated gelatin

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| 1913||S. Manners||English||Ozobrome

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| 1919||Autotype||English||Carbro process based on Manly's ozobromie, Sold by Autotype in London from 1920 to 1960

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| 1923||H.J.C. Deeks||American||Raylo: three color carbon

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| 1951||Pierre Fresson||French||Quadrichromie Fresson

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| 1982||Archival Color Co.||American||TriColor Carbon Pigment Prints/Materials developed by Charles Berger manufactured by Polaroid

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| 1993||UltraStable Color||American||Ultrastable Color System; Four-Color Carbon Pigment Films developed by Charles Berger.

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|2015-

|The Wet Print

|American

|Extended gamut printing involving up to 14 negatives, variable contrast emulsions, triple transfer prints with selective gloss.

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Artists known for carbon prints

  • Julia Margaret Cameron
  • Rudolf Koppitz
  • Nickolas Muray (carbro process)
  • Rene Pauli

See also

  • Laser printing, which uses carbon pigment fused with styrene binder, imaged with optical and digital technology
  • Oil print process, another process based on hardened gelatin
  • Woodburytype, a variation of the carbon process

References

  • Carbon. Report on the carbon process from the Getty Conservation Institute
  • Description of the carbon process
  • Carbon process methods and materials
  • Description of the charcoal process
  • Theory of the carbon process, including discussion of the carbro (carbon-bromine) process
  • Making a Carbon Transfer Print, a video showing a modern workflow
  • Diazidostilbene (DAS) Carbon transfer printing from pigment to printing