PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING.
If all boys are not so fortunate as to possess a camera, there is no reason why they should be debarred from all the pleasures of photography; and as there is much entertainment to be derived from this simple amusement, it is advisable for every boy throughout the land who is old enough to give it a fair trial. The first thing needed is a frame for holding the print while it is being exposed. This can be made by an ingenious boy, but as it is a rather troublesome job, it is better to buy a small transparent slate for five or ten cents, and discarding the copies, use the frame and glass for your work. The sensitized paper should next be prepared. This can be bought at any place where photographers’ supplies are to be found; many boys, however, are too far away from our great cities to have access to such stores, and even those who have will find more delight in making it for themselves. There is a great satisfaction in the feeling of perfect independence, and the more we can do for ourselves without aid or hinderance from the world at large, the nearer we come to the ideal state. So, presuming that every boy has this independent spirit well ingrained in his nature, I will give two formulas for this kind of paper, and leave it to the reader to decide for himself which he will use. The first produces a negative impression; that is, one in which all the parts that are dark in the copy come out light in the print, and vice versâ; and the second makes a positive print, or one in which all the shadings remain the same as in the original.
FIRST PROCESS.
Paper by this process is very easily prepared as follows: Make two solutions:
1st.—Water, 1 ounce.
Prussiate of potash, 60 grains.
2d.—Water, 1 ounce.
Ammonia citrate of iron, 70 grains.
When these are dissolved, mix them together, and pour them through a piece of filter-paper into a tumbler, and then into a clean glass bottle. If filter-paper cannot be had, nice clean cotton wool answers the purpose nearly as well. This solution should be kept and also used in a dark room. To sensitize the paper, pour out a little of the liquid into a saucer; then having cut note-paper into rectangular pieces, a trifle smaller than the glass in your frame, take one of these pieces at a time, and place it evenly upon the surface of the liquid; let it lie in this position until it is flat and not inclined to curl. Now take it out by one corner, and thrusting a pin through this point, drive it lightly into the edge of a shelf in your dark room, and leave it to dry. It is now ready for use; should any be left after printing, roll it up and place it in a tin box which has a cover, to keep it from the light and dampness. To print on this paper, place your glass in the frame, and next to it any engraving you may fancy, provided it is printed on thin paper and has no type on its back. If a copy is desired precisely like the original, place the engraving face downward on the glass, but if a reverse is wished, that is, one in which all the objects in the original are turned about, and its left side is to correspond to the right in your print, then place it with its face toward you in the frame. When this is adjusted to your satisfaction, take the frame to your dark closet, and put in your sensitized paper, being careful to cover it closely with the back of the frame well fastened in place before bringing it to the light. Place the frame, glass side upward, on a window-ledge, or in any place where it will be exposed to the free rays of the sun, and let it remain until it is printed to the desired depth. It will be noticed that at first the light changes the portions exposed to a bluish color; the operation, however, is not finished at this stage, but must be continued long enough to turn these portions a deep metallic gray. Care must be exercised in examining the print, that the paper is not moved from its position relative to the copy to be printed; with the above frame this will be a very delicate matter, and it is doubtful if it can be successfully done. A better way would be to make one or two prints, without caring for accuracy of form, but simply with a view of obtaining a good color, and time the operation; this would form a sort of basis from which to work. If some subsequent engraving was upon thicker paper, it would take a somewhat longer time to print it, and if on thinner paper, the time required would be proportionately shorter. It would be a great source of convenience if the back could be cut in two equal parts, and a piece of canton flannel be pasted over both, joining them as they were at first. This with the soft side outward will keep the paper from slipping, and act as a hinge to either half. Now instead of one fastening, two will be required, one on either half of the cover; if then you wish to examine your print, you have only to open one end of your frame, and carefully lift up the edge of the paper, while the other end, remaining firmly closed, holds the whole thing in place.
After your print has reached the proper degree of color, take it out and immerse it in clean water, when it will become a rich blue, except those parts which are to remain white. Change the water once or twice, or until every part comes out distinctly; then take it from the bath and dry between sheets of blotting-paper.
The second way to prepare paper consists in washing good letter-paper with the following solution:
Bichromate of potash, 10 grains.
Sulphurate of copper, 20 grains.
Water, 1 ounce.
Papers prepared with this are of a pale yellow color; they may be kept any length of time in a tin box, and are always ready for use. For copying engravings, the wings of dragon-flies, or of cicadas, the beautiful skeletonized leaves or delicate ferns, arranged in tiny bouquets on the inner surface of the ground glass, this paper is excellent.
After it has been exposed to the influence of the sunshine, take the frame to your dark closet, and after removing the print, wash it over with a solution of nitrate of silver of moderate strength. As soon as this is done, a very vivid positive picture makes its appearance, and all the “fixing” it requires is well washing in pure water.
The dark closet spoken of above is necessary in all kinds of photography, as light let in upon the sensitized paper would darken the whole surface. To make a “dark room,” stop the upper part of the window with any opaque substance, and pin a large sheet of dark orange paper over the lower sash. The yellow paper used in making envelopes is excellent for this, but if it cannot be found, four sheets of tissue-paper, two red and two yellow, placed over each other, answer the purpose very well.
A friend of the writer utilizes an old disused chicken-house for his dark room, and it answers its purpose capitally, while it was at the window of this little room I first saw the tissue-paper successfully used.
The prints used for copy might be rendered more translucent by rubbing them over with a little linseed oil mixed with turpentine. This, of course, should be thoroughly dried before it is used in connection with the sensitized paper.
A great number of graceful, pretty things can be photographed in this manner; the delicate maiden-hair fern, so common in several parts of our country; the fine, feathery leaves of many of our wild flowers, some of the finer flowers themselves, and many of the beautiful mosses and sea-weeds after they are pressed, make exquisite little photographs, worthy of a place in any collection.
A dozen or more of these prints carefully taken, pressed, and trimmed, would make a pretty Christmas present to a dear friend. The cover could be of plain paper, with the name of the person for whom it was intended neatly written upon the top, an appropriate sentiment on the middle, and the donor’s name with the date upon the lower part of the page.
The stencils, for the making of which full directions are given in another part of this book, make very line subjects for photographs. If intended for this purpose, however, they should be of a slender, delicate pattern, small in size, and cut with extreme care. A snow-flake caught upon a black surface, and examined in a cold room, will furnish many suggestions for stencils designed for copy.
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