504 HANDBOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY 



is desired, it can be secured by allowing the print to dry until the ink is thoroughly 

 hard, then rocking it for a few minutes in a tray of benzol (also called "benzene," but 

 not "benzine," which has a different chemical composition). This benzol removes the 

 oily or waxy base, leaving a pure matte surface which is very beautiful and which 

 may be worked on to advantage with a carbon spotting pencil or — to lighten desired 

 areas- — with a soft pencil eraser. If the benzol is applied before the ink is hard, some 

 or all of the ink wall be removed, and the print will be ruined. 



Transferring. — The advantages of transferring are that almost any texture of 

 paper can be used for the final support; that multiple prints are readily made, thus 

 permitting the emphasizing of desired areas or the combination of various colors; and 

 that the final result has a fine matte quality of surface which is quite unlike that of the 

 oil or bromoil print, even though the latter may have been degreased. So far as tex- 

 tural appearance is concerned, a bromoil transfer has the beautiful quality of a plati- 

 num print, though, of course, it lacks the exquisite delicacy of gradation of the 

 latter. 



Complete instructions for the transfer process would require more space than can 

 be given here; workers who are interested in this medium are therefore referred to 

 "Bromoil Printing and Transfer," by Emil Mayer, obtainable from The American 

 Photographic Publishing Company, 353 Newbury Street, Boston, Mass. This is an 

 admirable and very complete book, but it must not be received as absolute gospel, 

 since it contains a few statements which are, to say the least, highly debatable; how- 

 ever, it may in general be relied upon. 



In transferring, the bromoil print, as soon as it is fully inked, is placed in contact 

 with a sheet of plain paper and is run through a suitable press, the ink which is on the 

 bromoil thus being transferred to the plain paper. To secure the best results, the 

 bromoil should be so strongly swelled by the use of warm water for soaking as to require 

 a decidedly soft ink; the stiff er the ink, the less readily will it transfer. The bromoil 

 print should be so inked as to have clean high lights (unless these are, for artistic 

 reasons, to be veiled in the final result), and the shadows should be somewhat more 

 heavily inked than they would be if transferring were not to be used ; the ink usually 

 transfers more completely in the high lights than in the shadows, therefore allowance 

 must be made for this fact when inking. 



Generally speaking, the most suitable paper is one which is tough but has a soft, 

 moderately absorbent surface. One which is too highly surfaced may be rendered 

 suitable by dipping it into water, placing it between lintless blotters, running it 

 through the press, then transferring while it is still damp. If the paper is too absorb- 

 ent, it should be given a coat of size made by mixing 60 gr. of laundry starch with 

 4 oz. of water and boiling, with constant stirring, until it is clear. The various char- 

 coal and drawing papers can generally be used without any preparation. 



There are two types of bromoil transfer press. In the first, the print and transfer 

 paper are passed together between two rolls, one of which is operated by a crank, the 

 other by the friction between it and the pack. In the second type, the print and paper 

 are laid on a flat bed and passed under a roll, this roll being geared to the bed. The 

 first type has the advantage that the regulation of pressure (an important point in 

 transfer work) is accomplished by means of a setscrew that bears on the frame carrying 

 the upper roller, whereas in the second type the necessary variations in pressure are 

 secured by increasing or decreasing the number of blotters or of felt blankets in the 

 pack, a much less convenient method. On the other hand, the second type of press 

 eliminates the chance of the print "creeping" on the transfer paper, a circumstance 

 which is often very troublesome when making multiple prints. There is also a variant 

 of the first type, having the same advantages and disadvantages, in which the pack is 

 laid on a flat bed and passed under a roll, the bed moving freely on rollers but being 



