SPECIAL PRINTING PROCESSES 506 



operated by friction alone. Which type of press is chosen is largely a matter of per- 

 sonal preference; in the writer's opinion, the first type is the better for single transfers, 

 the second when multiple prints are to be made. 



To transfer, two or three pieces of lintless blotter are laid on a sheet of pressboard, a 

 ferrotype plate, or — in the case of a flat-bed press — on the bed. The transfer paper is 

 then laid on these blotters and the inked print, face down, on the paper. One or two 

 lintless blotters are laid on the print and over these, if necessary, one or more felt 

 blankets such as are used by etching printers. This pack is then run through the 

 press, using comparatively light pressure; it is not necessary or advisable to use so 

 much pressure that great muscular effort is required to turn the crank. The high 

 lights of the print will transfer most readily, and the print may be lifted at one end — 

 taking care that it does not shift on the transfer paper- — to see whether or not the 

 shadows have transferred satisfactorily. It will probably be found that they have 

 not, in which case the pressure may be slightly increased and the pack run through the 

 press again. If the inking, the transfer paper, and the pressure are properly adjusted, 

 a satisfactory transfer should be obtained this time, but if not, the operation may be 

 repeated. Too much pressure, however, will probably cause the gelatin of the print 

 to adhere to the transfer paper in the high lights, resulting in its tearing loose from the 

 support. If sufficient depth is not readilj^ obtained in the shadows, it is usually better 

 to reink the bromoil and make a multiple transfer, rather than to try to transfer all 

 the ink of the shadows by heavy pressure. 



After transferring, the bromide print may be stripped away from the transfer 

 paper, resoaked, and reinked, either for another transfer or for the purpose of adding 

 another printing to the first transfer. Register marks should, of course, be made on 

 the back of the bromoil and on the face of the transfer paper before the first trans- 

 ferring if multiple printing is contemplated. The possible number of printings to be 

 had from one bromide print depends on the roughness or gentleness of the handling 

 which it receives and varies widely — from, say, 5 to 25. The variation is purely 

 mechanical and does not depend on any chemical action whatever. 



After the transfer is perfectly dry, it may be worked on with pencil, stump, or a 

 soft pencil eraser, to practicallj^ an unlimited extent. 



In conclusion, we may say that the chief merits of oil and bromoil printing and of 

 transfer lie in the extreme richness and depth of the shadows which may be obtained 

 by this process and in the great flexibility of the medium. Its chief fault lies in the 

 fact that it is not a truly photographic process. By this last, the writer does not mean 

 to imply any objection to manual control of resiilts in photography; he has no fault to 

 find with such control, provided it is properly done. But the essential merit of photog- 

 raphy, the characteristic in which it surpasses all other graphic mediums whatever, is 

 the unrivaled delicacy with which it represents the gradations of light on surfaces, and 

 this is precisely the point in which oil and bromoil and transfer are inferior to other 

 photographic printing mediums. This, however, is a matter for individual choice; 

 after all, the great desideratum is, not the production of a photograph, but the produc- 

 tion of a picture, and each worker will select the medium which best expresses the 

 idea that he has in mind, making use at times of the delicacj^ and precision of platinum 

 and at other times and for other purposes employing the breadth of expression and the 

 control of bromoil. 



Bibliography 



Sawyer: Gum, Am. Phot., February, 1933, p. 82. 



Hanson, R. E. : Landscape — Bromoil Printing, Am. Phot., May, 1933, p. 257. 



Lewis, C. E.: Simple Bromoil, Am. Phot., February, 1934, p. 125. 



Anderson, PaulL.: The Gum-pigment Process, Camera, April-September inclusive, 1935. 



English, F. L. : Bromoil on Enlarging Paper, Am. Phot., May, 1935, p. 290. 



