What is salt printing? A demonstration of 19th century photography modernized
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- Опубликовано: 22 мар 2022
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Salt printing, also called salted paper printing, was the first process invented to create a photographic image on paper in the 1830’s. By using modern methods and materials we can achieve an even more stunning result today using this alternative photographic process. You can even make stunning physical prints from your digital photography.
Notes and resources
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Below are notes on the steps in the video, as well as the resources that I used to learn the process.
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The salt printing bible:
The specific formulas and methods are mostly from the book “Salted Paper Printing” by Christina Z. Anderson. It’s an incredible resource with many amazing examples of salt printing methods. I’m using the recipes (of which there are many variations) from this book: amzn.to/3L52nMR
Getting started:
These are the steps I have found to work for me, but they aren’t all necessary just to experiment with the method. Bostick & Sullivan makes a kit that comes with all the necessary chemistry to get started and will last quite a few prints. It also comes with instructions for a simplified process with less steps: amzn.to/3uhOswc
Part 1: Creating a digital negative
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Creating a digital negative can be one of the trickiest parts of the process. You can use a standard film negative, but since it is a contact printing process the negative must be as large as the desired print. Unless you have a medium or large format film camera, creating a digital negative is often the easiest solution. Most modern ink-jet printers are capable of printing a digital negative, by printing on a specialized transparency film. The two best brands are Pictorico OHP (ultra premium) and Fixxons. I use Fixxons because it’s usually cheaper and just as good: amzn.to/3JwLfPW
There are lots of resources on the internet about creating digital negatives, and some pre-made adjustment files to use. I found the book “Easy Digital Negatives” by Peter Mrhar to be very useful in developing adjustments for my negatives: amzn.to/3IxRPUI Also included in this book is lots of good troubleshooting information regarding printing on transparent film and covers lots of common issues you might encounter.
Part 2: Preparing the paper
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There are many different types of paper that can be suitable to use for salt printing. Most any paper that is used for other alternative processes can also be used for salt printing. I’ve tried 3 or 4 different types and found I like Bergger COT 320. Hahnemühle Platinum Rag is also a very popular paper.
Coating the paper well takes a lot of practice, but it’s very fun to see your brush strokes or puddles become parts of your image once the print is exposed. Just have fun with it, the chemicals are not too expensive, and you can practice on thick watercolor paper if you want to save the more expensive paper until you feel confident. There are many different methods for paper coating that achieve different results, all of which are detailed in Christina Z. Anderson book mentioned in the beginning. Here are the glass straws I used in the video for the second coating step: amzn.to/3L3epqb I threaded some cord through one and tied it to create a handle.
Part 3: Processing the print
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These steps are fairly easy and straightforward, following the instructions in the book or the simplified version in the starter kit. You can use catering trays or any other similar shaped containers if you don’t have any developing trays. I like the paterson trays: amzn.to/3JKAhpO they are really sturdy and the shape makes it easy to pour from.
For exposing the print, this is the acrylic material I found that works well: amzn.to/3JKC7ac but any glass should also work as long as it is fairly thick.
I built my UV exposure box using these Barrina UV LED Blacklight Bars: amzn.to/3L6TnXD I also used this cheap plug in timer (in countdown mode) to time the exposures: amzn.to/3iy36d6
You will need a room without any natural (UV) light, but most artificial light sources will be ok. This is one of the advantages of alternative processes that are only sensitive to UV light, you don’t have to be as careful about creating a light-tight environment to work in.
Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments or follow me on twitter and instagram @NimbleDave 
Хобби
Thank you for so much info. The process looks very straightforward (& zen!) & the finished print is stunning!
A wonderful piece of craft and art - and science. Thank you ❤️
This is a verydetailed instructional video of the salt printingprocess! Thank you for sharing this process with us. we elearned a great deal .
Thank yoiu for a very clear and detailed demonstration. It gives a beautiful effect.
An artist at work - that's a beautiful outcome!
This is lovely! Such crisp detail. Thanks for showing us this-
Simple beautiful, you make it look easy, I’m sure it not, wow, thank you for sharing.
Wonderful and Motivatonal explanation and tutorial on Salt Printing. I love it!!
Thanks so much!
Love the tip about using the Red to block more light when printing the negative. I've tried a few alternative processes but not have had much success or results were never detailed enough for me. I think it was down to how the negative was printed and getting an even exposure with a UV lamp.
Thank you for making this demo :) it will be so so helpful.
Thank you so much for this clear-cut demonstration! And that's a stunning photo :)
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent video, I appreciate your production style, and beautiful print as well.
Much appreciated!
Great video on the process.
Thank you!
Excellent demonstration anda a lovely prine! :-)
I love the “graphics” of the filming for your demo. The raking like is good .. and you can cover the light with red, orange or yellow if you want since it’s so close. We use wads of cotton for application for sheets up to 14.” Scully & Osterman
Loved this, thanks for sharing the process. I've done lots of pt/pd etc, but never tried salt printing. This makes me want to give it a go.
Go for it!
Great username @18% Grey, lol
I have respect fo the people who invented this process. The number of steps you have te get right :(
Very inspirational to try myself....
Exquisite!
great video
Beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
Ficou muito bom !!!!!!
Excellent demo, I was wondering when the print was going to cool down. Seem it might be hard to judge the level of cool in the end.
It usually cools as it dries but it varies a lot depending on the amount of time in the toner and how exhausted the toner is
I would suggest that you never get your negative anywhere near the wet side of your darkroom. If you don't have a dry side separated from a wet side, start there. That negative will be destroyed if you get any water on it.
Good video. Thanks for it. Good discussion below also. Anyone have the ratio of bees wax to lavender oil for waxing salt prints?
imagine doing all his but also controlling for exposure and focus to get the negatives. so many variables. omg
You should use quartz glass or fused silica glass during your exposure. Plastic attenuates UV light and over time your acrylic will become brittle and fog up unless you are using dedicated UV transmitting acrylic
I have a hard time believing any type of acrylic will survive uv for extended periods of time
Where I can get a pane of Quartz or fused silica of that size? I think normal window glass or borosilicate glass are the best options, both have acceptable UV transmission above 365nm.
so far I have not noticed any fogging, the biggest problem I have encountered is that it scratches very easily
BEAUTIFUL Demonstration
And a more amazing subject quality
Was it a woodcock ❓
Mm
An interesting video of an interesting process. What are in the fix1, fix 2 and the hypo-clear solutions please?
any type of normal fixer should be effective, I use whatever non-hardening rapid fixer (base or neutral) that I can find I think when I filmed this it was TF-4. The hypo clear is just a standard clearing agent, I believe I used photographer's formulary powdered concentrate.
Very nicely done. What do you use for fixer and hypo clear and do you reuse them? If yes, for how long can they be reused? TIA.
I use standard hypo thiosulfate for fixer, 150 grams for each preparation. I usually remix it after 5 or 6 prints or once the solution starts looking very dirty. The hypo clear I use is from photographers formulary and is supposed to be good for 50 prints so I have only remixed it once.
@@marshmonkey thanks a lot.
I like this video...
Thank you for the demonstration, very clear and simple to follow. Is there a way to minimise the water used in the final step? Unfortunately I have limited amounts of fresh water and running the tap for 60 minutes would be prohibitive.
Something which I have been trying with silver gelatin prints is prolonged soaking in a single tray of water for at least 90 minutes (or longer, it won't hurt). This seems to dissolve most of the fixer and then you can do another 5 minute wash just to make sure you got everything. I started doing this after watching this video: ruclips.net/video/IV7h-2WE8zI/видео.html
@@marshmonkey Thank you! I will give that a try.
What printer setting are you using?
VFA?
(Wondering as I just bought a ET-8500)
And thanks a lot for sharing the process and your work!
Yes, VFA
Dang, that was a lot more straight forward that it seemed on Discord. Do you find that because you're pushing the silver nitrate left and right, that your edges are more dense than the centers? This print looked pretty fine in that regard.
I love that you can do most of this process under inside lighting.
Yea, it starts out darker on the edges where there is more silver, but the excess washes out during processing and doesn’t show in the final print.
Hello! I'm really excited by what you're doing here. Would you be able to post a link (such as Amazon url) to the exact Fixxons film that you're using, please? I'd never heard of this product before... had only ever tried with regular acetate sheets before, without huge success. Thank you!
Please disregard my request for a link... Just saw all the additional notes in the video description. This is really helpful, thank you so much! Sally
sure, it's this stuff: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083GCM5LP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
David, How do the Salted Prints compare to Platinum Palladium in terms of print longevity, amount of tonal range, amount of work to produce finished prints, expense, ease of the process? Thank you for all the work you did on creating this tutorial and for including the valuable resources for getting into the system.
This is the only process I have experience with, so I really can only go by what the literature I've read mentions. According to the books I've read it is as archival as pt/pl when properly processed and toned. I have read that salt printing has the most tonal range of any alt process, but I have no idea if that is accurate or not. It should be cheaper than pt/pd in terms of chemicals, silver is less expensive than pt/pl - as for the ease of process again I have not had the experience to compare but salt has a reputation for being more finicky and more steps.
@@marshmonkey thank you David for taking your valuable time to answer my question in detail. I appreciate your kindness!
@@jerryeisner1 There are so many variables-paper can be a real pain when it misbehaves, But if you wash carefully and make sure all the silver is removed, the prints will be quite archival. I have many that are ten years old now and still in excellent condition and that's without toning in gold. When I start them again, though, I will do the gold toning-it's not expensive and very worth while. Salt f[prints made n the 19th Century are still in amazing condition. 🙂
What kind of gold toner do you use? thank you!
I use this stuff from Bostick & Sullivan: www.bostick-sullivan.com/product/gold-toning-kit-for-salted-paper-vandyke-kallitype-and-albumen/
I presume you have some sort of filter in PS set up to print the negative. Do you also have a filter set up to give you a prediction of the final print?
I don’t with my current setup, but if if stick 100% with the easy digital negative tools that generates the adjustments it will also provide a screen proof adjustment that simulates the end result.
@@marshmonkey just watched your video, great work, hands down. I am starting my journey into alt process and a big part of this is having a good negative. Two questions come to mind if you don't mind.
First, why the red negative?
And do you use QuadTone Rip or any curves specific plugins?
Thanks 🙏🏻
@@JasonRenoux Thanks Jason! I found during my testing that the red ink of my printer blocked a wider range of UV light than just using black ink. I haven't used QuadTone Rip but I have used the Easy Digital Negatives book and tools to get my negatives to the ballpark of where they need to be before I start doing more custom adjustments as I print.
@@marshmonkey thank you
I see that the Bergger paper is 100% cotton. Can you use the same process for printing on fabrics such cotton, linen and silk? Could it work also on clay and how to add more gold into the image? Your work is really beautiful, thank you to share your experience.
Thanks! Yup it should work with fabric, not sure about clay. As long as there is something for the chemistry to permeate the surface of, you should get some sort of result.
@@marshmonkey Thank you David, I am in the process of making the UV room and ordering the products. I can't wait to start. Thank you very much for sharing your experience. I feel like after a visit at the museum, really inspired. Your pictures are really beautiful. Where did you take he picture from your "about" page. Is it near San Diego?
did you use different amounts of thiosulphate in the two fixers? ...also my images com much darker out of the sun...your's seems orange... ?
I’m curious because of the differing light levels in the video, does any part of this process need to be completed in a darkroom, or is dimmed light/non-uv-light okay?
Any dim non-uv light (be careful some normal lights also emit some UV light) is ok throughout the process, although I let the final coating dry in the dark just to be safe. I have some of those led strips as under cabinet lighting that I have taped UV blocking film over and keep those on during the entire process and have never encountered any fogging. An easy test is to coat a small scrap of paper and let it sit out for an hour with the working lights on to see if it exposes at all.
@@marshmonkey thank you so much! I love all your work and really appreciate the walkthrough!
Hi David, love your demon. My name is Chi & I'm from Hong Kong, I have 14 digital images which I would like to turn into salt prints. Do you do work like this & how much will it cost ?
I'm not currently doing any commissions, sorry!
Why do you use two fix baths? If you are reusing the fixer aren't they the same?
the two baths are from two different bottles of fixer. I think the idea is that the first fix gets a bit exhausted during the first batch and the second bath can fix better than just using this same amount of fixer for twice the time.
@@marshmonkey Thanks! I thought it might be something like that.
While I was watching:
"This process is called salt printing."
"There's no way it uses regular table salt, it probably uses some silver salt or something!"
"It uses regular table salt"
"No way!"
"This solution is called 'gold toner'."
"There's no way it has real gold in it, that's probably the brand or something!"
"It has real gold in it."
"No way!"
Is not necessary all that salt and citric acid in the first baths. The most tap water already has chlorine which is enough to do the job of silver chloride precipitation.
I have stopped using citric acid in the first bath, although I could see it being useful if you are trying to acidify the print before going into a toner that is acid. According to Christina Z. Anderson (if I am remembering the book correctly) the purpose of the initial salt washes is to neutralize most of the light sensitivity of the silver, not necessarily to speed any clearing of it. It would be interesting to do a test replacing with normal tap water to see if there are any difference in the result.
@@marshmonkey I usually only use tap water as recommended by classic texts such as James M. Reilly's or as Mark Osterman always advises and I have no problem. On the contrary, I have a lower density loss. Of course, you should always do a test based on the tap water you have, to verify if the chlorine inside is enough. In my opinion, Christina Z. Anderson's method is not wrong, but excessive and causes a loss of density that could be avoided.
@@stefanob1 sounds like I will need to do a test then!
I went back and looked at my book and I was using much more than the amount specified, so I will definitely try much less or none at all.
@@marshmonkey well done! maybe first try without salt! ;)
Too complex. I will give this a pass.
well i tell you a Secret. if you have PRINTER, you can Print image on the Paper, without that all headache
Thanks for the tip!
... or you could buy a poster. You don't even have to turn on the printer. Yet again, there are prints and there are PRINTS. This one is the LATER.
Brilliant observation, Watson! I guess that explains why an Ansel Adams poster costs ten bucks while an original print will sell for $65,000.00. It's just not worth all that headache! 😸
@@TheStockwell Ansel Adams did Real Film