Category: dye transfer

2018 Pan Run

Posted on Posted in dye transfer, labnotes

End of run. The final bit of anti-halation black made for making panchromatic matrix emulsion. This washes out with a pre-soak as part of the processing of the matrix film; goes back to the 1950s method . After processing thru wash-off, the gelatin relief is clear, no black. This permits dye preview as in the “slip sheet” manner from the 50s. During transition of technology times, a manufacturer does not know which way the market will glide. Should we stay true, compatible with existing methods, or do we change product with expectation that the labs/market will adapt. Can we manage that risk: meaning absorb the cost and correct directions.

The initial Kodak relief, imbibition films, were clear-ish after wash-off. Previewing the color through a process of dyeing the mat, laying them atop the final support covered by a clear overlay (that 25th sheet) had become routine way of printing. A new matrix film should support that standardized lab method. Initially, PM did. But then, it didn’t. At first, PM relied upon a different tanning developer, and required a pre-wash to remove the acutance-black (sharpens by controlling “internal flare”). It was slightly blue, as was Defender-DuPont’s pan-chroma product. PM quickly moved away from the dye to a “pigment” dispersion throughout the coating. It didn’t wash out. Kodak also switched to a single tanning formula, dropping the specialized three part pan matrix developer. Soon after, PM got a number.

A long time ago doesn’t mean Y2K to me. 1950 is my long time ago.

Frank, November 2000:

During my initial years of making separations, I used Super-XX since a contact at Kodak’s Visual Research Studio suggested my PM exposures would be comparable. They were, within a step test.

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matrix-film: what ifs

Posted on Posted in alt photo, dye transfer, Getting Stuff

suppose there were other uses of a matrix film — what might they be/ have been. Would they provide enough users for an emulsion run.

— this question was one raised in earlt 1990s, then again in 2K.

The question remains open.

pathways to panchromatic matrix film:
-- orthomatrix resensitized to tricolor set
-- factory sensitized tricolor set, as if they were pigment tissues
--

this is a shorthand post… another open question post is: why can’t a group gather resources enough to build products.

I don’t know that I have the correct answer, but I do have an answer .

Danziger Gallery :Two tales

Posted on Posted in art biz, dye transfer, The Gallery

the art is the prompt — it isn’t the print, it is the point. a test of our time..

it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it …

One pill makes you popular … The other makes you crawl..

The vertigo project is about dye transfer and motion picture some thing a few of the weekend photographers pay heed to and certainly not those under the age of 40. The movie is from grandpa’s time..

The other project, the other pill ,the one that’s tough to swallow is based on an AI of an icon , and an iconic image. also from grandpa’s time ,but it has stronger weekend following … a following that drinks Starbucks not hills brothers coffee.. that Coffee can of Ansel’s 

Lesson: if you’re going to appropriate , or extend, do it using ancient revered tools ; maybe hand coated emulsions– some toning, but hard to notice — be careful in appropriation… being right is often wrong .

I wager that if you had done a hand colorized dye transfer it would’ve gone unnoticed ..or, included the Ansel Adams gift shop brigade a cut.

and whatever you do never make a Stained glass Version and treat it as though it were a church window; The altar burning coffee wicks..

it goes to show , you never can tell 

The past you choose, the past you follow determines your  followers , your future.

by the way-- i think AI did a better job than AA.

CODA: https://archive.org/details/JimmieLuncefordAndHisOrchestraTaintWhatYouDoItsTheWayThatYouDoIt1939

others on the topic: https://hyperallergic.com/ansel-adams-trust-decries-dealers-sale-of-photo-colorized-using-ai/

and ‘ Lo Schiavo tells The Art Newspaper. “More generally, I find AI-generated photography of little interest, and I rarely find it artistically rewarding. On another note, I think the amount of hate these topics generate is a bit scary, but also a sign of the uncertainty AI is creating for creators and artists.” — https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/05/27/ansel-adams-photograph-ai-colourised-danziger-aipad-controversy