the Traditional Photographic Print in the Electronic Era

When traditional photographic negatives are printed at larger and larger sizes, the SIZE of the grain clumps increases, - the NUMBER remaining the same.

When digital images are printed at larger and larger sizes, the NUMBER of dots increases, - the SIZE remaining the same.

The printing of fine photographic books was revolutionized by laser scanning, and it took little to turn the laser toward photosensitive media and replace the optical enlarger as a means of exposing traditional photographic materials. The results are astonishing and permit controls unthinkable in the near past. Since the Fuji system prints on color sensitive, Crystal Archive Paper, it is possible to simulate toned B&W printing papers as well as straight Color and Black & White.

Imagesetter
negative

Ink Jet
negative

Laser printing equipment is, for the moment, quite expensive and out of reach of the home practitioner. The alternative of preparing full size negatives for contact printing is not. The technique is not new - only the way of making the negatives. The ultimate quality can be achieved with negatives made by a competent service bureau using an imagesetter. These may be used for both "traditional" silver and "alternative" prints such as platinum and palladium, which require high levels of UV light.

A less expensive alternative, with similar results, involves
Making Digital Negatives with Ink Jet Printers,
which, although excellent for silver papers normally exposed with an enlarger, will not work for media requiring high levels of UV light.

While contact prints made from properly made digital negatives are indistinguishable from those made by traditional means, improvement in expressive quality is limited only by the skill and vision of the photographer .

This image of Will Rogers' polo helmet, underexposed on Adox KB14 film, is an example of an image that is all but impossible to print with an enlarger. Paper selection is critical to get the leather to look like leather and fabric to look like fabric. Control of the low AND the high values while retaining detail and mood is a challenge. I had only made successful prints with 1980s Oriental Seagull VC paper and multiple exposures with various filtration settings. All of the problems associated with printing this negative are solved with a digital negative and contact print.