Digital Negatives for Alternative Processes

This bespoke online course can be adapted for both complete beginners and experienced printers looking to improve their workflow. Over six 1-hour sessions, this course will guide you through a simple workflow to make beautifully calibrated digital negatives for any contact printing process, enabling you to make prints that match the image on your screen as closely as possible.

Because every darkroom setup is unique, the one-to-one format allows us to tailor the course to your specific equipment and process. We can troubleshoot your setup in real-time, ensuring you finish the course with a workflow designed for your studio.

What we will cover:

·      Equipment and materials needed

·      How to easily calculate the correct exposure time for your process (minimum time for maximum black) with a single exposure

·      Optimal printer and driver settings for digital negatives

·      How to calculate the correct negative density for any alternative process

·      How to linearise the midtones of your print so it matches the on-screen image as closely as possible

·      Applying the linearisation to images as a LUT or Photoshop curve

·      Adjusting the LUT or curve if necessary

·      Troubleshooting

Requirements:

·      Computer with Adobe Photoshop

·      Scanner, densitometer, or spectrophotometer

·      Epson printer with pigment inks

·      Transparency material like Pictorico, Fixxons, or similar

·      Stouffer 31 or 21 stepwedge

·      UV exposure unit (preferred) or UV meter if using sun

·      Paper, chemicals and all materials for making prints in the process of your choice

You will also need to have a basic understanding of working with layers and curves in Adobe Photoshop, and be familiar with using your scanner/densitometer/spectrophotometer. You will get the most out of this course if you already have the ability to make a good, consistent print in the process of your choice.

This course will enable you to make technically precise contact printing negatives for cyanotype, silver gelatin, liquid emulsion, Vandyck, Salt Printing, Kallitype, Gum Bichromate, Platinum/Palladium, and any other negative-working contact printing process. At the end of the course, you will have the skills and knowledge to calibrate negatives for any process in your own studio, enabling you to make beautiful, technically accomplished prints without the guesswork. By mastering the calibration process, you will be able to consistently produce tonally balanced prints without wasting expensive materials on trial-and-error prints.

About Constanza Isaza

Constanza is a visual artist and master printer with over 15 years of experience in historical photographic processes. As the co-founder of Lux Darkroom in London, she has helped hundreds of photographers, printmakers, and artists to master the technical skills they need to create beautiful handmade prints.

Booking

After you book the course, we will contact you to schedule the first session. Sessions are scheduled according to BST/UK time, but we will do our best to accommodate international students.