What is a Chromgenic Print?

[Robert Boire]

Hello,

I am trying to understand what exactly is a Digital Chromgenic Print?

I know the term refers to emulsion-based traditional developing. So for digital prints does that mean that any digital print that is not created using an inkjet is effectively "chromgenic"

Thanks

[Jim Kasson]

Hello,

I am trying to understand what exactly is a Digital Chromgenic Print?

I know the term refers to emulsion-based traditional developing. So for digital prints does that mean that any digital print that is not created using an inkjet is effectively "chromgenic"

Some are, some aren't. Dye-sub prints aren't. Xerographic prints aren't. You make a C-print on paper like Kodak Endura or Fuji Crystal Archive. To make a digital C-print, you have to expose the paper to light in a device like a Durst Lambda, an Océ LightJet or a ZBE Chromira. Think of those devices as modern-day film recorders, although the medium that they record on is paper. The paper is then developed in chemicals similar to those that would have been used had it been exposed under an enlarger.

Jim

[deanwork]

Fancy name for a type C print. It makes something that is unstable sound collectable.

[fdisilvestro]

The term Chromogenic dates back to ca. 1913 from German chemist Rudolf  Fischer who would be first to recognize the potential of oxidized developers in producing a photographic color image. He coined the term color-forming (chromo-genic),
Type C print refers to a process used by Kodak a long time ago and the term was somehow resurrected a few years ago.

Summary: Chromogenic is not a fancy term, it is the correct term. Type C is not a correct term.
 

[Garnick]

The term Chromogenic dates back to ca. 1913 from German chemist Rudolf  Fischer who would be first to recognize the potential of oxidized developers in producing a photographic color image. He coined the term color-forming (chromo-genic),
Type C print refers to a process used by Kodak a long time ago and the term was somehow resurrected a few years ago.

Summary: Chromogenic is not a fancy term, it is the correct term. Type C is not a correct term.
 

Well this thread has taken a few twists and turns, but for now I'll refer to this post.  I made my first Type-C Print in the early summer of 1968, and my last one in late spring of 2005, after finally switching over completely to digital printing(inkjet).  During that time period(1968-2005) there were several iterations of the print process and I used only Kodak papers and chemistry.  The last 10 years+ it was of course RA-4.  And also during that time the prints made with this process were always referred to as "Type-C", printed from a colour negative on colour negative paper.  A Type-R(Reversal) print was produced on a colour "positive" paper such as Ektachrome Paper, from a colour positive film, such as Ektachrome, Kodachrome, Fujichrome etc.  Of course the basis of both of these processes was chromogenic materials, but the Type-C designation was used to identify a print made from a negative, while Type-R indicated a print made directly from a positive film, not an "internegative".  The Type-C designation has been used for many years, long before I came in contact with it.  It's still sometimes used by those producing colour prints from digital sources, where the RA-4 process is the chemical end of the procedure.  Sadly, Kodak couldn't seem to find a way to keep up with the digital revolution, even though they actually developed the first digital camera in 1975(I believe that's the correct year) and had over 1,000 digital patents when the revolution caught hold.  Sad, but in many ways not surprising.  

Just a few memories revisited, kind of like Bob's Highway 61.

Gary    

[digitaldog]

I know the term refers to emulsion-based traditional developing. So for digital prints does that mean that any digital print that is not created using an inkjet is effectively "chromgenic"

Not an ink jet, something that uses the Chromogenic process which could be either a Type C or Type R and other such processes.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

I made 16"x20" C prints in my home darkroom starting around 1960. Back then the paper did not have a name. The package said something like "Kodak Color Print Material Type C". The chemicals were referred too as "Process P-122", as I recall.
Showing my age!
Dave in NJ

[Ernst Dinkla]

Always ask about the details of the printing done to make that (digital) C-print. It is perfectly decribed in this thread but I have seen the term used for inkjet prints too. Ignorance can be a quality in the art world.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
April 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[fdisilvestro]

I'd like to add that not all prints made with equipments such as the Lambda, Lightjet or Chromira are chromogenic. Ilford photo manufactures Black & White papers (not chromogenic) optimized for digital printing in both RC and Fibre bases.

[bjanes]

Hello,

I am trying to understand what exactly is a Digital Chromgenic Print?

I know the term refers to emulsion-based traditional developing. So for digital prints does that mean that any digital print that is not created using an inkjet is effectively "chromgenic"

Thanks

It is off topic, but it is interesting to note that monochromatic chromogenic negative film also exists. Many years ago I used Ilford XP-1 film with very good results--fine grain and excellent dynamic range and tonal gradation. This post discusses the process. This LuLa article also discusses the advantages of this type of film.

Bill

[Garnick]

It is off topic, but it is interesting to note that monochromatic chromogenic negative film also exists. Many years ago I used Ilford XP-1 film with very good results--fine grain and excellent dynamic range and tonal gradation. This post discusses the process. This LuLa article also discusses the advantages of this type of film.

Bill

Absolutely Bill.  As a matter of fact, although most of this thread has been dedicated to colour materials, any B&W variable contrast paper can also be considered a chromogenic emulsion, since they contain magenta dyes in order to control the contrast.  I believe they also contain blue dyes, but I may be way off base in that case, it's been a long time.  To some extent this approach is the same as the Ilford XP-1 film, except for the process of course.

Gary

[Alan Klein]

Twenty years ago, an outside lab printed 16x20 colors for me called "C" prints.  What is the process?  What is the paper?  What is the  archival quality?

[digitaldog]

Twenty years ago, an outside lab printed 16x20 colors for me called "C" prints.  What is the process?  What is the paper?  What is the  archival quality?

Could be any number of products. In the days I printed dirty darkroom color, we considered a C print one from a color neg, type R from a transparency and then there was good old and very expensive Ciba (in the late 80's, an 11x14 sheet was like $4!) The archival properties of Ciba vs. those type R's was considerable.