Up-To-Date Info on Digital Negs for Alt Process

[jantman]

I've been thinking about getting into alternative process work for quite some time. I have quite a few negs that I'd like to print, but they are all optimized for silver-based printing. So, given that I've had a few days free lately (finals week here, so little for me to do) I decided to scan some stuff. Being that I'm at RIT, I just sat down at a computer and did 1600 DPI scans of a pile of negs (and some transparencies to have printed).

Now, my question is as follows:

Most of the info I can find online, such as the articles online at Bostick & Sullivan's site, are horribly out of date. Those articles are from 1997. Technology has changed so much since then - I'm already decided on doing the negs printed on an inkjet, though these articles are from the time when imagesetters and film recorders still reigned.

Can anyone recommend a good soruce of up-to-date information on digital negative making, specifically with inkjet printers?

Thanks!

[Louie Powell]

Jason -

I share your frustration.

There is a writeup on the alternative photography site on making digital negatives that recommends using The Gimp. But it talks about the previous version of the software, not the version that one can get by downloading it now. Unfortunately, it's not at all clear how to apply the older method with the current version of the software.

[sanking]

Lots of good contemporary information out there on making digital negatives for alternative processes. Alternative photographers have been making digital negatives for more than a decade and the methods, materials and quality have gotten very good during the last three to four years.

Try some of these sites.

Article by Clay Harmon:
http://www.alternativephotography.com/articles/art056.html

Website of Dan Burkholder:
www.danburkholder.com/

Website of Mark Nelson:
www.precisiondigitalnegatives.com/

Sub-forum on www.apug.org:
http://www.apug.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=128

[Scott Davis]

Appendix E of the 2nd Edition, Platinum & Palladium Printing by Dick Arentz has, if not bleeding edge, then certainly usefully current, information on what you're looking to do. Look for it at your school library - if they don't have it, you may have to bite the bullet and go for Amazon.

[neil poulsen]

Check out the Digital Negative Companion on Dan Burkholders site. He updates it regularly, I think. You can give his studio a call and ask.

I just took his workshop at the Formulary, and it was excellent. The CD he used had been recently updated with additional information. In particular, he has templates on the CD that make it easy to print on various media, like silver, pt/pd, pt on pigment, etc.

[Bill_1856]

Isn't that the sort of information that's supposed to come from RIT?

[jantman]

Thanks, all, for the information. I'll be sure to check it out.

Louie, do you happen to remember the URL to that article?

Unfortunately, I'm leaving RIT at the end of this quarter...three days from now. So I'm not sure if I'll get to the library or not.

Yes, that sort of information is supposed to come from RIT. However, I find it terribly distressing how few students know about alternative processes, make use of the 8x10's and the 11x14 that we can sign out for free whenever we want, or even know that much about/pay attention to large format in general.

For quite some time I've thought about setting up an electronic survey about LF, and silver-based photography in general, and distributing it to various students, photographers, and educational institutions, just to see where things really are. I feel that there's a serious gap in photographic education.