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Thread: Digital Negatives

  1. #1

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    Digital Negatives

    Hi, I'm interested in making digital negatives from my 5x7's so I can contact print larger sizes. Is anyone here doing this? Whose process are you following and what kind of results are you obtaining? I'm not interested in scanning and digital printing, though I understand there are those who do this with good results.

    chris

  2. #2

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    Sep 2003
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    Re: Digital Negatives

    Quote Originally Posted by chris fazio
    Hi, I'm interested in making digital negatives from my 5x7's so I can contact print larger sizes. Is anyone here doing this? Whose process are you following and what kind of results are you obtaining? I'm not interested in scanning and digital printing, though I understand there are those who do this with good results.

    chris
    Chris,

    What process to you wish to use the digital negatives for? Silver gelatin, alt. processes, POP?

    How do you wish to make your negatives? Inkjet printer, image setter?

    Don Bryant

  3. #3

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    Re: Digital Negatives

    Don,

    I plan to contact print on Azo. The only way I was aware of how to make the negatives was using an inkjet printer. I don't know what an image setter is.

    I've heard of Dan Burkholder and Mark Nelson for making digital negatives. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with their methods.

    thanks,

    chris

  4. #4

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    Re: Digital Negatives

    Mark Nelson (http://www.precisiondigitalnegatives.com/) has a system for making digital negatives. I've heard him speak and saw some of his 11x14 or so contact prints made from digitally enlarged 35mm negatives. They were pretty impressive.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  5. #5

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    Sep 2003
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    Re: Digital Negatives

    Chris,

    It's been my experience that using inkjet negatives to make prints on silver gelatin papers produce results that I don't find very satisfactory. I assume since you posted your message here on the LF forum you will be working with LF negatives with the expectation that inkjet negatives can produce contact prints with the same fidelity that an actual in camera negative makes.

    Azo contact prints made with inkjet negatives have an unacceptable graininess for me. I've used an Epson 1160, 1280 and 2200 to produce negatives and none measure up to my expectations.

    The Epson 1800 may be the exception, though I've never tested it.

    Image setter negatives are produced on a device that can produce images on real film from digital files and are capable of producing very fine results on silver gelatin though I've never used them due to their expense. You can also have images produced on tranparent RA4 material but I've never seen prints made from that type of output.

    Hope this helps,

    Don Bryant
    Last edited by Don Bryant; 27-Jul-2006 at 18:49.

  6. #6

    Join Date
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    Re: Digital Negatives

    Azo sucks. It's green. Its paper is like tissue. It only comes in grade two and three (if you can get it).
    Forget Azo. Find yourself a nice enlarging paper and develop it in Amidol or Ansco 130. It'll look 100% better than Azo (if you can get it). Even Weston didn't use Azo, and it was still being made then.
    Wilhelm (Sarasota)

  7. #7

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    Re: Digital Negatives

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill_1856
    Azo sucks. It's green. Its paper is like tissue. It only comes in grade two and three (if you can get it).
    Forget Azo. Find yourself a nice enlarging paper and develop it in Amidol or Ansco 130. It'll look 100% better than Azo (if you can get it). Even Weston didn't use Azo, and it was still being made then.
    I've never seen green Azo, but what does your post have to do with using or making digital negatives?

    Don Bryant

  8. #8

    Re: Digital Negatives

    I use digital negatives for making Pt/Pd prints. I think they are successful for the alternative processes because the paper surface texture hides any flaws in the OHP material. If you have a smooth high resolution paper (like a gelatin silver paper) the desktop printer negative flaws will appear on the final print.

    A digital negative made from an image setter with very high resolution is indistinguisable to the naked eye from a silver gelatin print made by entirely traditional methods.

    added as edit - I have used both Dan Burkholder's method when I used an imagesetter to produce negatives. When I converted to desktop printer negatives, I supplemented Dan's instructions with information from the internet. I have been successful with both methods.

    Stop by my web site next week. I am putting together a whole section on "Fun with Platinum Printing."
    Last edited by Joe Lipka; 28-Jul-2006 at 07:34.

  9. #9

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    Re: Digital Negatives

    Thanks everyone, it has been very helpful.

  10. #10

    Re: Digital Negatives

    Most of my work is with in-camera negatives on AZO.
    I suggest forgetting about digital negatives for AZO or other silver gelation papers. The sharpest digital negative for AZO is going to be an imagesetter negative. I have explored most of the linescreen methods. Did not care for halftones. For stochastic methods: I ultimately settled on rastus. It allowed me to produce the sharpest prints with the least noticeable evidence of the linescreen. The problem is it does not work well with an image that has a significant area of similiar tone (e.g., a large sky area). Yes you will be able to see the the linesceen by eye. So it works well with some images but not all.

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