plz explain duratran printing process & exhibiting

[ushie.p]

hello everyone

i have been asked to find information on duratran printing process and exhibiting

i have been looking on internet for about hour and half and haven't been able to find much

i need to know what duratran printing (exhibiting is)
i need to explain what is unique about it
i need to know advantages and disadvantages

so far this is all i have been able to find:

'duratran is a trademark name used to describe a large format, backlit transparancy presented in a display lightbox. they are popular with photographers and artists working with digital images. the surface is delicate and should be handled with white cotton gloves.'

'duratran material has a built in diffusion layer to assure an even uniform light dispersion and they yeild good contrast, high quality colour and rich blacks.'

if anyone could tell me more - referring to what i need to know (mentioned above) i would be incredibly grateful

thanks bye
ushie p

[ushie.p]

sorry everyone i forgot to mention that i need this info quickly if it's possible by anyone

i need to present it on my university photography site by monday

cheers everyone
bye
ushie p

[tim atherton]

Duratrans was the print material - since discontinued by Kodak - a sort of giant transparency made from a negative, usually mounted i some kind of back lit display

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/papers/printDisplay/printDisplayMaterials.jhtml?id=0.1.20.14.30.22.54&lc=en

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/papers/digitalPrintDisplay/digitalPrintDisplayMaterials.jhtml?id=0.1.20.14.30.22.56&lc=en

replaced, I think, by

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/papers/enduraTransClearDigital/main.jhtml?id=0.1.20.14.30.22.40&lc=en

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/papers/enduraTransClear/main.jhtml?id=0.1.20.14.24.24.9&lc=en

[Mark Sampson]

Endura *Clear* Display Material is the current film with a transparent base. Endura *Transparency* Display Material has a translucent (NOT transparent) base. They both print like color paper, and process in standard RA-4 chemistry, although the process time is longer than paper and the films require more replenishment than paper.

[Neal Shields]

I used it to build displays.

The big advantage that it had for my use was that it was designed to be sort of a cross between a slide and a print. If if wasn't back lit, it still displayed nicely but it could also be back lit.

In my application which was unusual, we silkscreened a mask on the back and built shadow boxes which allowed us to selectively light different parts of the display depending on what we were doing at the time.

I was also able to make text appear in areas of the picture buy turning a light on behind a mask of that text.

[Michael Gudzinowicz]

The ultimate display was Kodak's Colorama. Beginning in 1987, it was
printed on Duratrans:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/coloramas/colorama.html

[ushie.p]

hello everyone

i hope you're all well

thank you very much for answering my questions about duratrans

i appreciate it very much

i didn't know hardly anything about them before

the links are useful too - cheers

i'll combine the info you've sent with the bit of info i managed to find and post it on my university photography site

once i've written it i'll post it here too so you can see what i wrote to make sure you're all ok with me using the info you've given me

once again cheers everyone
bye
ushie p

p.s. i'm actually in london, u.k. and i didnt realise this is mainly an american site but thanks for the help

[ushie.p]

hey everyone

this is what i wrote for my university site based on the info you guys have provided and i managed to find:

Duratrans are transparencies (a material that allows light to go through it). They normally come in large format. They are lit from behind. They can be described as light boxes too.

Advantages
They can be printed directly onto transparencies by using colour negatives or by using photos taken digitally
They have a diffusion layer that is built in and this layer spreads the light evenly
They create good contrasts between colours
They produce strong blacks
Even if they are not backlit they still look good
Text masks can be put onto them and therefore they can be backlit too

Disadvantages
The surfaces of the duratrans are delicate and apparently the best way to handle them is by wearing cotton gloves
They are expensive

Here is a website for duratrans:
http://www.duratran.com/index.php

cheerio
usha

[kthompson]

try again.