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Thread: colour version of Rubylith

  1. #1

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    colour version of Rubylith

    hi

    is/was there ever a colour version of ruby light ?
    i’m thinking maybe sodium orang or green like a colour safe light

    best

    robin

  2. #2

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    Re: colour version of Rubylith

    They do/did have something called amberlith. Not sure how well it would act as a safelight.
    Principal Unix System Engineer, Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems

  3. #3
    Gary Beasley's Avatar
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    Re: colour version of Rubylith

    Amberlith with cut the blue and uv light pretty good, it was used to hand cut overlays for lithographic platemaking same as the rubylith which will also cut the green light well.

  4. #4
    Scyg's Avatar
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    Re: colour version of Rubylith

    Rubylith was used to mask lith transparencies while maintaining visibility of the underlying image. I don't think you can do that with color, since any light that is transmitted would also record on the color material.

  5. #5
    Pieter's Avatar
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    Re: colour version of Rubylith

    I may be wrong, but I believe when rubylith was used for masking color images, it was the B&W lith negatives that were masked and not the originals. So no version was made just for color.

  6. #6
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: colour version of Rubylith

    Look for a Kodak #13 filter or a Rosco Lighting gel that is somewhat olive in color. I'd only use if for short periods of time.
    For example, the illumination of the color wheels of my Durst enlarger had these filters that looked like Kodak #13, with a switch to turn them on and off.

    BTW: I removed those and installed red filters for exclusive B&W work and keep the new red indicator lights on during the entire printing session.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  7. #7
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: colour version of Rubylith

    Under an enlarger lens with color paper on the easel? That's like playing Russian roulette with six bullets in the revolver.

  8. #8

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    Re: colour version of Rubylith

    Like everyone has said, rubylith and other masking materials (eg. paint) were used in making colour output, but at the stage of making lith negs or positives (ie. on black and white ortho materials) for masking. The colour output part of the processes was either totally blocked out, or allowed through, by the lith-film masking -- it wasn't filtered out by coloured gels etc. Having said that, before Freelance software and film-printers came along printing/re-photographing shapes, letters or frames through colour filters on to colour material was done, in order to make slide presentations, but that was a different result entirely.

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