CYANOTYPES.... Also called blueprint, is an old "fine art" technique from the late part of the 18th century. This is one of the most lightproofed techniques, that don't contain silver, and with its beautiful dark blue tones, and the possibillities of toning, it is a very popular old technique to try.... AND...it is cheap...and easy to work with... So here it goes...: The technique is based on contact printing, so you need a large format camera, or you have to enlarge your negative.. This can be done in the dark-room, but it is difficult to find the right films (lith with graytones) at a resonable price.. SO.. in stead you can use the computer...scan your negative - invert it - and (in most times) increase the contrast a bit, and make it darker than you think...(you are printing out on transperant paper, and it needs more tone to filter the light from the "sun") Try for your self..it's easyer and not so expensive as "real" film. (but NOT as good) - yet good enough for this technique! The formular of cyanotypies is: 100 ml water and 25g green ferric ammonium citrate is mixed together. 100 ml water and 10g potassium ferricyanide is mixed in a separate container. I keep the two cemistries in seperate bottles - it keeps longer that way..I then mix it 1:1 in a small amount - it takes so little to make a cyanotype... With a soft brush put ONE layer of cemistry on your paper (the kind of paper is not so important, as long as it is ok to put it into water a long time..) USE GLOVES!! THIS IS TOXIC!! AND MORE WHEN DRY, SO CLEAN YOUR TABLE/BRUSH/BOTTLE WITH WATER AFTER USE... you can put the chemistry on the paper in dim light (it's only sensitive to ultraviolet light), but let it dry in totally darknes. It should be dry in 15- 20 min - but if you are in doubt, don't touch it, but wait another 5 min...it gets matt when dry.. IMPORTANT: Phe paper should STAND when drying, so excess fluid can run off..keep an eye on it - you can take the excess cyanotypechemistry with yout brush...that looks nicer.. when it is about half dry - turn the paper uo side down, so the (very thin layer) of chemistry can dry evenly... When the paper is dry, it keeps in several days, but not weeks.... You are now ready to expose... Place your negative on top of the paper - fixate it with a strip of tape (so you can check the picture during exposure..) Place this on a smooth and hard plate, with a glassplate on top. Exposure in sunlight (cosy! and best, or under a UV-lightbulp (be carefull with your eyes..) exposuretimes differ, but normally it takes at least 20 to 30 min to get a right exposure.. You can check the result during the exposuretime - take the cyanotype out of the lihhtsourse, lift it gently and take a quick look... Does it loog nice - you can be sure, that it needs much more time!!! All shadows have to (allmost)disappear, and the highlights must begin to change form beautifull yellow to bluish/greenish tone.. If not, the picture will nearly disappear when put in water.. (Rather make your print too dark, than too light - you can bleach and tone afterwords..NOT make it darker..) After exposure, put the print in plain water and rinse until all yellow have disappeared...then dry it ("standing") The cyanotype will turn darker when drying... THAT'S IT... ...and then we tone it... There are several ways to tone a cyanotype... basically everything goes - but you need three things to make it "safe", that is to say, that theese methods are tested and tried again and again. The problem is - of course, that if you use the wrong chemestry, the picture tend to be less lightproof... A: Sodium carbonate - or plain soda.. (used as a bleaching chemistry) B: Tannic acid. C: Tea!! as toner... The sodium carbonate is dilluted in water. Don't use too much! a teaspoon full to 1/2 l water should do it.. The cyanotype will at first turn darker - then it becomes increasingly lighter and lighter..When you think it is enough, take phe picture up from the water, and rinse it for about 10 minutes.. Be aware, that the process will continue for a while, when rinsing, so remove the picture fron the soda BEFORE you are quite happy.. ( You can allways bleach more, but not the other way..) Dry it - hanging or standing.. The bleached cyanotype can be very beautifull, but it is NOT very stable (lightproof) - so keep it from direct light.. If you want one of the very suttle tones of light bluish/greenish - you need to overexpose your cyanotype quite a lot before bleaching it.. The tannic acid gives the picture a more violet tone - dilute a teaspoon full of tannic acid in water, and put the cyanotype in it.. slowly it changes in colour. Rinse and dry.. You can combine the two chemistries by simply put your picture back and forth in the two chemistries..Try for your self..sometimes a surprising tone appears.. TEA.. this is great, but you have to find the right tea for your purpose... Any (allmost) tea goes...but if you want to tone it brown - as the picture on your right - you need a tea with lots of tannic acid.. The picture in question was at first bleached (not much..) in soda, then put in a very strong "Travancore tea" . For at least 8 ours!! Remember to leave the paper with the picture downwards...and be carefull to ensure, that there are no airbubbles left.. If you tone with out bleaching, the tone tend to be much cooler in colour..( the blue in the original will remain strong..) Finally here are two great links, if you want to learn more.. http://www.cyanotypes.com http://www.mikeware.demon.co.uk/