The albumen print, invented in 1850 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, was the first commercially exploitable method of producing a print on a paper base from a negative. It used the albumen found in egg whites to bind the photographic chemicals to the paper and became the dominant form of photographic positives from 1855 to the turn of the century, with a peak in the 1860-90 period. 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Photographic printing is the process of producing a final image for viewing, usually on sensitized paper from a previously prepared photographic negative. ... In photography, a negative is a rectangle of material (nowadays usually photographic film) coated with chemicals that, upon photographic exposure, cause the material to record the colors or monochromatic shades of the scene in inverse, negative form. ... Albumen redirects here. ... Albumen redirects here. ...

The process is as follows;

1) a piece of paper is coated with an emulsion of egg white (albumen) and salt (usually sodium chloride). The albumen tends to seal the paper and create a slightly glossy surface.

2) the paper is then dipped in a solution of silver nitrate and water which makes the paper light-sensitive.

3) the paper is then dried in total darkness.

4) the dried prepared paper is then placed in a frame under a glass negative and exposed to light. Often, it is a glass negative with a collodion emulsion. This is exposed to direct sunlight until the image achievs the proper level of darkness. Collodion is a solution of nitrocellulose in ether or acetone, sometimes with the addition of alcohols. ...

Albumen prints are placed in direct contact with the negative. Since the image emerges as a direct result of exposure to light and without the aid of a developing solution, the albumen print is a 'Printed' rather than 'Developed' photograph.

A bath of Sodium thiosulfate then fixes the print’s exposure and prevents further darkening. Finally, gold toning improves the photograph’s tone and helps protect it from fading. Basic Information Flash point Non flammable Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ...

References

Make Albumen Paper [1]