Platinum Print

Platinum Print

Platinum prints, also called platinotypes, are photographic prints made by a monochrome printing process that provides the greatest tonal range of any printing method using chemical development.

Platinum prints are made by photographers and favored by collectors because of their tonal range, the surface quality and their permanence. A platinum print provides a broad scale of tones from black to white. The platinum tones range from warm black, to reddish brown, to expanded mid-tone grays that are unobtainable in silver prints.

Unlike the silver print process, platinum lies on the paper surface, while silver lies in a gelatin or albumen emulsion that coats the paper. As a result, since no gelatin emulsion is used, the final platinum image is absolutely matte with a deposit of platinum (and/or palladium, its sister element which is also used in most platinum photographs) absorbed slightly into the paper.

Platinum prints are the most durable of all photographic processes. The platinum group metals are very stable against chemical reactions that might degrade the print—even more stable than gold. It is estimated that a platinum image, properly made, can last thousands of years. Some of the desirable characteristics of a platinum print include:

• An absolutely non-reflective surface of the prints, unlike more typical glossy prints.
• A very delicate, large tonal range.
• Not being coated with gelatin, the prints do not exhibit the tendency to curl.
• The darkest possible tones in the prints are still lighter than silver-based prints. Recent studies have this attributed to an optical illusion produced by the gelatin coating on RC and fiber-based papers. Platinotypes that have been waxed or varnished will produce images that appear to have greater D-max than silver prints.
• A greatly decreased susceptibility to deterioration compared to silver-based prints due to the stability of the process and because they are commonly printed on 100% rag papers.

Many practitioners have abandoned platinum and strictly use palladium. The process using palladium only (Sodium Tetrachloropalladate) is similar to pre-existing processes, but rather than using Ferric Oxalate plus Potassium Chlorate as the restrainer (which is ineffective for palladium) a weak solution of Sodium Chloroplatinate is used. Sodium Chloroplatinate, in contrast to Potassium Chlorate does not cause grain. This formula is generally referred to as the Na2 method. This somewhat misleading abbreviation was coined by Richard Sullivan of Bostick & Sullivan, one of the principal suppliers of chemistry and printing supplies, who popularized the process.