Platinum Print - Palladium

Palladium

In photography, palladiotype is a monochrome printing process, a rather obscure variant of the platinotype.

Due to the shortage of commercial platinum paper and high cost, photographers experimented with palladium paper and platinum-palladium mixes. Platinum paper has continued in use until the present, interrupted only by the world wars.

The process was in use after World War I, because the platinum used in the fairly popular platinotype quickly became too expensive for use in photography. Photographers tried to replace the platinum with the much cheaper palladium which gave similar effects. The cost of this metal, however, started to rise too and eventually, around 1930 the process was abandoned in favor of more economical processes.

Characteristics of a palladium print, compared to a platinum print:

• A warmer tone;
• Easier to solarize (see: Sabatier Effect);
• Large tonal range, up to D= 2.1, thus requiring a contrast-rich negative for printing;
• Deeper blacks, with a higher maximum density;
• A softer image, with delicate highlights.