كيفية اختيار ورق الطباعة .. كتاب فن التصوير الفوتوغرافي

Selection of printing paper

Choosing a type of printing paper would have been easy if all the negative crystals in one film had the same contrast, but you find in the same film crystals with normal contrast and others with a large or insufficient contrast. To make printed images from a wide variety of negatives, sensitive paper makers make five or six types of it with five or six degrees of contrast, so you can choose from them what suits your negative crystals.

A good photo has a wide range between areas of high light, which should be white, and areas of dark shadow, which should be black. But if the white areas are gray and the shadows are darker gray, then the image is not sufficiently contrasted, and it is said to be flat or weak.

But if the areas of high light in the image are completely white without any trace of silver deposition, and if the shadows are very black and there are no intermediate values ​​between the two areas, then the image or print is highly contrasted and is said to be harsh or rough.

If the negative crystal is set, it gives, on normal photosensitive paper, a good contrast image, and most types of normal paper are called second grade paper (2) or 2 ° N. But if the contrast of the negative crystal is insufficient, then the plain paper gives a poorly contrasted image. In this case, more contrasting paper should be used, such as paper No. 3 or 4.
If the negative crystal has a lot of contrast, use paper with a little contrast, such as Paper No. 1.
In general, photographic paper is classified with respect to contrast as follows:
Zero number: very weak contrast: it is used if the negative crystal is highly contrast.
- No. 1: Weak contrast: It is used if the negative crystal has a clear contrast
- Number 2: Normal Contrast: It is used if the negative crystal has normal contrast.
- No. 3: Coarse contrast: used if the negative crystal has little contrast.
- Number 4: High Contrast: It is used if the negative crystal has very little contrast.
- Number 5: Extreme Contrast: It is used if the negative crystal has no contrast.

Pictures 1, 2 and 3 were printed from normal contrast negative crystals on photographic papers of different contrast: Picture No. 1 was printed on Paper No. (1), and Picture No. 2 was printed on Paper No. (2). As for photo number (3), it was printed on paper number (4).

Choosing the right photographic paper for its degree of contrast enables you to get a good picture. As a general rule, avoid using extreme contrast paper, because high contrast and weak contrast paper, although they enable you to print, do not give you the best results. Uneven negatives. Low contrast paper makes it difficult to get deep, rich dark tones, and high contrast paper can never get light areas with varying values.

With the use of extreme contrast paper (little and strong), the subtle values ​​that vary between white and gray disappear, and the print comes with uniform white values, or unified gray values. And the best results that you can get is to display the negative crystals with a normal contrast degree, so that you can print them on normal contrast paper.

In addition to the availability of photo paper in various degrees of contrast, it is also available in two thicknesses: one light and the other thick, and it has many types of surfaces with different values. Glossy paper is used for small-sized pictures, if they are required in large numbers, and for commercial purposes. As for the other types, they are used for portrait photography and for subjects that need to make a certain impact.