True, photographic paper is still far superior to the digital printing process which use inks or other press printing processes.
What is a "Real Photograph"?
The word photograph comes from the Greek words phot, or light and graphia, or writing. A real photograph is exposed with light on light sensitive paper. That's right - light. Photons. Some of the smallest particles in the universe.
In the case of digital photography, the "light" is formed by Light contained in a Laser light or LED head that "floats" over a light sensitive paper on a bed of warm air. The light exposure excites chemicals on the photographic paper by spraying tiny diamond-shaped patterns on the emulsion. These infinitesimally small diamonds overlap five-fold which, mathematically, results in 425 diamond shapes per square inch. It is this concentration of diamonds created from tiny photons that gives a photograph its unique look, color and depth. Ink doesn't come close.
The rest is just science. After "exciting" the chemicals in the paper's emulsion the paper moves through a warm RA4 chemical bath which activates and seals the colors. Because the light exposure head floats over the paper there is no machine vibration to degrade the image.
The oddest misconception
Photo Paper Prints and Photo Book Prints, or printing at home is the same.
Yes, we still use a Darkroom
Real photographs still involve chemicals and light sensitive papers so, believe it or not, our lab technicians still go into a darkroom to load the paper we use to make your photographs. Not only that but every time we change a roll of paper we recalibrate the machines so the colors in a photograph today will match the colors in a photograph sent a year from today.
As always, because your photographs are exposed on real, professional photo paper and developed by Persnickety Prints, you'll be assured of the highest quality, dependability, and exceptional performance from your images. After all, silver halide-based color photographic paper has been around for more than five decades.
You can decide what your memories are worth
So does this mean that my digital photos can look like "real" photos if they are processed this way - that the lack of quality (when it looks perfectly good on screen, I mean, not a bad picture in the first place) the flatness or whatever it is that makes digital different - comes from the printing, as opposed to the photography itself? Wow!!! I didn't even know you could "process" digital photographs!!
ReplyDeleteThe chemical and light process is the highest quality way to print digital photographs. It uses the old technology of light sensitive archival papers and adds new technical procedures of converting a digital image into a negative light form. This isn't something you can accomplish at home.
ReplyDeletewill it fade or change color like real photos do? all the photos i have from my childhood in the 60s and 70s and even the 80s have changed color and/ or faded
ReplyDelete