21 Easy Steps To Albumen Printing by Mike Robinson
Preparing the Albumen
1. Get some eggs. To Make 500 mL of albumen which is enough to
double coat about 50, 9 X 12 inch sheets of paper you need
approximately 15 extra large eggs ( if you're clumsy get two dozen).
2. Separate the eggs. Start with a small dish. Be careful not to let
any stringy bits get into the egg white. If any yoke gets into the dish,
don't use it. Pick out the debris and pour the egg white into a larger
container. When you have 500 mL of egg white stop.
3. Add to the egg, white 2 mL of 28% acetic acid, 15 mL of distilled
water, and 15 g Ammonium Chloride.
4. Stir, Stir, Stir, Stir until the albumen has been converted to a
froth. Use a bundle of quill pens to be authentic. One hour of stirring
with an electric mixer is ok if your can't find the pens.
5. Let the albumen mixture settle, covered in a refrigerator for 24
hours. Then remove the froth that has collected on top. Filter the
albumen through cheesecloth and let it age at least a week. The older it
gets the better. When it smells really bad, it's really good!
Coating the Paper
6. Get some paper. Clear Print Drafting Vellum or Strathmore Artist
Drawing - Plate Finish are good choices for coating. The vellum is easier
to handle when coating but the Strathmore is sized better. I suggest you
practice coating with the vellum and switch to the better paper when you
get the hang of it. Double coating yields glossier prints with more even
coating and greater density but it is more difficult to do.
7. Pour the albumen through a filter into a glass baking dish, (Pyrex
10.5 X 15 X 2 inches). Float the paper on the albumen surface. Don't get
any albumen on the back of the paper, it will print uneven density in that
area.
Check for air bubbles (break them with a glass rod or plastic
toothpick).
If all bubbles are gone, start the timer and float the paper for
three minutes. With a smooth and steady motion pick the paper up out of
the tray starting from one corner. Hang it up along the long side. Blot
off the excess as it dries to avoid a thick edge.
8. (For Double coated papers only) Immerse the paper in 70%
isopropyl alcohol with 3 % ammonium chloride added for about 15 seconds.
This hardens the albumen for the second coat. If you don't do this, don't
bother double coating because the albumen will wash off in the second
floating.
9. Refloat the paper a second time. Hang it up from the opposite two
corners this time for even results. Blot off the excess along the bottom
edge. Its better to sensitize as soon as its dry, however the albumenized
paper will keep well if you sensitize later.
Sensitizing the Paper
10. Safe light tungsten. It's nice to be able to work with the lights
on! Avoid fluorescent light. Mix 37.5 g of silver nitrate with 250 mL
distilled water. This makes a 15% solution. Silver nitrate solution is
not light sensitive until it comes in contact with organic material, such
as salted albumen or human skin. Wear surgical gloves and eye protection!
Silver Nitrate splashed in eyes will cause permanent damage!
11. Pour the sensitizer into a glass tray. Float the albumenized paper
on the solution for three minutes after checking for air bubbles. Slowly
peel the paper off the surface and hang to dry.
Printing
12. Print as soon as the paper is dry. You can expect to lose about 2
stops maximum density and speed if you wait until the next day.
13. Find some sunshine on a warm day if you can. A sunlamp works but
they haven't been commercially available for home use for about 10 years.
Join a tanning salon. Put a suitable negative of about 2.20 density range
in contact with the paper. Use a hinged back frame so you can check
exposure without disturbing registration. Print until the shadows are just
staring to "bronze". This means you've reached maximum density. If the
negative is thin, print until the highlights are about 1 to 1.5 stops too
dark. The print lightens up during processing.
Processing
14. Wash the print to remove excess silver nitrate. The wash water
turns milky when it reacts to the silver. After about 10 minutes the wash
water should be clear.
15. Toning. This is expensive. Untoned prints are reddish in colour.
Gold toned prints have a pleasing purple brown colour. There are many
formulas available. I've tried Borax and sodium thiocyanate formulas and
prefer the Borax toner. It tones faster and used less gold. Mix 40 mL of
Berg Gold Protective Toner (Part A only) with 250 mL of distilled water to
make a solution. Add 2.5 g of Borax and stir until dissolved. Tone by
inspection. (approximately 6 minutes) Overtoned prints will be a slate
gray in colour .
16. Rinse
17. Fix. Add 200g Sodium Thiosulphate (anhydrous) to 1L of distilled
water to make a simple fixing bath.
18. Hypo Clear for three minutes.
19. Wash for at least 1/2 hour.
20. Squeegee dry and hang up or blot dry under weight. Albumen paper
is very curly and should be mounted according to conservator's procedures.
You can store the print in mylar sleeves with a mat board of the same size
for support.
21. Admire
Mike Robinson
Toronto, Canada
(416) 926-8181
robkiss @ io.org