How to make a salted paper print

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0:00 Intro
0:04 Materials Needed
3:24 Salting the paper
4:56 Sensitizing the paper
5:45 Exposing the print
6:24 Pre Wash
6:53 Fix
7:09 Final Wash
7:25 Drying the print
7:58 Outro
The salted paper process was developed in the 1800s and is one of the earliest printing techniques.
It is relatively simple once you have all the necessary equipment.
It will take some time to get the prints right so be patient.
I just started this process but I thought you guys might enjoy it as well.
Materials needed:
Sodium chloride amzn.to/3ohY8E9
Silver Nitrate amzn.to/3H9tuVM
Sodium thiosulfate amzn.to/3H6AWRS
Distilled Water
Art Paper amzn.to/3o7j0Oc
Also:
Printing frame
Gloves
Cotton
Hair dryer (optional)
The recipes for the solutions are:
Salt solution:
500 mL of distilled water
10 grams of sodium chloride
Mix until completely dissolved.
Silver solution:
100 mL of distilled water
10 grams silver nitrate
Mix until completely dissolved
Fixer:
1000 mL of distilled water
200 grams sodium thiosulfate
Mix until completely dissolved
Also one tip: if you’re using a cotton ball and you double dip into the solution you pour out, you CANNOT pour the leftover solution back into the bottle. If you want to preserve the silver solution I recommend using a new cotton ball every time you dip into the solution. Otherwise you’ll contaminate the solution with salt after you coat the paper and the solution will be ruined.

[@GraysonPratt]

very interesting! thanks for sharing I might try one day!

[@industryousphotography296]

Great video, thanks.

[@TheNegative]

You’re welcome!

[@GraysonPratt]

the maple leaf came out nice !! hahaha

[@TheNegative]

Had to put the maple leaf for the Canadian viewers 😂

[@GraysonPratt]

@@TheNegative I'm Canadian so I noticed it right away ;)

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Very good. I have been making salt prints on and off for some years. I think it's a good idea to make the first rinse in salt water. That will help remove any remaining silver. Even a second time is a good idea-before fixing. A good five minutes each time will be better. I see that many people use a hypo clearing agent after fixing. I am going to start doing that as well before the final wash. I am also going to tone all the better prints with gold. I have prints nearly 10 years old that are not toned and are still in excellent condition, but from now on I don't want to take any more chances with problems after all the work I do. Best wishes. :-)

[@Chiaroscuro1991]

Try using a black tray for your first wash in chlorinated tap water. This way you’ll see the cloudy precipitate easier. Fix for at least 15 minutes in a %15 solution of sodium thiosulfate. If you can take a workshop from someone who is an expert in historic processes, it will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Mark Osterman / Scully & Osterman Studio

[@TheNegative]

I think Mark Osterman retired. Love your handle btw!

[@TheStockwell]

@@TheNegative Osterman is still giving workshops - live and/or online.

[@sliob]

Did not know that it was so easy to make salt prints, will give it a go! Next video , hold the camera still. It’s hard to get a good long look at something if the video camera moves around.

[@aligrapher]

Hi, thanks for the video! I really wish you had elaborated more on negatives - how you get your curves right for this super low-contrast process. I've been trying to find the way to boost contrast, but with no much luck yet. Pushing curves leads to lack of detail (with digital negs), pushing 9x12 analog negs - same problem, adding dichromate didn't change anything. I guess mb changing UV lights (I'm using solarium lamps) to real sun might help, but there is literally no sun for half a year where I live, so it's not an option. VDB seems more contrasty, but it's more complicated to make a solution for it. So, I'm still trying to figure the contrast in salt printing, any tips would be much appreciated!

[@TheNegative]

I had the same problem! This is gonna seem counter intuitive to what you’re used to but youre gonna need some negatives that are a lot denser than what you’re used to. As a scan they’re probably gonna look very over exposed but you need that for salt printing. Because I’d the highlight areas aren’t dense enough they’re not gonna block the light from exposing the paper and the contrast is gonna be low. You may have to shoot some brand new negatives specifically with salt printing in mind. Hope this helps a little!!

[@aligrapher]

@@TheNegative actually … that makes perfect sense to me, I’ll play with highlight density, probably just make a few options and test. Thanks!

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Honestly, after years of doing these prints, I now just adjust the negative in Photoshop to my liking. I make it a little more, just by visual-I tried curves and all that years ago and it was a pain in the bum. I found it complex and time wasting and exhausting. I print the negatives on plain bond paper, in the strongest red I can get. Then I brush them thoroughly with olive oil or any good oil, wipe them off and let them 'dry' for a while. I then print with them. I lose a little sharpness., but it's cheap and I love the look. There is a limit to how deep the darks can ever be with a salt print-you will see that around the edges if any areas of sensitising solution are exposed to the sun or your UV lamp.

[@phyllisjeanfulton]

What fixer other than sodiumtrisulfate can be used?

[@TheNegative]

You can use any fixer technically but I’ve heard they remove too much of the print density. You can give it a try and let me know how it turns out.

[@gypsies0184]

I don't think you need to keep the salt solution in a brown bottle ...

[@TheNegative]

You don’t! It’s not light sensitive. The bottles came in a pair though so why not.

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

I cal bs on the contact frames and why not pay the exstra money

[@TheNegative]

Not sure what you mean. You can buy any one you like but what I meant was that people price them really high for no particular reason.