Omnicolore
Description
“To produce the Omnicolore color screen, a sheet of glass was coated with a layer of gelatin on which lines of greasy blue-violet ink were ruled. The space between the lines was dyed yellow. Lines of greasy light blue ink were then ruled at right angles, forming green squares where they overlapped with the yellow and a slightly darker shade of purple on the blue-violet lines. Finally, red dye was applied to the plate, which penetrated the gelatin only on the exposed yellow areas and produced red-orange squares (Jougla Fils 1909). A panchromatic emulsion was then applied to complete the plate, whose screen pattern was a combination of continuous blue lines alternating with rows of green and red rectangles (Fig. 2.9). Although Omnicolore’s screen was more transparent than that of the autochrome, its color quality was somewhat inferior: the screens had many holes and gaps, the pattern was coarser, and the color absorption was not very selective. ‘I have obtained very fair color reproductions with this plate, but do not seem to be able to get such clear-cut shades or such translucency as with the autochromes, and I must confess that I infinitely prefer the irregularly mixed starch grains of Messrs. Lumière to the regular pattern cross-lines of the Omnicolore,’ wrote the British photographer Hugh C. Knowles in a review of the different screen plates then available on the market (Knowles 1910: 39). In 1911 Jougla joined Lumière to form Établissements Lumière et Jougla réunis, and production of the Omnicolore was immediately phased out.”
(Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, on p. 28.)
-
![]()
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 29.
-
![]()
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 70.
Secondary Sources
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, on p. 28 View Quote and on p. 71. View Quote
