Agfachrome-Speed

“Agfa-Gevaert developed its own instant printing materials during the 1980s, Agfachrome-Speed and Copycolor, both introduced commercially in 1983. Agfachrome-Speed was a single-sheet integral print material, whereas Copycolor was a peel-apart. Like their direct competitor, Ektaflex PCT, they gave photographers an easy way to obtain enlargements from color transparencies, without complicated manipulation or equipment. The image-forming chemistry of the films was based on a dye release mechanism in which dye releasers in unexposed regions of the negative were reduced to release a diffusible image dye (Walworth and Mervis 1997: 335). Printing enlarged positive transparencies with Agfachrome-Speed was straightforward. The sheet was exposed through its back with a regular enlarger or by contact, immersed in a tray filled with a strong alkaline activation bath (Activator N) for about ninety seconds, washed for five minutes, and then dried. The image was viewed from the side opposite that of exposure (Fig. 7.16).”

(Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, on p. 247.)