Ansco Color Printon; Improved Printon Anscochrome Type / GAF Printon Type 6400 / GAF Printon Type 6410 (1956–1981)

“Ansco Color Printon

In 1943 Ansco followed suit and launched a printing material on white-pigmented acetate base called Ansco Color Printon (Fig. 5.7). Initially, Printon was made accessible only to the military. After 1945 it became available to civilians and gained wide popularity. Because Printon had integrated couplers, its processing was much easier than that required by Minicolor. The processing sequence consisted of a first black-and-white development, followed by a stop bath to neutralize the developer and a rinse to remove solutions; then reexposure of the print by floodlight to fog the remaining silver halide, a color development to develop the fogged silver, followed by a stop bath, a hardener bath, and a wash; and last, a bleach bath that converted both negative and positive silver image into soluble silver salts, followed by a wash, fixer, wash, and stabilizer to ensure that the dyes remained stable, and a final water rinse before drying. In all, it took about seventy minutes to make one print (Ansco 1947). Because the operation was relatively simple, Ansco decided not to establish its own processing service. Instead, it assisted an independent photofinisher, Pavelle Color, Inc., of New York City, in operating the process (Fig. 5.8).¹⁰ In 1946 chemistry kits became available, allowing users equipped with a regular darkroom to print their own transparencies on Printon. Improved Printon Anscochrome Type was released in the United States in 1956 and later worldwide (Spencer 1959). The material was renamed GAF Printon Type 6400 in 1967 when the company’s name changed, then GAF Printon Type 6410. It remained available until the company closed in 1981.”

(Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, on p. 167.)