Kesdacolor

1918

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William van Doren Kelley, Carroll H. Dunning and Wilson Salisbury (Kesdacolor)

Subtractive 2 color: Line screen filter, duplitized film stock

”The process as illustrated in USP 1431309 was a two-color additive process, but it is stated that it could be a three- or four-color process. For the original photography, the negative was exposed through a line screen composed of alternate bands ...

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Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

1 Image

Prizma I

1916

|

William van Doren Kelley (Prizma)

Additive 3 color: Rotary filter

“The color experiments were conducted in the basement of a house at 1586 E. Seventeenth St., Brooklyn, N. Y. During this time a double-coated stock and a bleach formula which had much to do with the success of the later Prizma process were ...

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Prizma II

1919

|

William van Doren Kelley (Prizma Company)

|

United States of America

Subtractive 2 color: Toning on double coated film

“In its final form Prizma made use of duplitized positive film. As in previous Prizma systems, the original negatives were alternate frame sequential exposures. The Prizma negative was printed on both sides of the positive film in a special ...

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The two colors visible at a splice. Credit: EYE Film Institute Amsterdam. Film: [Kleurenpracht].
Credit: George Eastman House. Preserved by Carole Fodor, Haghefilm Digitaal fellow and graduate of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. Film: A Day with John Burroughs (Prizma, 1919).
Credit: George Eastman House. Preserved by Carole Fodor, Haghefilm Digitaal fellow and graduate of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. Film: A Day with John Burroughs (Prizma, 1919).
Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Film: The Land of the Great Spirit (1919).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.

399 Images in 14 Galleries

Panchromotion

1917

|

William van Doren Kelley (Panchromotion)

Additive 4 color: Rotary filter

”Kelley’s first color process was a four-color additive system introduced in 1913. Called Panchromotion, Kelley formed a company which would exploit the process commercially and, he hoped, provide strong competition for Kinemacolor. He apparently ...

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

2 Images

Kelleycolor

1923

|

William van Doren Kelley (Kelleycolor Company)

Subtractive 2 color: Dye transfer

“In 1919 Kelley produced a series of coloured cartoons which were drawn by Pinto Colvig. In 1924 he introduced “Kelleycolor,” which was an imbibition process. Two colours were imbibed on a black-and-white key image. In 1926 he ...

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Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Film: The Old Family Toothbrush (USA 1925).

1 Image

Cinecolor (subtractive 2 color)

1932

|

William T. Crespinel (Cinecolor Corporation)

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, duplitized film

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Credit: Harvard Film Archive, George Huizinga Collection, item no. 10454. Film: Prehistoric Women (1951).
Credit: Harvard Film Archive, George Huizinga Collection, item no. 10454. Film: Prehistoric Women (1951).
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Reflection on Cinecolor print. Credit: Image courtesy of the 20th Century Fox Collection at the Academy Film Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger
Reflection on Cinecolor 16 mm print. Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger

93 Images in 9 Galleries

Lascelles Davidson

1898

|

William Norman Lascelles Davidson

Additive 3 color: Rotary filter

“Apparently, associated with W. Friese-Greene, in the same year, Captain William Norman Lascelles-Davidson, also of Brighton, patented a triple lens motion picture camera (E.P. 23,863, 1898). The colour filters revolved either behind the lenses, ...

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Drawing from E.P. 13,468, 1901.

1 Image

EverColor

1993

|

William Nordstrom

Subtractive 4 color: pigment process, still photography

“Also during the 1990s, William (Bill) Nordstrom started to experiment with a carbon process called Agfa-Proof, a four-color proprietary prepress color proofing system. He founded the EverColor Corporation in El Dorado Hills, California, in ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 96.

1 Image

Biocolour

1911

|

William Friese-Greene and Colin Bennett; Claude Friese-Greene

Additive 2 color: Alternately stained images

“Inevitably, the success of Kinemacolor led to the appearance of imitations. One company, Friese Greene Patents Ltd had been formed in 1908 to exploit several patents, mostly impractical, filed by Friese Greene. From this came a new company, ...

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Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.

39 Images in 3 Galleries

Friese-Greene

1898

|

William Friese-Greene

Additive 2 or 3 color: Alternately stained

“In 1898 William Friese-Greene, a professional portrait photographer by trade, demonstrated in London ‘the first process of true natural-color cinematography.’ His program consisted of ‘a series of animated natural-color pictures,’ and although this demonstration aroused considerable interest at the time, Friese-Greene was unable to exploit this system on a profitable basis. Undaunted, he eventually developed a total of four different color methods.”

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Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger. Film: Kino the Girl of Colour (GB 1920, William Friese-Greene, Claude Friese-Greene).
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Credit: Paolo Cherchi Usai. Source: Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI.

112 Images in 2 Galleries

Agfacolor Neu / Agfacolor

1936

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Wilhelm Schneider and Gustav Wilmanns (IG Farbenindustrie, Agfa, Berlin, Filmfabrik Wolfen)

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, reversal (from 1936), negative/positive process (from 1939)

“The New Agfacolor Process; Agfa Ansco Corp., Binghamton, N. Y. A survey of the history of monopack or multilayer photographic color processes is given, including the coloring methods of greatest importance at the present time. These are: (a) ...

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Münchhausen (Josef von Báky, Germany 1943). Credit: Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv and Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. Photographs of the Agfacolor safety print (acetate) by Barbara Flueckiger.
Opfergang (GER 1944, Veit Harlan), magnification. Credit: Print from the Filmmuseum Düsseldorf. © Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, Wiesbaden. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Paper print. Source: Serda, Charlott (1941): Das Farbfoto-Buch vom Film. Breitkopf & Härtel: Leipzig.
Parade (1960). Credit: Harvard Film Archive, Brandon Film Library Collection, item no. 14303. Photographs of Agfacolor negative on Orwocolor reversal print by Barbara Flueckiger.
Parade (1960). Credit: Harvard Film Archive, Brandon Film Library Collection, item no. 14303. Photographs of Agfacolor negative on Orwocolor reversal print by Barbara Flueckiger.

640 Images in 21 Galleries

Polacolor

1947

|

W. H. Ryan and V. K. Walworth (Polaroid Corporation)

Subtractive 3 color: Color separation, multicolor dye images

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Agfacolor Positiv Typ 5

1954

|

VEB Filmfabrik Wolfen

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Cross section scheme, Agfacolor Positive Type 5. Scource: Brune, Wolfgang (1955): Ein neues Agfacolor-Positivmaterial (Agfacolor-Positivfilm Typ 5).

1 Image

Trichromatic vision

1802

|

Thomas Young

Theory: Color vision

Theory of trichromatic vision proposed by Thomas Young.

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Curtis Neotone

1939

|

Thomas S. Curtis

Subtractive 3 color: dye mordanting process, still photography

“In 1939 Thomas S. Curtis of Huntington Park, California, introduced Curtis Neotone, a simple dye mordanting printing method for the production of color prints or transparencies from color separation negatives. With Curtis’s method, a ...

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Curtis Orthotone

1939

|

Thomas S. Curtis

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“In 1939 Thomas S. Curtis (1889–1964) proposed Orthotone, a dye imbibition printing method that was primarily a variation of the widely used Eastman Wash-Off Relief. Orthotone offered its practitioners complete control on the contrast or ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 142.

1 Image

Technicolor No. VI: Dye-transfer prints from enhanced process

1997

|

Technicolor

Subtractive 3 color: dye transfer

In 1994, Technicolor announced the development of an enhanced dye-transfer process. This process became effective in June 1997. There was no official denomination, so “Technicolor No. VI” is not to be confused with statements from the mid ...

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Zoechrome

1920

|

T.A. Mills

Subtractive 3 color: Multi-layer printing

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Credit: Collection Gert Koshofer, Bergisch Gladbach (Germany).

16 Images in 1 Gallery

Biochrom

1914

|

S. Prokudin-Gorsky und S. Maximovitch

Additive 3 color: Double-sized film, rotary filter

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Chromal Paper

1914

|

Rudolf Fischer, Hans Siegrist, N.P.G.

Subtractive 3 color: dye coupling or chromogenic process, still photography

“In 1912, two chemists at N.P.G. in Berlin, Rudolf Fischer (1881-1957) and Hans Siegrist (1885-1959), introduced the notion of color couplers and patented the application of Homolkas discovery. Their patent described the structure and chemistry ...

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Chromogenic film stock

1911

|

Rudolf Fischer and Hans Siegrist (Neue Photographische Gesellschaft)

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Magnachrome

1931

|

Roy Hunter (Universal Films)

Additive 2 color: Bi-pack, half-size

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Dugromacolor

1952

|

Roger Dumas, Georges Grosset and André Marx

Additive 3 color: Beam-splitter, substandard

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Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.

1 Image

Audibert

1911

|

Rodolphe Berthon and Maurice Audibert

Additive 3 color: Prism

“R. Berthon and M. Audibert patented a method of obtaining a virtual image by means of an anterior lens and prisms or mirrors. This idea was further improved upon in E.P. 17,023, 1913. In F.P. 458,040 Audibert proposed to use a negative front lens ...

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.

2 Images

Berthon-Siemens / Siemens-Berthon / Siemens-Perutz-Verfahren / Opticolor

1936

|

Rodolphe Berthon (Siemens &. Halske AG)

Additive 3 color: Lenticular screen

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Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Schmidt, Richard / Kochs, Adolf (1943): Farbfilmtechnik. Eine Einführung für Filmschaffende. Berlin: Hesse, pp. 54-72. (Schriftenreihe der Reichsfilmkammer, 10.) (in German) [quote id='6']

5 Images

Berthon

1908

|

Rodolphe Berthon

Additive 3 color: Lenticular screen

“R. Berthon patented the use of a lens diaphragm with three apertures, covered respectively with red, green and blue-violet filters, and a sensitive surface on a support, the other side of which was impressed with hemi-spherical, transparent, ...

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Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Source: Heymer, Gerd (1933): Auflösungsvermögen und Farbwiedergabe in der Farbrasterphotographie. In: Veröffentlichungen des wissenschaftlichen Zentral-Laboratoriums der photographischen Abteilung Agfa, 3, 1933, pp. 188-207.

4 Images

Mordant toning / dye toning

1909

|

Rodolfo Namias

Applied colors: Silver replacement by mordanting

Mordant toning or dye toning is a special case of toning whereby the silver image is replaced by colored compounds. Soluble dyes attach to a colorless (silver ferrocyanide) or nearly colorless (silver iodide) silver salt obtained by bleaching. Dye ...

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Virages sur mordançage, Bleu (blue mordant toning), backlight, Swiss collectors'copy. Source: Didiée, L. (1926): Le Film vierge Pathé. Manuel de développement et de tirage. Paris: Pathé. [quote id='7']
Photomicrograph, 25x. Credit: Norbert Wey, Institute of Pathology, University of Zurich.
Photomicrograph, 50x. Credit: Norbert Wey, Institute of Pathology, University of Zurich.
Photomicrograph, 100x. Credit: Norbert Wey, Institute of Pathology, University of Zurich.
Photomicrograph, 100x. Credit: Norbert Wey, Institute of Pathology, University of Zurich.

171 Images in 7 Galleries

Krayn

1901

|

Robert Krayn

Additive 3 color: Line screen and mosaic, still photography

“Another method of producing a line screen was patented in 1904 by the German Robert Krayn, and was demonstrated by him in November 1907. Krayn stained very thin celluloid sheets red, green and blue, and cemented them interleaved to form a thick ...

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Source: Coe, Brian (1978): Colour Photography. The First Hundred Years 1840-1940. London: Ash & Grant, p. 54.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 34.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 35.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 35.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 36.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 74.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 74.

7 Images

Thomascolor

1934

|

Richard Thomas

Additive 3 color: 4 images on 65 mm

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Kistler, L. R. (1945): The Projection of Thomascolor Motion Pictures. In: International Projectionist, 20,7, Jul., pp. 12–14.
Source: Kistler, L. R. (1945): The Projection of Thomascolor Motion Pictures. In: International Projectionist, 20,7, Jul., pp. 12–14.
Left: Thomascolor camera lens mount for converting standard motion picture camera into Thomascolor. Right: A closeup of the Thomascolor projector lens mount for standard film projectors. The inventor points out that this is all that is needed to convert a standard projector to Thomascolor. Source: Anonymous (1944): Thomascolor. Four-Color Process For Motion Pictures. In: International Projectionist, 19,10, Oct., pp. 7–9.

5 Images

Irix-Farbenfilm

1933/34

|

Richard Gschöpf, Karl Pokorny

|

Austria

Subtractive three-color process: imbibition

Three matrices in the subtractive primary colors are printed on the gelatin of the final print. Supposedly, the used dyes were particularly fast and able to prevent color bleeding. Pokorny started working on color cinematography in the 1920s, often ...

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Lenticular Screen

1896

|

Raphael E. Liesegang

Additive 3 color: Lenticular screen

“Every element of a cross-lined screen acts as a pinhole camera, and reproduces an image of the aperture of the objective in whose rear focal plane it is placed. Thus, when using a square stop, the dots in the halftone produced will be square ...

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.

4 Images

Chromogenic development

1895

|

Raphael E. Liesegang

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic development

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Silver dye-bleach

1889

|

Raphael E. Liesegang

Subtractive 3 color: Dye-bleach

“Probably the first use of the catalytic property of silver was in 1889, when E. Howard Farmer disclosed the action of a silver image upon strong dichromate solutions (Eng. P. 17773/89). When a plate or film, containing a silver image, is immersed ...

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Ataraxia

1998

|

Racey Gilbert

Subtractive 4 color: pigment process, still photography

“In 1998 Racey Gilbert purchased Polaroid’s stock of pigment films and opened Ataraxia Studio in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, to make high-quality collectors’ carbon prints. Under the direction of Gérard Niemetzky, the studio produced ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 98.

1 Image

Chimicolor

1931

|

R. Valette (Syndicat de la Cinématographie des Couleurs)

Subtractive 3 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated film, mordant toning

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Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.

2 Images

Gorsky Process

1921

|

Prof. Gorsky and R. G. Booth (Manager of Messrs. Gaumont's Scottish branch)

|

France / Scotland

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Ulysse

1908

|

Pierre Ulysse

|

France

Two, three or four color color additive process: multiple lenses

The process relied on two-, three- or even four-color selections being superimposed on the screen. On the positive, two, three or four images of reduced dimensions were printed on a single frame with a longitudinal and lateral distance corresponding ...

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Fresson Quadrichromy

1959

|

Pierre Fresson; Atelier Fresson

Subtractive 4 color: pigment process, still photography

“In 1951, when pigment processes were falling into disfavor, Pierre Fresson (1904–1983) of Atelier Fresson developed Fresson Quadrichromy, a four-color printing method based on the monochrome direct carbon process (charbon-satin) that had ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 91.

1 Image

Talkicolor

1917

|

Percy James Pearce; Dr Anthony Bernardi (Talkicolor Ltd.)

Additive 2 color: Alternately stained

“Two-colour additive process Talkicolor was developed by Percy James Pearce along with Dr Anthony Bernardi who was also involved in the development of Raycol. The process was funded mainly by the author Elinor Glyn through her company Elinor ...

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Knowing Men (GB 1930, Elinor Glyn), negative. Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.

3 Images in 1 Gallery

Brewster

1930

|

Percy Douglas Brewster (Brewster Color Film Corp)

Subtractive 2 or 3 color: Perforated mirror as beam-splitter, duplitized film

“The Brewster Process. (U.S.P. 1,752,477. 1930-) Camera. – P. D. Brewster, an American inventor, who was one of the first to apply the bipack system to colour cinematography, has a number of patents to his credit covering various cameras and ...

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Dyes of Brewster color. Credit: Brian Pritchard.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

52 Images in 1 Gallery

Brewster

1915

|

Percy Douglas Brewster

Subtractive 2 color: Perforated mirror as beam-splitter, duplitized film

“Following the premises of one of William Friese-Greene’s systems, this two-colour subtractive process required that two reels of film be printed in parallel through a lens fitted with a prism that split light in two directions, through red ...

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Russian three-color process

1936

|

Pavel Mershin (Mosfilm), Fedor Provorov (NIKFI) and Avenir Min (Leningradskii zavod kino-apparatury, Leningrad Film Factory LenKinAp)

Subtractive three color

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Zaveshchanie/The Testament (7 June 1937). Credit: Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov.
Zaveshchanie/The Testament (7 June 1937). Credit: Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov. Credit: Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov.
The Miraculous Traffic Light (1938). Credit: courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov
The Wolf and Seven Goat-Kids (1938). Credit: Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov.
The Fox and the Wolf (1937). Credit: Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov.
The Fox and the Wolf (1937). Credit: Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov.

6 Images

Autotype Dyebro

ca. 1929

|

Owen Wheeler, Autotype Company

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“Autotype Dyebro Introduced around the same time as Colorsnap and Uvatype, Autotype Dyebro combined the three-color carbro and dye imbibition processes. The method was invented by Owen Wheeler (1859–1932) and commercialized by the Autotype ...

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Prism

1905

|

Otto Pfenniger (often referenced as Pfenninger)

Additive 3 color: Prism

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Source: Wall, E.J. (1925): The History of Three-color Photography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.

1 Image

Cinemacolor

1934

|

Otto C. Gilmore (Cinemacolor Corporation)

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter, sub-standard vertical

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. A History of Motion Picture Color Technology.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

2 Images

Cosmocolor

1935

|

Otto C. Gilmore

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

2 Images

Tinting by application of varnish

1905

|

no record of inventor available

Applied colors: Tinting

Very little information is available on this very rare process. Instead of immersion into a dye-bath the positive print was coated uniformly with a varnish. This technique can be identified by the lack on dyes in the perforation area and by the ...

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Credit: Paolo Cherchi Usai. Source: Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI.

1 Image

Russian two-color system

1931

|

Nikolai Agokos, Fedor Provorov and Pavel Mershin (Scientific Research Film and Photo Institute NIKFI)

Subtractive two color

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Screenshot from Mayorov, Nikolai (2012): Soviet Colours. Translated by Birgit Beumers. In: Studies in Russian & Soviet Cinema, 6:2, pp. 241–255. doi: 10.1386/srsc.6.2.241_1 Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov.

1 Image

Panacolor

1962

|

Michele P. L. Martinez (Panacolor, Inc)

Subtractive 3 color: Color separation, multilayer print

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Credit: Gert Koshofer Collection. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger

11 Images in 1 Gallery

Handschiegl / DeMille-Wyckoff / Wyckoff Process

1916

|

Max Handschiegl and Alvin Wyckoff

Applied color: Imbibition

Similar to stenciling, the Handschiegl process was applied mechanically to manually defined image parts. Therefore it is an applied color process. After the film was shot and edited, for each color applied a separate print was made. In contrast to ...

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Black-and-white with Handschiegl in Lights of Old Broadway (USA 1925, Monta Bell). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Trail of '98 (USA 1929, Clarence Brown).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Trail of '98 (USA 1929, Clarence Brown).
Credit: Paolo Cherchi Usai. Source: Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI. Film: Greed (USA 1925, Erich von Stroheim).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Forbidden Fruit (USA 1921, Cecil B. DeMille).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Forbidden Fruit (USA 1921, Cecil B. DeMille).
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press, p. 24.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Trail of '98 (USA 1929, Clarence Brown).

141 Images in 8 Galleries

Harmonicolor

1935

|

Maurice Combes

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, double-coated

“Harmonicoior was developed by French chemist Maurice Combes. It was first formally demonstrated in London by Harmonicoior Films Ltd, of 4 Great Winchester Street, on the 23 March 1936 at the Curzon Soho with the film Talking Hands, produced at ...

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Audibert

1930

|

Maurice Audibert

Addtive 3 color: Beam-splitter, mosaic screen, 65 mm

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.

3 Images

Lumière Alticolor

1952

|

Lumière Company

Additive 3 color: mosaic screen, combined system, still photography

“Lumière Alticolor (1952–1955): rolls and pack films on celluloid base. Alticolor starch grains are smaller but of less regular shape than those used in Filmcolor (Fig. 2.74). There are no black pigment particles; therefore, Alticolor ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 76.

1 Image

Lumière Filmcolor

1931

|

Lumière Company

Additive 3 color: mosaic screen, combined system, still photography

“Lumière Filmcolor (1931–1953): sheet films (only) on celluloid base (Fig. 2.69). Individual colored grains cannot be seen with the naked eye, but clumps of grains of the same color give the image a pointillist effect. Filmcolor starch ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 74.

1 Image

Lumière Lumicolor

1933

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Lumière Company

Additive 3 color: mosaic screen, combined system, still photography

“Lumière Lumicolor (1933–1953): rolls and pack films on celluloid base. Individual colored grains cannot be seen with the naked eye, but clumps of grains of the same color give the image a pointillist effect (Fig. 2.71). Starch grains ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 76.

1 Image

Sistema Cristiani-Mascarini

1934

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Luigi Cristiani, Giovanni Mascarini

|

Italy

Additive four-color: beam splitter and filters, four images on 35mm black and white film.

For this four-color process, the light beam was decomposed into four parts, each of which simultaneously exposed an area equal to one quarter of the 35mm frame of a black and white negative. This was obtained optically by placing a diaphragm and a ...

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Cross-section of the optical system displaying the different lenses, the prism and the four filters. Source: Pierotti, Federico (2016): Un'archeologia del colore nel cinema italiano. Dal Technicolor ad Antonioni. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, p. 71.
35mm black and white film strip with four equal-sized images (left) and 16mm projector with Cristiani-Mascarini optical system. Source: Pierotti, Federico (2016): Un'archeologia del colore nel cinema italiano. Dal Technicolor ad Antonioni. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, p. 71.

2 Images

Horst

1924

|

Ludwig Horst senior

Additive 3 color: Beam-splitter, 65 mm negative

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Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.

4 Images in 1 Gallery

Sirius

1929

|

Ludwig Horst (Sirius Kleuren Film Maatschappij)

Subtractive 2 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated

“The Dutch Sirius Color process (1929) used a camera with a beamsplitting system behind the lens to expose a single film, the film passing through two gates at right angles to each other. The double-coated print film was dye-toned. The process ...

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Magnification, 20x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification, 10x. Credit: Photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification, 5x. Credit: Photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In: Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Reflection on the Sirius film, front. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Reflection on the Sirius film, back. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.

142 Images in 4 Galleries

Rouxcolor 2 color / Cineoptichrome

1932

|

Lucien and Armand Roux

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter

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Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.
Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.

2 Images

Procédé Tetrachrome

1913

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Louis Mauclaire, Alfred Bréon, Pierre Randabel

|

France

Additive four-color process: rotating filters

Based on four primary colors, the process successively recorded two simultaneous images for two primary colors each. In projection, the four images were combined on screen, supposedly via a regular projector.

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Kodak Dye Transfer

1946

|

Louis M. Condax, Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“Kodak Dye Transfer materials were introduced by Eastman Kodak Company in February 1946 and replaced Eastman Wash-Off Relief. Principal improvements over the previous material included a simplified registration procedure, more rapidly ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 148.

1 Image

Condax-Dytrol

ca. 1940

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Louis M. Condax, Condax-Speck, Inc., New York, Robert P. Speck

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“Around 1940, Condax-Speck, Inc., of New York started to market dyes and mordant for the Condax-Dytrol system of dye imbibition printing (Fig. 4.19). The system, developed by company owners Louis M. Condax (1897–1971) and Robert P. Speck, ...

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Dufaycolor

1933

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Louis Dufay, Thomas Thorne Baker and Charles Bonamico (Dufaycolor Ltd., later Dufay-Chromex)

Additive 3 color: Line screen (réseau), 35 mm and 16 mm, reversal and negative-positive stock

Dufaycolor was a regular line screen process whereby the incident light was filtered through a pattern of tiny color patches created by lines in red, green and blue, the so called réseau.

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Reversal Colour Positive. Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger. Film: A Colour Box (GB 1935, Len Lye).
Microscopic image of the filter structure of a Dufaycolor film. The Emulsion has been removed. The visible structures are not silver grain but the structure of the filter layers. Credit: David Pfluger, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors. Imaging was performed with support of the Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zurich.
Microscopic images of Dufaycolor film with the focus set at different points within the emulsion and filter layers. The images have been chained to show a travelling through the 3-dimensional structure of the layers. Credit: David Pfluger, conversion to video by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors. Imaging was performed with support of the Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zurich.

231 Images in 9 Galleries

Spicer-Dufay

1925

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Louis Dufay, T. Thorne Baker and Charles Bonamico (Spicer-Dufay)

Additive 3 color: Line screen (réseau), 35 mm reversal

For a description of Spicer-Dufay see detail page on Dufaycolor)

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Magnification 20x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification 10x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification 5x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In: Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.

78 Images in 2 Galleries

Dufaycolor reversal

1938

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Louis Dufay, T. Thorne Baker and Charles Bonamico (Dufay-Chromex)

Additive 3 color: Line screen (réseau), 16 mm, reversal

(see detail page on Dufaycolor)

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Versicolor-Dufay

1917

|

Louis Dufay (Versicolor)

Additive 3 color: Line screen plate, still photography

“The most successful of all the screen processes was the one initiated by Louis Dufay. Today the product is known as Dufaycolor, but it was first introduced about 1910 as the Dioptichrome plate. The first Dufay patents were assigned to an ...

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Dufay / Dioptichrome Plate (sometimes incorrectly referenced as Dioptochrome)

1908

|

Louis Dufay (Société Anonyme des Plaques et Produits Dufay)

Additive 2-4 color: Line screen plate (réseau), still photography and early experiments with film

(see detail page on Dufaycolor)

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Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press,
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 71.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 73.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 31.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 48.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 69.

10 Images

Dufay / Dioptichrome

1909

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Louis Dufay (Société Anonyme des Plaques et Produits Dufay)

Additive 3 color: regular mosaic screen, separate system, still photography

“In 1907 the French lawyer Louis Dufay (1874-1936) patented a system whose screen pattern was obtained by the combined use of dichromated colloids, greasy printing inks, and imbibition.16 To take a photograph, the screen was mounted in a ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 32.

1 Image

Dufay / Dioptichrome-B

1910

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Louis Dufay (Société Anonyme des Plaques et Produits Dufay)

Additive 3 color: regular mosaic screen, combined system, still photography

“In 1907 the French lawyer Louis Dufay (1874-1936) patented a system whose screen pattern was obtained by the combined use of dichromated colloids, greasy printing inks, and imbibition.16 To take a photograph, the screen was mounted in a ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 33.

1 Image

Proposal of a variety of processes of three-color photography

1869

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Louis Ducos du Hauron

Theory: still photography

“Louis Ducos du Hauron is reported to have become interested in the reproduction of colors by photography in 1859, when he was twentyone years old (Potonniée, 1939). In 1862 he submitted to a friend of his family, M. Lelut, a paper embodying ...

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"Du Hauron invented his Chromographoscope in 1874. It could be used either as a camera or an additive viewer." Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
An early three-color print by Louis Ducros Du Hauron, 1877.

2 Images

Kwik-Print

1977

|

Light Impressions Corporation

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“In 1977 Light Impressions Corporation of Rochester, New York, introduced Kwik-Print, a contact speed color printing material. This was a modification of the Kwik-Proof graphic arts proofing system made by Direct Reproductions Corporation of ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 110.

1 Image

Kodachrome

1935

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Leopold D. Mannes and Leopold Godowsky (Eastman Kodak)

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, reversal, 8 and 16 mm

“In 1930 Mannes and Godowsky were invited to join the staff of the Kodak Research Laboratory, where they concentrated on methods of processing multilayer films, while their colleagues worked out ways of manufacturing them. The result was the new Kodachrome film, launched in 1935. Three very thin emulsion layers were coated on film base, the emulsions being sensitised with non-wandering dyes to red, green and blue light, the red-sensitive layer being at the bottom.” (Coe, Brian (1978): Colour Photography. The First Hundred Years 1840-1940. London: Ash & Grant, pp. 121 ff.)

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Credit: Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern. Film: New York, Taufe und Ausflug (CH 1954, Donald Brun).
Surface emulsion side, raking light. Credit: Carsta Knaack, HTW Berlin. Film: Regular 8mm home movie, anonymous 1975.

92 Images in 6 Galleries

Telco Color, additive 2 color

1936

|

Leon Ungar and K. R. Hoyt

Additive 2 color: Split optics, side by side

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Telco color subtractive 2 color

1938

|

Leon Ungar and K. R. Hoyt

Subtractive 2 color: Split optics, side by side, duplitized film

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Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

1 Image

Gaumont Chronochrome

1912

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Léon Gaumont (Gaumont)

Additive 3 color: Sawn-off lenses and filters, simultaneous taking and projection

“The competition between Kinemacolor and other rival systems was partially stimulated by a Utopian faith in the potential of film technology to achieve ‘natural colour’, reality ‘as it is’ being the goal of the cinematic ...

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Credit: Paolo Cherchi Usai. Source: Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Gaumont, Léon (1959): Gaumont Chronochrome Process Described by the Inventor. In: Raymond Fielding (ed.): A Technological History of Motion Pictures and Television. An Anthology from the Pages of The Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967, pp. 65-67.
Source: Gaumont, Léon (1959): Gaumont Chronochrome Process Described by the Inventor. In: Raymond Fielding (ed.): A Technological History of Motion Pictures and Television. An Anthology from the Pages of The Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967, pp. 65-67.

12 Images in 2 Galleries

Douglass Color No. 1

1916

|

Leon Forrest Douglass

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“This two-color additive system for color cinematography was invented in 1916 by Leon Forrest Douglass of San Rafael, California. A special beam splitter camera would advance each roll of film two frames per exposure with its double frame pull down ...

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Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press. Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press. Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.

3 Images

Douglass Color No. 2

1919

|

Leon Forrest Douglass

Subtractive 2 color: Separations, multi-layer prints

“Douglass Color No. 2 (1919). The two negatives of the Douglass Color system No. 1 were printed on a positive. In this updated version of the process, rather than projecting the frames through red and green filters, both latent images were ...

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Pinatype / Pinatypie

1903

|

Léon Didier (Meister Lucius & Brüning)

Subtractive 3 color: Dye transfer, still photography

“In the imbibition process, a dye image is transferred from a gelatin relief image to a receiving layer made either of paper or film. Charles Cros described this method of “hydrotypie” transfer printing in 1880 and suggested it ...

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Cyan and magenta combined, third layer, yellow missing. Source: Meister Lucius & Brüning (1905): Pinatypie. Positiv-Verfahren für die Dreifarbenphotographie. Höchst am Main.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 132.

4 Images

Fullcolor

1942

|

L. S. Trimble (Trimble Laboratories)

Subtractive 2 colors: Bi-pack, duplitized film

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Dascolour

1935

|

L. J. Dassonville

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, double-coated print

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Credit: Brian Pritchard.

1 Image

Ufacolor

1931

|

Kurt Waschneck (Afifa)

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, mordant toning

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Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Color chart. Credit: Guido Seeber Nachlass, Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92.
Credit: Guido Seeber Nachlass, Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Bunte Tierwelt. Studien in Hagebecks Tierpark in Stellingen (1931).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Karneval (1936).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Jeanpaul Goergen. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Bunte Fischwelt (1936).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Karneval (1936).
Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF (Vicas Nachlass), photo: Jeanpaul Goergen. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Potsdam (1934).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Farben machen froh (1938).
Magnification 5x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 10x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 20x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Reflection on Ufacolor film. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
An opened splice of an Ufacolor positive shows the two colors used in the process. Credit: David Pfluger. Source: David Pfluger’s collection.

136 Images in 7 Galleries

Konicolor

1946-1959

|

Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd

Subtractive 3 color

“The Konicolor system, introduced by Konishiroku Shashin Kogyo (Now Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc.), split the image into three colors and shot them separately onto three b&w films. In that sense it had something in common with the US ‘Technicolor system’, but this was not a contact print with color dye to create positive film, but used coated emulsion to develop each color in a triple process, which is peculiar. […].”

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Katachromie

1905

|

Karl Schinzel

Subtractive 3 color: Monopack silver dye-bleach, still photography

Karl Schinzel proposed a multi-layered monopack for still photography, based on the principle of the dye-bleach process which was later elaborated to a practical application with Gasparcolor.

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Johnsons Colour Screen

1953

|

Johnsons of Hendon Ltd.

Additive 3 color: regular mosaic screen, separate system, still photography

“Johnsons Colour Screen (1953–ca. 1954): pattern virtually identical to Paget Color Screen, with lines of red and blue squares alternated with lines of green and blue squares, approximately 350 to the inch (Fig. 2.55). The lines are at a ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 70.

1 Image

Joly

1896

|

John Joly

Additive 3 color: Line screen process, still photography

“In 1894 Professor John Joly of Dublin patented a process for producing a screen of red, green and blue-violet lines by ruling them on a gelatin-coated glass plate. Joly used ruling machines of great accuracy, with drawing pens trailed across ...

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Photomicrograph (20x) of a Joly screen. Credit: Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film.
Credit: Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film.
Source: Coe, Brian (1978): Colour Photography. The First Hundred Years 1840-1940. London: Ash & Grant.
Credit: Gawain Weaver, Photograph Conservator, Gawain Weaver Art Conservation, San Anselmo, CA.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 69.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 22.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 23.

7 Images

Monopack stripping

1903

|

John H. Smith

Subtractive 3 color: Monopack, stripping, still photography

“To offset the possible effects of poor contact between the various members of the tripack, J. H. Smith coated the emulsions directly one on top of the other, but with an insulating layer of collodion between them. In this manner there was ...

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Source: U.S.P. 781469, Sept. 13,1904

1 Image

Warner-Powrie

1924

|

John H. Powrie

Additive 3 color: Line screen

“The Warner-Powrie process patented in 1905 was the earliest commercial process using a screen made with bichromated colloid. A glass plate was thinly coated with bichromated gelatin or fish glue and exposed to light through a screen having ...

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1 Image

Kodachrome Two-color 1915, after 1930 renamed Fox Nature Color

1915

|

John George Capstaff (Kodak Research Laboratories)

Subtractive 2 color process: Beam-splitter, double-coated film

The Kodachrome process was invented in 1913 by John G. Capstaff for still photography and subsequently adapted to motion pictures. For the process two frames were advanced simultaneously, one located above the other. The light passed either through two lenses or through a beam-splitter, fitted with red and green filters. The release print was exposed through a beam-splitter whereby the alternate frames were projected onto either side of double-coated stock. After development by a usual b/w process, the film was tanned to harden the exposed areas. The soft areas were dyed red-orange and blue-green respectively.

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Two-Color Kodachrome Print (USA ca. 1925 to 1927, Anonymous). Credit: George Eastman Museum. Photographs of the Kodachrome two-color double coated stock from 1925 and 1927 by Olivia Kristina Stutz, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification 5x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 10x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 20x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Kodachrome Two-color test from 1922, YouTube channel of the George Eastman House.

350 Images in 12 Galleries

Pantachrom

1938

|

John Eggert and Gerd Heymer (Agfa)

Subtractive 3 color: Bi-pack and lenticular film recording, duplitized film with toning and silver dye-bleach

“In October, Eggert of the Agfa Research Department, read a paper at the Berlin meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für photographische Forschung, on the Pantochrom subtractive lenticular bipack tricolor process. (Fig. 1) The green and blue ...

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Agfa Pantachrom. Source: Arens, Hans; Heymer, Gerd (1939): Die „Agfa-Farbentafel für Farbenphotographie“. In: Veröffentlichungen des wissenschaftlichen Zentral-Laboratoriums der photographischen Abteilung Agfa, Vol. 6, 1939, pp. 225-229. Leipzig: Hirzel. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

19 Images in 3 Galleries

Thornton

1924

|

John E. Thornton

|

England

Additive two-color or four-color process: beam splitter and mosaic screen, films

In this process, two positives, one orange-red one blue-green, were cemented together. Several specifications and modifications exist, for instance the strengthening of the perforated film margins via a second exposure, in an attempt to overcome wear ...

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Duxochrome / Colorstil / Duxocolor

1929

|

Johannes Herzog Company

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“Duxochrome, introduced around 1930 by the Johannes Herzog Company of Bremen, Germany, combined the colored gelatin layers of pigment processes with the tanning development procedure of dye imbibition. Exposures from three separation negatives ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 106.

1 Image

Szczepanik

1924

|

Jan Szczepanik (Emil Busch AG)

Additive 3 color: Moving lenses

“The process of J. Szczepanik in 1925 was impracticable. He used a non-intermittent camera having a chain of eighteen lenses moving together with the film behind a collimating lens, three pictures being simultaneously exposed.” (Klein, ...

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McDonough Color Screen

1897

|

James William McDonough

“McDonough Color Screen (1897–1900): sequence of red, yellow-green, and blue continuous lines (Fig. 2.49). Lines are thinner (approximate width 0.08 mm) and sharper than those of the Joly screen but are still visible with the naked eye or a ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 25.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 69.

2 Images

Color theory

1861

|

James Clerk Maxwell

Additive 3 color: Additive 3 color, still photography

“In a lecture on the theory of three primary colors, given at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on May 17, 1861, Maxwell presented the first demonstration of a photograph in color. According to the records of that meeting (Maxwell, 1890c, ...

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Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.

1 Image

Crawford Flexichrome 1940–1942, after 1949 Kodak Flexichrome

1940

|

Jack Crawford, Crawford Flexichrome Company; Eastman Kodak Company.

Subtractive 3 color: hybrid dye imbibition process, still photography

“In the 1940s a product called Crawford Flexichrome appeared on the market. It allowed photographers to obtain prints or transparencies in full color by simply applying dyes of various colors by hand to a gelatin relief image.16 Results ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 145.

1 Image

British Tricolour / Dufaychrome

1946

|

Jack Coote (Dufay-Chromex Ltd.)

Subtractive 3 color: Beam-splitter, three-strip, multiple printing

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Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Coote, Jack (1948): New Three-Color Camera, In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. 50, June 1948, pp. 543-553.
Coote, Jack (1948): New Three-Color Camera, In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. 50, June 1948, pp. 543-553.

19 Images in 3 Galleries

Harriscolor

1929

|

J.B. Harris, Jr.

Subtractive 2 color: Beam-splitter, single-coated

“Harriscolor In this method as in other methods of color photography, independent color value negatives are first obtained. The Harriscolor process can employ one of the following two methods: Either a camera wherein the dividing light prisms ...

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Credit: Technicolor Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Department. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Technicolor Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Department. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Technicolor Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Department. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.

3 Images

Ilford Colour Print

1953

|

Ilford Limited of London

Subtractive 3 color: dye destruction process, silver dye-bleach, still photography

“In November 1953 Ilford Limited of London launched a mail-order service to supply color prints from 35mm transparencies using Ilford Colour Print, a silver dye-bleach printing material on white-pigmented cellulose triacetate support (Fig. ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 215.

1 Image

Orthochromatic stock

1873

|

Hermann Wilhelm Vogel

b/w photography: Orthochromatic b/w stock

“In 1873 Dr Vogel discovered that by adding dyes to the sensitive material, its sensitivity could be extended, so that it would record green as well as blue. The new ‘orthochromatic’ plates were available commercially from 1882. The ...

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„Film orthochromatique (film négatif Pathé Standard)“ (orthochromatic stock). Source: Didiée, L. (1926): Le Film vierge Pathé. Manuel de développement et de tirage. Paris: Pathé.
„Film ordinaire (non orthochromatique)“ (Normal, non-orthochromatic stock). Source: Didiée, L. (1926): Le Film vierge Pathé. Manuel de développement et de tirage. Paris: Pathé.

2 Images

Sensitizing theory

1885

|

Hermann Wilhelm Vogel

Color theory

“Dr. H. W. Vogel, the discoverer of colour sensitizers, made three-colour photography possible, and has been the first to recognise the relation between colour sensitiveness of plate and printing colour in the following principle made known in ...

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Isensee

1897

|

Hermann Isensee

Additive 3 color: Rotary filter

“The first patent that has been found was granted to H. Isensee and he placed in front of the lens, both in taking and projection, a rotary shutter with three 120 degrees sectors in the usual colors.” (Wall, E.J. (1925): The History of ...

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Source: D.R.P. 98,799, Dec. 17, 1897
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: D.R.P. 98,799, Dec. 17, 1897

2 Images

Technicolor No. I

1916

|

Herbert Kalmus, Daniel Frost Comstock and William Burton Westcott (Technicolor)

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter

During the capturing of the film a beam-splitter in combination with filters in the camera divided the incoming light into a red and a green separation negative on black-and-white stock. When projected in the cinema the two images were combined simultaneously by additive mixture through corresponding red and green filters into one picture consisting of red and green colored light. The reduction of the whole color range to two colors (and their additive combinations) was necessary because of the complex optical arrangement.

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The beam-splitter prism. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.

6 Images in 1 Gallery

Urban-Joy Process, improvement of Kinemacolor, later called Kinekrom

1916

|

Henry W. Joy (Urban)

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“In the design of apparatus Urban was assisted after 1905 by Henry W. Joy. The Urban-Joy perforator appeared in 1906. The Urban-Joy anti-firing device, a shutter to prevent the firing of inflammable film when projectors broke down, was another ...

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Rotocolor

1931

|

Harold Muller

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“The Rotocolor process was an additive system for color cinematography. The process was announced in 1931 by H. Muller. According to an article in Film Daily, April 12, 1931, and The Motion Picture Herald, April 11, 1931, the process consisted of ...

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Carbro-Chromatone

1937

|

Harlan L. Baumbach

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“References to Carbro-Chromatone prints are sometimes found in the literature on early color photography. These prints were made using a combination of the two processes they were named after. The method was described by Harlan L. Baumbach in ...

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Chromart Simplex

1950

|

Hans von Fraunhofer (Anglo-American Colour Photographic Industries)

Subtractive 2 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Chromart Tricolor

1950

|

Hans von Fraunhofer (Anglo-American Colour Photographic Industries)

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Autotype Trichrome Carbro

1921

|

H. F. Farmer, Autotype Company

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“As in previous versions of the process, pigment papers were soaked in a sensitizing bath and then squeegeed firmly onto the surface of wet bromide prints to harden the pigmented gelatin in proportion to the amount of silver contained in the ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 103.

1 Image

Gualtierotti or Cicona e Gualtierotti

1930

|

Gualtiero Gualtierotti, Società Cicona

|

Italy

Additive two-color: optical system, filters, 64mm negative.

Unlike other additive systems invented in previous years, Gualtierotti tried to avoid the phenomenon of chromatic aberration inherent in the use of multiple lenses or the creation of successive separation records. The proposed solution was based on ...

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Rotating filters permitting to adjust tonality and intensity of the colors. Source: Pierotti, Federico (2016): Un'archeologia del colore nel cinema italiano. Dal Technicolor ad Antonioni. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, p. 62

1 Image

Agfacolor lenticular / Agfacolor Linsenrasterfilm

1932

|

Gerd Heymer and John Eggert (IG Farbenindustrie, Agfa, Berlin, Filmfabrik Wolfen)

Additive 3 color: Lenticular screen

The basic idea of the lenticular film was developed by the German Raphaël Liesegang in 1896 and applied to still photography by the French Rodolphe Berthon in 1908. The lenticular process applies tiny cylindrical lenses embossed on the film support ...

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Color reconstruction. Credit: Gisela Harich-Hamburger, Diplomrestauratorin (FH).
Source: Heymer, Gerd (1933): Auflösungsvermögen und Farbwiedergabe in der Farbrasterphotographie. In: Veröffentlichungen des wissenschaftlichen Zentral-Laboratoriums der photographischen Abteilung Agfa, 3, 1933, pp. 188-207.
Source: Weil, F. (1933): The Optical-Photographic Principles of the Agfacolor Process. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 20, (April, 1933), No. 4, p. 301-308.
Both the Kodak and Agfa lenticular processes required the correct banded filter to be used with each different batch of panchromatic film. These two filters were for different batches of Agfacolor used in a Leica camera.. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Magnification 5x, front. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 10x, back. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 20x, front. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Reflection on Agfacolor lenticular film. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In: Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Reconstruction of lenticular film by Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland in the framework of their research project doLCE
Agfacolor Lenticular sample from the Kodak Film Samples Collection at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. Credit: National Science and Media Museum Bradford. Photographs by Barbara Flueckiger in collaboration with Noemi Daugaard.
Analog reconstruction by Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors

15 Images

Belcolor

ca. 1935

|

George Murphy

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“Introduced in the mid-1930s by George Murphy, Inc., of New York City, Belcolor was considered one of the simplest ways to obtain color transparencies, as it required no special equipment or expert technique and could be used successfully ...

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Hirlicolor

1936

|

George Hirlimann

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack

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Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Captain Calamity (1936)
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Captain Calamity (1936)

2 Images

Kinemacolor

1908

|

George Albert Smith and Charles Urban (The Natural Color Kinematograph Company Ltd.)

|

Great Britain

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

Kinemacolor was an additive process operated with alternating red and green filters that were applied to the shutter in front of the camera and in front of the projector. With at least 32 fps the frame rate was double the minimal frame rate of 16 fps. Time parallax with small differences between the red and green record resulted in color fringes that became visible when objects or scenes were moving.

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Kinemacolor projector used for David Cleveland's and Brian Pritchard's reconstruction. Credit: Brian Pritchard.

13 Images in 3 Galleries

Predecessor of Kinemacolor

1906

|

George Albert Smith

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“Then we come upon the name of George Albert Smith, F.R.A.S., of Laboratory Lodge, Roman Crescent, Southwick, Brighton, who in E.P. 26,671, of 1906, patented the method which eventually was commercialized as Kinemacolor. In this patent he ...

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3M Posi-Tone

1965

|

Gasparcolor, 3M Company

Subtractive 3 color: dye destruction process, silver dye-bleach, still photography

“In 1956, after the failure of the French venture, Gaspar resumed his own production of printing materials and chemicals (Koshofer 1981a). In the late 1950s he entered into an agreement with 3M Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, to explore the ...

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Lippmann

1891

|

Gabriel Lippmann

Direct color photography: Interference, still photography

“In 1891, Professor Gabriel Lippmann demonstrated to the French Académie des Sciences interference colour photographs of the spectrum and of stained glass windows, taken by a modification of Wiener’s method. An exceedingly fine grained, ...

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Source: Coe, Brian (1978): Colour Photography. The First Hundred Years 1840-1940. London: Ash & Grant.
Source: Lavédrine, Bertrand (2009): Photographs of the Past. Process and Preservation. Los Angeles: Getty Publications.
Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 19.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.

5 Images

Crosene Process

1935

|

Gabriel G. Moreno (Crosene Corp.)

Additive 4 color: Bi-pack, substandard

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Jos-Pé

1924

|

G. Koppmann

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“Invented by G. Koppmann and introduced in Hamburg in 1924 by the German financier Josef-Peter Welker, from whom the product took its name (Wall and Jordan 1940: 330), Jos-Pé was a complete color system that included a one-exposure camera, ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 135.

1 Image

Lee and Turner

1899

|

Frederick Marshall Lee and Edward Raymond Turner

Additive 3 color: Rotary filter

“Frederick Marshall Lee, of Walton, and Edward Raymond Turner, of Hounslow, to whom is usually accorded the credit of achieving the first practical results in additive projection. Their experimental work was financed by Charles Urban, a ...

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„Their projector […] used three lenses and a special filter wheel which enabled every frame of the film to be projected three times in succession through the appropriate filter as it passed through the triple frame projector aperture. Although it eventually led to the Kinemacolor two colour process, the Lee and Turner patent was not successful“. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
"The First Color Moving Pictures", from the YouTube channel of the National Media Museum. [quote id="1"]
Lee Turner projector in the Media History Museum in Bradford.
„In 1899 Lee and Turner obtained a patent for a three colour process of cinematography requiring a single lens camera […] making a recurring sequence of red green and blue exposures through a rotating filter cum shutter“. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
„In 1899 Lee and Turner obtained a patent for a three colour process of cinematography requiring a single lens camera […] making a recurring sequence of red green and blue exposures through a rotating filter cum shutter“. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
„Their projector […] used three lenses and a special filter wheel which enabled every frame of the film to be projected three times in succession through the appropriate filter as it passed through the triple frame projector aperture. Although it eventually led to the Kinemacolor two colour process, the Lee and Turner patent was not successful“. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
National Media Museum, UK. Lee and Turner Colour Projector, 1902.
Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.
Illustration of the process from National Media Museum's short documentary.
38 mm positive of the Lee Turner film showing the three b/w images for the three color records. Credit: Brian Pritchard.

16 Images in 1 Gallery

Gilmore Color

1918

|

Frederic Eugene Ives and Otto C. Gilmore

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“Gilmore’s two-color additive process was based on a patent granted to F. E. Ives in 1918. A unique optical system exposed two images in pairs, and quarter-turned them lengthwise side by side on standard 35 mm film stock. One of the images was ...

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Source: U.S.P. 1,262,954 (Ives, Frederic Eugene; filed Feb. 18, 1914; granted Apr. 16, 1918)

1 Image

Hicrography / Hicrome

1915

|

Frederic Eugene Ives

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“In 1915 the company launched a hybrid dye imbibition color printing system called Hicrography.9 From the separation negatives, positive impressions were made through the base on the presensitized dichromated film (Hicro Film), which also ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 134.

1 Image

Iriscolor

1940

|

Franz Noack, Georg Muschner, Gotthardt Wolf (MWN-group)

Subtractive 3 color: Beam-splitter camera, imbibition printing

Similar to Technicolor, the Iriscolor process needed a special beam-splitter camera for exposing three black-and-white negatives on Kodak film stock. These negatives were used for imbibition printing. Between 1940 and 1942, Tobis Tonbild-Syndikat AG ...

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Donisthorpe

1913

|

Frank Wordsworth Donisthorpe

|

England

Additive two color process: rotating filters and toning

The film is recorded through alternating red and green filters, creating two color separations. After development, the print is placed in two alternating dye-baths, toning the blacks green and the whites red. Additionally, a black-and-white copy is ...

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Chromatone

1935

|

Francis H. Snyder, Henry W. Rimbach, Defender Photo Supply Company

Subtractive 3 color: silver toning, still photography

“Chromatone was the first commercially viable process of color print making entirely based on silver toning. It was developed in the early 1930s by the New Yorkers Francis H. Snyder and Henry W. Rimbach, who patented the toning methods and ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 282.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 283.

2 Images

Procédé Colombier

1908

|

F. de Colombier

Subtractive 3 color: Tri-pack

“M. F. de Colombier appears to have been the first to suggest the application of this system to cinematography, and like so many French patents it is a little indefinite in phraseology. Three films were employed representing the same view and ...

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Dye Imbibition Process

1875

|

Ernest Edwards

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

1 Image

Roncarolo

1932

|

Emilio Roncarolo

|

Italy

Subtractive 2, 3 or 4 color: Beam-splitter and bi-pack, later dye-transfer

The Roncarolo system required a camera capable of recording two panchromatic negatives (which became three or four in subsequent patents) through the use of a beam splitter and red and green filters. The chromatic information registered on the two or ...

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Wolff-Heide

1924

|

Emil Wolff-Heide

|

Germany

additive three-color: Integrated filters and rotary filter

Much like many other additive processes, the Wolff-Heide system was based on three black and white color separations printed consecutively on one film strip and projected through a rotary filter attached to the projector. However, the biggest ...

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Busch Farbenfilm

1926

|

Emil Busch (Busch, Rathenow)

|

Germany

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter, red-green

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Credit: Gert Koshofer Collection. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.

5 Images in 1 Gallery

Polacolor Instant Photography

1963

|

Edwin Land

instant still photography

“Polacolor was commercialized in 1963 and became an immediate success. It was acclaimed as the “most outstanding single advance in photographic science made during this century” (Crawley 1963). Indeed, Polacolor introduced important new ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 258.

4 Images

Caille

1907

|

Edmond-Charles-Guislain Caille

|

France

Additive three-color: line screen, still photography

Process for still photography in which light is filtered through a screen or transparent plate covered in lines or dots in the primary colors orange, green and violet. For the positive, the process relies on a support material which includes an ...

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Eastman Ektachrome 7251

1981

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, high speed, color reversal, 16mm, daylight

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Eastman Color Print Film 5384 / 7384

1981

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color High Speed Negative Film 7292

1985

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Print Film 5381 (1950)

1950

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

Not to be confused with the Eastman Color Print Film 5381 / 7381 from 1970.

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Eastman Color Internegative Film 5243

1952

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Internegative Film 5245

1953

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Print Film 5382 / 7382

1953

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Television Recording Film 5374 / 7374

1955

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Reversal Color Print Film Type 5269 / 7387

1956

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, reversal

Eastman Kodak reversal film duplication stock for (semi)professional use. Replaced Type 5265. Type 7387 introduced in 1964 as improved version. Difficult to see the difference (BL).

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Eastman Color Internegative Film 5270 / 7270

1956

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Intermedeate Film 5253

1956

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Print Film 7383

1959

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Print Film 5385 / 7385

1962

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman RP Negative Film 7229

1963

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Reversal Print Film 7387

1964

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, reversal, 16 mm

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Eastman Color Print Film 5744

1967

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Print Film 7380

1967

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 16mm

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Eastman Direct MP Film 5360 / 7360

1968

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Reversal Intermedeate Film 5249 / 7249

1968

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, reversal

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Eastman Color SP Print Film 5383 / 7383

1974

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color SP Low Contrast (minus 25%) Print Film 5738 / 7738

1977

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color LF Print Film 7378

1979

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 16mm

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Eastman Color LFSP Film 7379

1979

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 16mm

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Eastman Color II Negative, type 5247 / 7247 F

1980

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color II Internegative Film 5272 / 7272 S

1980

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Negative Film 7291

1983

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 100 ASA

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Eastman Color LC Print Film 5380 / 7380

1983

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Fine Grain Release Positive Film 5302 / 7302

1988

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman EXR 100T Color Negative Film 7248

1989

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 16mm

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Eastman EXR 50D Color Negative Film 5245 / 7245

1989

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman EXR 500T Color Negative Film 5296

1989

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman EXR 100T Color Negative Film 5248

1990

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 100 ASA

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Eastman EXR 500T Color Negative Film 7296

1990

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 16mm

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Eastman EXR Color Intermediate Film 5244 / 7244

1992

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman EXR 200T Color Negative Film 5293 / 7293

1992

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Experimental Eastman Separation Film (5238)

1992

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman EXR Color Print Film 5386 / 7386

1993

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color LC Print Film 5385 / 7385

1993

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman EXR 500T 5298 / 7298 (T)

1994

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman EXR 200T 5287 / 7287 Ultra Latitude (W)

1994

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 200 ASA

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Eastman EXR Primetime 640T Teleproduction Film 5600 (P)

1995

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 650 ASA

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Kodak Vision 320T Color Negative Film 5277 / 7277 (Q)

1996

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 320 ASA

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Kodak Vision 500T Color Negative Film 5279 / 7279 (U)

1996

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Eastman Color Intermediate Film 5253 / 7253

1968

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Internegative Film 5271 / 7271

1968

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Color Print Film 5381 / 7381 (1970)

1970

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

Not to be confused with the Eastman Color Print Film 5381 from 1950.

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Eastman Color Print Film 5281 / 7281

1950

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Eastman Panchromatic Separation Film 5216

1951

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Black and white panchromatic film: Three-color separation positives from color negatives

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Eastman Panchromatic Separation Film 5235

1956

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Black and white panchromatic film: Three-color separation positives from color negatives

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Kodak Vision 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246

1997

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, daylight, 250 ASA

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Kodak Vision 200T Color Negative Film 5274 / 7274

1997

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 200 ASA

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Eastman Special Order Print Film SO-886

1997

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak Vision Color Print Film 2383

1997

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak Vision Premiere Color Print Film 2393

1997

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak Vision 800T Color Negative Film 5289

1998

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 800 ASA

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Kodak Vision Color Intermediate Film 2242 / 3242

1998

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak Vision 800T Color Negative Film 7289

1999

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 16mm, Tungsten, 800 ASA

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Kodak Panchromatic Separation Film 2238

1999

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Black and white panchromatic film: Three-color separation positives from color negatives

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Kodak Vision "Expression" 500T Color Negative Film 5284 / 7284

2001

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Kodak Vision 500T Color Negative Film 5263 / 7263

2002

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Kodak Vision2 500T Color Negative Film 5218 / 7218

2002

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 35 mm, 16 mm, 8 mm, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Kodak Vision2 "Expression" 500T Color Negative Film 5229 / 7229

2003

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Kodak Vision2 250D Color Negative Film 5205 / 7205

2004

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, daylight, 250 ASA

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Kodak Vision2 100T Color Negative Film 5212 / 7212

2004

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak Vision2 200T Color Negative Film 5217 / 7217

2004

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 35 mm, 16 mm, 8 mm, Tungsten, 200 ASA

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Kodak Vision2 50D Color Negative Film 5201 / 7201

2005

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, daylight, 50 ASA

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Kodak Vision2 "HD Color Scan Film" 500T Color Negative Film 5299 / 7299

2005

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Kodak Vision3 500T Color Negative Film 5219 / 7219

2007

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Kodak Vision2 500T Color Negative Film 5260

2009

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, Tungsten, 500 ASA

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Kodak Vision3 250D Color Negative Film 5207 / 7207

2009

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, daylight, 250 ASA

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Kodak Vision3 Color Digital Intermediate Film 5254 / 2254

2009

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak Vision3 50D Color Negative Film 5203 / 7203

2011

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, daylight, 50 ASA

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Kodak Color Asset Protection Film 2332

2012

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak Vision3 Digital Separation Film 2237

2012

|

Eastman Kodak Company

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Eastman Color Intermediate Film 2244

1992

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak EXR Primetime 640T Teleproduction Film 5620 / 7620

1997

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Kodak SFX 200T Color Negative Film

1998

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack, 35 mm

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Eastman EXR Color Print Film 2386 / 3386

1994

|

Eastman Kodak Company

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Dufaytissue

1941

|

Dufay-Chromex Limited of London

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“Dufaytissue materials, marketed by Dufay-Chromex Limited of London between 1941 and 1948, resembled Belcolor and were used to produce color prints by contact. After they had been sensitized and dried, the pigment films were exposed by contact ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 89.

1 Image

Defender Pan-Chroma-Relief

1942

|

Defender Photo Supply Company

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“In 1942 Defender Photo Supply Company of Rochester, New York, introduced a panchromatic matrix film called Pan-Chroma-Relief Film, which simplified the making of dye imbibition prints from original Kodachrome or Ansco Color transparencies.20 ...

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Cinefotocolor

1948

|

Daniel Aragonés (Laboratorio Cinefoto de Barcelona)

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack

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Cinecolor additive 2 color / Cinecolour

1925

|

D. Daponte, S.J. Cox, Adam Hilger Ltd. and J.H. Dowell (Cinecolor)

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter, substandard

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Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.
Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.

2 Images

Colorsnap, Colorol

1929

|

Colour Snapshots Ltd.

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“In 1929 the London firm Colour Snapshots Limited introduced Colorsnap, a printing service based on the dye imbibition process for a tripack roll film called Colorsnap and manufactured by Ilford Ltd. (Monopolies Commission 1966).11 The tripack ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 137.

1 Image

Americolor

1947

|

Color Film Company of America

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, duplitized

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Cinechrome

1914

|

Colin Benett (Cinechrome Ltd.)

Additive 2 color: Prism, rotary filter, double-sized film

“[…] pictures were taken side by side, full-size, on double-width film, the film not only being perforated on the edges but also down the centre between the pairs of images.” (Klein, Adrian Bernhard = Cornwell-Clyne (1940): Colour ...

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Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger. Film: Cinechrome Colour Test with Soap Boxes and Packets (1920)
Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger. Film: Cinechrome Colour Test with Soap Boxes and Packets (1920)
Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger. Film: Cinechrome Colour Test with Soap Boxes and Packets (1920)

3 Images

Finlay

1929

|

Clare L. Finlay

Additive 3 color: Regular mosaic screen, still photography

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 70.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 70.
Photomicrograph (20x) of a Finlay screen. Credit: Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film.
Finlay box. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 39.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 39.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 40.

9 Images in 1 Gallery

Finlay Positive Color Screen / Finlaychrome

ca. 1933

|

Clare L. Finlay

Additive 3 color: regular mosaic screen, combined system, still photography

“The launching of a combined version of the product called Finlaychrome was announced in 1931 but was still unavailable three years later; it is unclear if it was ever marketed.28 Instead, it seems that the company produced a viewing screen ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 39.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 40.

3 Images

Cibachrome 1963, after 1991 renamed Ilfochrome

1963

|

Ciba

Subtractive 3 color: dye destruction process, silver dye-bleach, still photography

“The materials and processes described thus far have been either unsuccessful or short-lived for one reason or another; the trend changed with the launch of Cibachrome in the 1960s. The product and its subsequent forms dominated the silver ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 216.

1 Image

Mondiacolor

1955

|

Chevalier

Additive 3 color: Mosaic screen

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Proposal of a variety of processes of three-color photography

1869

|

Charles Cros

Theory

Description of a variety of color processes, even for images in motion by the use of a rotary shutter.

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Hydrotypie / Hydrotype

1880

|

Charles Cros

Subtractive 3 color: Dye transfer, still photography

“In the imbibition process, a dye image is transferred from a gelatin relief image to a receiving layer made either of paper or film. Charles Cros described this method of ‘hydrotypie’ transfer printing in 1880 and suggested it ...

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ArchivalColor

1982

|

Charles Berger, McGraw Colorgraph

Subtractive 4 color: pigment process, still photography

“In the early 1980s photographers frustrated by the poor stability of dye coupling materials started to experiment with pigment processes. Among them was Charles Berger, a California-based fine art photographer who, in 1982, developed a modern ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 93.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 94.

2 Images

Duplex Screen Plate

1926

|

Charles Baker, Wellington and Ward Company

Additive 3 color: regular mosaic screen, still photography

“Paget plates were discontinued in the early 1920s. Apparently production costs had risen to an almost prohibitive amount after World War I due to the difficulties of producing screen plates without defect (Offer 1926). The product reemerged ...

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Dunning Color

1937

|

Carroll H. Dunning

Subtractive 3 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated

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Bocca-Rudatis

1933

|

Carlo Bocca, Domenico Rudatis, (Luigi Amati)

|

Italy

Additive 3 color: lenticular screen

The procedure for obtaining the lenticular elements in relief required a series of steps: starting from three black and white positive color separations, obtained with any of the available methods, three matrices were printed, from which the film to ...

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Projection of lenticular film in Bocca-Rudatis. Refraction of light beams through lens. Source: Pierotti, Federico (2016): Un'archeologia del colore nel cinema italiano. Dal Technicolor ad Antonioni. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, p. 81.

1 Image

Dye coupling

1907

|

Benno von Homolka (Farbwerke Hoechst)

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

“One of the most elegant solutions to the problem of forming a colored image, lies in the utilization of the products formed by the action of the developer upon the latent image. By this means there is formed a dye image whose intensity follows ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 161.

1 Image

Jumeaux/Davidson

1903

|

Benjamin Jumeaux and W. L. Davidson

Additive 3 color: Prism

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Wall, E.J. (1925): The History of Three-color Photography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.

2 Images

Gasparcolor Opaque

1944

|

Bela Gaspar; manufactured by Ansco (1944-46)

Subtractive 3 color: dye destruction process, silver dye-bleach, still photography

“In 1944 he launched a new reflection printing material on a white-pigmented acetate base called Gasparcolor Opaque, which was, initially and for the duration of the war, available only to the U.S. military. The processing of Gasparcolor Opaque ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 228.

2 Images

Gasparcolor OR Gaspar Color

1933

|

Béla Gaspar (Gasparcolor Naturwahre Farbenfilm GmbH, Berlin)

Subtractive 3 color: Silver dye-bleach multilayer print film

Gasparcolor was the first three-color multi-layer monopack film available for practical use. It was a double-coated print film with a cyan layer on one side and two layers dyed magenta and yellow on the other side (see illustrations).

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Uit het rijk der kristallen (NDL 1927?, J.C. Mol). Credit: EYE Film Museum. Photographs of the Dufaycolor and Gasparcolor nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
Kreise (English title Circles) (Oskar Fischinger, GER 1933-34) Oskar Fischinger's own nitrate print. Credit: Library of Congress, (c) Fischinger Trust, courtesy Center for Visual Music. Photograph Fischinger's own nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: (c) Fischinger Trust, courtesy Center for Visual Music. Film: Allegretto by Oskar Fischinger (1936-1943).
Credit: (c) Fischinger Trust, courtesy Center for Visual Music. Film: Gasparcolor tests by Oskar Fischinger, c. 1933-34.
Credit: Cinémathèque suisse. Film: Komposition in Blau (Composition in Blue) AKA Lichtkonzert Nr. 1 (Light-Concert No. 1) (GER 1935, Oskar Fischinger).
Credit: Cinémathèque suisse. © Fischinger Trust, courtesy Center for Visual Music. Film: Komposition in Blau (Composition in Blue) AKA Lichtkonzert Nr. 1 (Light-Concert No. 1) (GER 1935, Oskar Fischinger).
Credit: Cinémathèque suisse. © Fischinger Trust, courtesy Center for Visual Music. Film: Komposition in Blau (Composition in Blue) AKA Lichtkonzert Nr. 1 (Light-Concert No. 1) (GER 1935, Oskar Fischinger).
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Color chart on Agfa Tripofilm. This was the raw stock used for Gasparcolor in Germany until about 1939. Source: Arens, Hans; Heymer, Gerd (1939): Die „Agfa-Farbentafel für Farbenphotographie“. In: Veröffentlichungen des wissenschaftlichen Zentral-Laboratoriums der photographischen Abteilung Agfa, Vol. 6, 1939, pp. 225-229. Leipzig: Hirzel. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 213.

398 Images in 24 Galleries

Autotype Wet Carbon

1944

|

Autotype Company

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“Introduced by the Autotype Company in 1944, the Autotype Wet Carbon Process was a variant of the traditional carbon process with novelty wet-printing pigment papers. Considerable time was saved when printing with this material as the pigment ...

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Autochrome

1907

|

Auguste and Louis Lumière

Additive 3 color: Mosaic screen, still photography

“The Autochrome process was the first fully practical single-plate colour process to reach the photographic public. It was easy to use. The plate was loaded into a conventional holder, glass to the front. The exposure was made through a yellow ...

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Photomicrograph (50x) of an Autochrome mosaic screen. Credit: Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film.
Source: Lavédrine, Bertrand (2009): Photographs of the Past. Process and Preservation. Los Angeles: Getty Publications.
Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
Source: Holme, Charles (1908): Colour Photography, and Other Recent Developments of the Art of the Camera. London, Paris, New York.: Offices of The Studio.
Source: Holme, Charles (1908): Colour Photography, and Other Recent Developments of the Art of the Camera. London, Paris, New York.: Offices of The Studio.
Credit: Klosterarchiv Einsiedeln. http://www.klosterarchiv.ch/earchiv_liste.php?Objektyp_physisch=Glasautochrom&start=1
Credit: Klosterarchiv Einsiedeln. http://www.klosterarchiv.ch/earchiv_liste.php?Objektyp_physisch=Glasautochrom&start=1
Credit: Klosterarchiv Einsiedeln. http://www.klosterarchiv.ch/earchiv_liste.php?Objektyp_physisch=Glasautochrom&start=1
Credit: Klosterarchiv Einsiedeln. http://www.klosterarchiv.ch/earchiv_liste.php?Objektyp_physisch=Glasautochrom&start=1
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 70.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 26.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 65.
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 27.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 235.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 64.

16 Images

Autochrome film / Cinécolor

1928

|

Auguste and Louis Lumière

|

France

Additive 3 color: Mosaic screen

Several attempts were made to apply the Autochrome process invented by the Lumière brothers to motion pictures. Transparent potato starch grains with a diameter of 15–20 micrometer were colored in the additive primaries red, green and blue. The ...

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Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Cinécolor, mosaic screen, ca. 1929. Credit: Gert Koshofer Collection. Sample No. 68. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.

27 Images in 2 Galleries

Colorgraph / Cinecolorgraph

1912

|

Arturo Hernandez-Mejia

Subtractive 2 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated film

“The principle of the subtractive colour process was described first by Louis Ducos du Hauron in 1868. Although eminently suitable for colour motion pictures, the principle could not be applied until means were found of producing several colour ...

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Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press, p. 67.

1 Image

Traube / Uvachrome

1922

|

Arthur Traube (Uvachrom)

Subtractive 3 color: Mordanting, dye transfer, wash-off relief, still photography

“In the imbibition process, a dye image is transferred from a gelatin relief image to a receiving layer made either of paper or film. Charles Cros described this method of ‘hydrotypie’ transfer printing in 1880 and suggested it ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 103.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 277.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 138.

3 Images

Traube / Diachromie

1906

|

Arthur Traube

Subtractive 3 color: Mordant toning, still photography

“In the imbibition process, a dye image is transferred from a gelatin relief image to a receiving layer made either of paper or film. Charles Cros described this method of “hydrotypie” transfer printing in 1880 and suggested it ...

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Kingston Process

191?

|

Arthur Kingston

|

England

Additive three color process: rotary filters

Three black-and-white color separations were printed consecutively on one film strip and projected through the corresponding color filters, thus combining to one color image on screen.

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Theory of three-color photography

1897

|

Arthur Freiherr von Hübl

Theory

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Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Three-Colour Photography. Three-Colour Printing and the Production of Photographic Pigment Pictures in Natural Colours. London: W.A. Penrose.
Source: Hübl, Arthur Freiherr von (1904): Die Dreifarbenphotographie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Dreifarbendruckes und der photographischen Pigmentbilder in natürlichen Farben. Halle a. S.: Druck und Verlang von Wilhelm Knapp. Photograph by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

11 Images

Auto Natural Color / Bernardi

1925

|

Anthony Bernardi and P.L. Burger

Additive 3 color: Beam-splitter, substandard

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Raycol

1929

|

Anthony Bernardi (Raycol Ltd.)

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter, sawn-off lens

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Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.

13 Images in 1 Gallery

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

1943

|

Ansco, GAF

Subtractive 3 color: dye coupling or chromogenic process, still photography

“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 ...

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