Chromolithography

1898

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(Technique adapted from print media and laterna magica)

Applied colors: printing

Widely used in print media around 1900, the chromolithographic printing process was first adapted for the Laterna Magica and then utilized to produce early animated films primarily aimed at children. These films were usually very short ...

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[U-Boot]. Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. Photograph of the chromolithographic nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
Box Der Film fürs Heimkino. Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. iPhone photo by Barbara Flueckiger.
Box "Film for Home Cinema". Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. iPhone photo by Barbara Flueckiger.
Box "Attention! Celluloid Film". Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. iPhone photo by Barbara Flueckiger.
Boxes and loops. Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. iPhone photo by Barbara Flueckiger.
Box and loops. Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. iPhone photo by Barbara Flueckiger.
Film can for Chromolithographic Loop. Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. iPhone photo by Noemi Daugaard, SNSF Filmcolors
Film can for Chromolithographic Loop. Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF. iPhone photo by Noemi Daugaard, SNSF Filmcolors

119 Images in 3 Galleries

Chromogenic film stock

1911

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Rudolf Fischer and Hans Siegrist (Neue Photographische Gesellschaft)

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Chromogenic development

1895

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Raphael E. Liesegang

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic development

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Chromo-Film

1923

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Adolf Hnatek (Chromo-Film Ges. mbH)

Additive 3 color: Double-sized film, rotary filter

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Chromatone

1935

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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

Chromart Tricolor

1950

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Hans von Fraunhofer (Anglo-American Colour Photographic Industries)

Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Chromart Simplex

1950

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Hans von Fraunhofer (Anglo-American Colour Photographic Industries)

Subtractive 2 color: Chromogenic monopack

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Chromal Paper

1914

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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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Chimicolor

1931

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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

Chemicolor / Ufacolor in GB

1932

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, mordant toning

“Chemicoior was the name under which the German Ufacolor Process was marketed in Britain. Ufacolor was also marketed under the name Spectracolor. The process used Agfa bipack negatives loaded with the emulsion sides facing and separated by a ...

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Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions. Film: Pagliacci (1937).

9 Images in 2 Galleries

Carbro-Chromatone

1937

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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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Caille

1907

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Edmond-Charles-Guislain Caille

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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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Busch Farbenfilm

1926

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Emil Busch (Busch, Rathenow)

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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

British Tricolour / Dufaychrome

1946

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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

Brewster

1915

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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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Brewster

1930

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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

Bocca-Rudatis

1933

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Carlo Bocca, Domenico Rudatis, (Luigi Amati)

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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

Biocolour

1911

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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

Biochrom

1914

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S. Prokudin-Gorsky und S. Maximovitch

Additive 3 color: Double-sized film, rotary filter

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Bi-pack

1901

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Adolf A. Gurtner

Subtractive 2 color: bi-pack, still photography

“A. Gurtner (Eng. P. 7924/03; U.S.P. 730454), used a front element that was sensitive only to the blue, and a rear element that was sensitive up to but not including the red. He was the first person to suggest that the two films or plates be ...

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Source: U.S.P. 730454

1 Image

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

1936

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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

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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

Belcolor

ca. 1935

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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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Bassani

1910

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(Société Chromofilm)

Additive 3 color: Successive exposure, 72 fps

“Camera.—An interesting camera has been made by the Société Chromofilm, Paris. An astonishing mechanism moves the entire gate, and film within it, at each exposure, with reference to the normal fixed objective. Three miniature negatives are ...

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

3 Images in 1 Gallery

Autotype Wet Carbon

1944

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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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Autotype Trichrome Carbro

1921

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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

Autotype Dyebro

ca. 1929

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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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Autochrome film / Cinécolor

1928

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Auguste and Louis Lumière

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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

Autochrome

1907

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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.