STEP 1 CREATE A DIGITAL NEGATIVE
Browse your archive to find images you can present in a new way
Choose your images for cyanotype prints
Select images with plenty of brightness and contrast, which will give you a range of different tones when printing your cyanotype later.
Print out the digital film
I created an A4 page with four smaller images to practise on – you can then move up to bigger negatives. To prevent any smudges when handling the digital contact film, leave a border around each image and the edge of the paper. Make sure your printer is clean and is not likely to run out of ink soon.
Each sheet of digital contact film has two different sides. To find out which is which, wet your finger and tap a corner of the sheet; the ink needs to be printed on the sticky side. Load the film into your printer and send your page to print.
Convert and invert
Open the image in Photoshop or your image editor of choice, convert it to black and white and invert it. In Photoshop, the process is Image > Mode > Greyscale, then Image > Adjustments > Invert. You now have your digital negative.
Dry the film
The negative film will be wet when it emerges from the printer, so to avoid smudging the image, only touch the borders where there is no ink. Now put the digital contact film to one side, as it will need four hours to dry.