Albumen print

The albumen print process was a photographic printing method introduced in 1850. It became the dominant positive printing process of the mid-19th century and was closely associated with the wet collodion negative. The process remained dominant until the 1870s, when it was gradually replaced by gelatin silver printing papers.

Albumen printing is a positive process used to produce images from negatives. Albumen, derived from egg white and mixed with salt, was applied as a coating to a support and then sensitised with silver nitrate. Exposure was carried out by contact printing in sunlight, producing a visible image that was later fixed and often toned.

Albumen-on-paper was the most common application. The albumen layer sealed the paper fibres, allowing fine detail from glass negatives to be reproduced with higher sharpness and contrast than earlier salted paper prints. Albumen paper prints typically have a smooth, slightly glossy surface and warm image tones. This format was widely used for paper stereoviews and enabled large-scale commercial production of sharp and detailed stereoviews.

Albumen-on-glass was used to produce transparent positive images. In this case, albumen was coated directly onto a glass plate, creating a fine, detailed image intended for viewing by transmitted light. Albumen-on-glass was used for producing glass stereoviews.

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