Popular Photographic Print Processes: Tintypes (Ferrotypes, Melainotypes, Melanographs)

[Ruben Farwell (right) and an unidentified man]. Tintype, ca. 1860s. LC-DIG-ppmsca-07392

Dates in general use: ca. 1856-1930s

Description: The tintype is similar to the daguerreotype and ambrotype, since it is an image formed directly on a sheet of metal (a positive), and is sometimes found in a case. The sheet of metal serves the same function as the dark material used in ambrotypes to cause the image to appear positive. The image is reversed left-to-right. The tintype was a cheaper alternative to paper prints made from a negative.

Further information and examples

• Prints & Photographs Online Catalog:
  • view online examples
  • Thesaurus for Graphic Materials term: Tintypes [view term - includes related terms
• Graphics Atlas, Image Permanence Institute
  http://www.graphicsatlas.org/identification/?process_id=280

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