Free downloads of alt. photo. proc. books

Free books on alternative photographic processes you can download. Whole books – or parts of books – generously given by authors.

Book on alternative photographic processes for free
A NON-SILVER MANUAL Cyanotype, Vandyke Brown, Palladium & Gum Bichromate with instructions for making light-resists including pinhole photography

A NON-SILVER MANUAL Cyanotype, Vandyke Brown, Palladium & Gum Bichromate with instructions for making light-resists including pinhole photography

by Sarah Van Keuren

Sarah Van Keuren’s book with lots of ideas for workshops and on a wide range of alternative photographic processes.
Download the entire book free
Or read all of it free online here

 
Books on cyanotypes for free
Mike Ware's book cyanomicon about cyanotypes

Cyanomicon – History, Science and Art of Cyanotype: photographic printing in Prussian blue

by Mike Ware

From Mike Ware: “This book engages with the history, aesthetics, practice, conservation, and chemistry of the cyanotype medium. With over 800 references to the original literature and the WWW, I hope it may serve as a useful resource for photohistorians, curators and conservators of photographs, and students of the art-science of siderotype: print-making with iron-based photochemistry. This work includes full practical instructions in the various processes of cyanotype. It also incorporates accounts of some contemporary scholarship on the medium as art, and discusses a number of issues about the practice that are currently being raised with increasing frequency in those alternative process online forums where it receives interest.”
Download the book from Mike Ware’s website

 

Cyanotype workshop compendium

Cyanotype workshop compendium

by Malin Fabbri

Free compendium for workshops with children using pre coated papers.
Get the English version free here
Get the Swedish version free here

 

Cyanotype workshop compendium

Cyanotype guide

by Angela Chalmers

Free guide to cyanotypes.
Get it free here

 
Book on collodion photography for free
Will Dunniway The Collodion Photographer

The Wet Collodion Plate: 16 Steps To Making The Plates

by Will Dunniway

Will Dunniway – a veteran collodion printer – his widow gives away his book.
Download the book here.

 
Book on conservation language for free
Lingua Franca: A Common Language for Conservators of Photographic Materials

Lingua Franca: A Common Language for Conservators of Photographic Materials

by Library and Archives Canada (LAC), in collaboration with the Atelier de Restauration et de Conservation des Photographies de la Ville de Paris

For conservators of photographic material. It contains bilingual definitions of photographic processes, condition issues, treatment options, preventative care and technical studies. It also provides commonly used terms briefly defined and illustrated with photographs, videos and interactive features such as links to collection items, podcasts, videos, blogs and Flickr albums.
Download from iTunes or read as html here.

 
Book on gum bichromates for free
Gum Bichromate Pigment Printing v.1.03

Gum Bichromate Pigment Printing v.1.03

by Norman Breslow

Norman Breslow’s e-book on Gum Bichromate Pigment Printing with us. Free to download, free to pass on.
Get the book for free (630 kb)

 
Books on history, deterioration and conservation for free
Mike Wares book on argyrotypes

Argyronomicon Silver Photographs on Paper: Chemical History of their Invention, Deterioration, and Conservation

by Mike Ware

From Mike Ware: “This is a compilation of my writings on silver photography published over the last twenty-five years; they divide naturally into four categories:

  • the pre-history of the invention, including other materials and motives;
  • the development of silver photography on paper, negative and positive;
  • the vulnerability and conservation of historic silver paper photographs;
  • the photochemistry of Talbot’s salted paper and calotype processes.

Included is an updated version of my 1994 Science Museum publication: ‘Mechanisms of Image Deterioration in Early Photographs’ – long out of print. These four sections, comprising 23 chapters over 273 pages, include 750 references to the original literature.”
Download the book from Mike Ware’s website

 
Notebooks – free for ALL members
Anthotype notes

Anthotype notes – Document your anthotype process

by Malin Fabbri

Notebook contains pre-defined pages with enough room to document 50 anthotypes free for Supporting Members.
Find out how to get the notebook.

 

Cyanotype Notes - Document your cyanotype process

Cyanotype notes – Document your cyanotype process

by Malin Fabbri

Notebook contains pre-defined pages with enough room to document 50 cyanotype free for Supporting Members.
Find out how to get the notebook.

 
Book on pinholes for free
Romano Bumburumbum picture book – in pinhole

Romano Bumburumbum picture book – in pinhole

by Marta Kotlarska

Romano Bumburumbum picture book of pinholes.
Get the book for free

 
Books on platinum and palladium for free
Mike Wares book Platinomicon about platinum and palladium

Platinomicon – A Technical History of Photographic Printing in Platinum and Palladium

by Mike Ware

From Mike Ware: “This account of the underlying chemistry and historical practice of the platinum and palladium printing processes has been compiled on the basis of my 36 years experience with the medium. Its writing was initiated in 2010 by my appointment as a scientific consultant to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Over the ensuing six years, the NGA became the hub of a wide-ranging, inter-institutional research collaboration by curators, conservators, photographers and scientists, that culminated in an International Symposium in 2014, the proceedings of which – greatly extended – were published in 2017 as Platinum and Palladium Photographs: Technical History, Connoisseurship, and Preservation, with 46 contributors, edited by Constance McCabe, under the aegis of the Photographic Materials Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.”
Download the book from Mike Ware’s website

 
Free magazines or parts of magazines on alternative photographic processes
8 bit step wedge

8 bit step wedge

by Christina Z. Anderson

To go with the digital negative system in Christina Z. Anderson’s book Gum Printing and Other AMAZING Contact Printing Processes.
Download a 8 bit step wedge free (Photoshop format).

 

Diffusion magazine – unconventional photography, volume 1, 2009

Diffusion magazine – unconventional photography, volume 1, 2009

Diffusion magazine – unconventional photography. Download all of the first issue.
Get issue I for free

 

Diffusion magazine – unconventional photography, volume II, 2010

Diffusion magazine – unconventional photography, volume II, 2010

Diffusion magazine – unconventional photography. Download articles:
Read the article “The world of plate photography” for free
Read the article “Adventures with multi-pinhole cameras” for free

 

The World Journal of Post-Factory Photography issue 1

The World Journal of Post-Factory Photography issue 1

by Judy Seigel

The first issue of Judy Seigel’s brilliant series of journals.
Get Issue 1 for free

 
Extracts and parts of books on cyantypes
Alternative Photography Processes - A worker's guide

Alternative Photography Processes – A worker’s guide

by Mark Eshbaugh

The chapter on cyanotypes is available here.
Get the cyanotype chapter for free

 

Blueprint to cyanotpes - Exploring a historical alternantive photographic process

Blueprint to cyanotpes – Exploring a historical alternantive photographic process

by Malin Fabbri

An extract from the beginners book Blueprint to cyanotpes – Exploring a historical alternantive photographic process of the first section of the book.
Get the first 22 pages for free

 
Extracts and part of a book on carbon printing
The Carbon print

The Carbon print

by Sandy King adn John Lockhart

Learn the carbon and carbro print process.
Chapter: Carbon print – getting started
Chapter: Carbon print – process overview
Chapter: Carbon print – A Brief History of Carbon Printing

 
Extracts and part of books on pinhole photography
From pinhole to print - Inspiration, instructions and insights

From pinhole to print – Inspiration, instructions and insights

by Gary Fabbri, Malin Fabbri and Peter Wiklund

Download a chapter from From pinhole to print – Inspiration, instructions and insights the beginner’s book on making pinholes.
Get the chapter “Make a pinhole camera from a can” for free

 

The Pinhole Camera - A practical How-To Book for Making Pinhole Cameras and Images

The Pinhole Camera – A practical How-To Book for Making Pinhole Cameras and Images

by Brian J. Krummel

Download a section from the encyclopeida of pinholing.
Get 35 pages for free

 
Extracts and part of books on fun stuff to do after printing
The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume I: Basic Forms: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step

The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume I: Basic Forms: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step

by Carol Barton

Download a chapter on how to make pop-up cards.
Get a section for free

 

The Pocket Paper Engineer, volume 2

The Pocket Paper Engineer, volume 2

by Carol Barton

Download a chapter on how to make pop-up cards.
Get a section for free

 

14 thoughts on “Free downloads of alt. photo. proc. books”

  1. Thank You So much ,i think ist a great way of sharing Knowlage and intising people to buy a book obce they have read the first few pages and know what they getting ,
    Well done ,i live on a farm 30 miles from a tiny town in South Africa and cant have anything sent here as there is no address so i relay on free information.
    Thanks again and keep up the good work ,

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