Tri-Color Cyanotypes: Advancing the Techniques from Duotone

Building on the foundation of duotone cyanotype, Matthew Bary guides us through the next step – creating tri-colour cyanotypes, including a detailed step-by-step for preparing negatives. Drawing from earlier failed experiments. With emphasis on image selection, precision, and patience, this method reveals how vibrant, multi-layered cyanotypes can be achieved using simple materials and creative problem-solving.

Writer and photography / Matthew Bary

 
My “duo tone” tests and instructions ultimately came from all of the failed experiments I did with tri-color cyanotypes, after which I took it one step at a time to come up with a way to make the due-tone work, and I finally applied all of those lessons to complete the original goal which was the tri-color cyanotype. In order for this to work, you must read all of the articles for the due-tone series, as all of this information is needed to proceed. I am not starting over, as almost everything you need to know is in those articles; instead, I am adding the required steps to go from duotone to tri-colour.
 
The first thing that we must address is the subject matter AGAIN. Yes even with tri-color cyanotypes, just any picture will not do because of the muted colors simply cannot be changed; however, usually with limitations, the best solution is creativity, and you can still make something great.
 
Here are the first-tri color successes.

And here are the original images.

As you can see, even the most colorful image will be muted even with adjustments. Therefore, you must find very colorful images to start out with or, at the very least, find images with good color separations so that they can be adjusted to work.

The first layer is key! 

The first layer must be the magenta layer; there is no way around it due to the way this process works, and what kind of tone that layer is will be the biggest factor in how your print turns out. The toners used can be tannic acid, green tea, black tea, coffee, and anything else that contains tannins; the trick is to find a toning layer that will work the best for your image. The second and third layers of the print are simply an overexposed and bleached layer for yellow, and a diluted solution for the third.

You can only change the brightness of these two colours and with very little exception the intensity of them, the toner used for the magenta layer ultimately decides the fate of the print. 

The toner I use is tannic acid simply because I could buy it in pure form to eliminate that as an issue when I was running all of my tests. It is not the best by any means but using this information as a baseline, you can use anything you want as the toning agent.
 
You can control the intensity of the magenta layer with exposure, toning time and strength of the ferric ammonium citrate, “ example 5% 10% or full 25%”. 
 
The best magenta layer possible is described in  Annette Golaz book Cyanotype Toning using madder roots. Since that is a result of her work and has its own steps I will not go into it other than showing how it looks relative to other toners.
 
Here is a print fully bleached and toned with madder roots. As you can see, it is the closest to magenta available for this process.

 
And finally here are some color representations of different magenta toning processes.

 
As you can see the madder root layer gives a more color accurate tone than the tannic acid but if you look all the way to the left you can see how dull both methods are in comparison to a fully saturated image. Also note that in both processes there will be a slight stain from the magenta layer, this can be mitigated with washing longer and the type of paper used. 
 
One final note before getting into this process is that in addition to “shrinking” your paper it could also be “sized” using a fumed silica treatment described here by Giorgio Bordin, or other methods such as gelatin, gum or albumen sizing. This will intensify the image as well as produce greater detail but can be more susceptible to staining on the magenta layer during toning.  

Negative step by step

The first difference between the tri-color and due-tone method is the negatives, please refer to the due-tone series for how to add a boarder and registration marks. In the tri-color method there are three negatives, Magenta, Yellow and Cyan. The Cyan negative is exactly the same as in the due-tone series however we will be adjusting and saving the Magenta and Yellow layers separately instead of combining them. Just as a reminder what each  red green and blue layer represents for its negative.

• Red layer = Cyan layer
• Green layer = Magenta layer
• Blue layer = Yellow layer

At this point you should refer to the due-tone series on how to make registration marks or use another method if you like.

Now we will separate the image into the three layers.

Now we need to export the image as the Cyan layer to print.

At this point, refer to the section on printing negatives in the due-tone series. Print all three negatives, and you are ready to start the tri-colour process.

First layer of the tri-colour cyanotype – magenta

Refer to the due tone series on “Shrinking the paper” and “Printing the first layer”, as these steps are identical, but here is a brief summary.

1. Shrink paper using hot water, then dry

2. Coat the paper using the 10/10 solution, then dry

• To make from scratch, measure 10 grams of ferric ammonium citrate into a graduated cylinder and add distilled water to make 100 mL of solution. Store in a dark bottle.
• Then measure 10 grams of potassium ferricyanide into a graduated cylinder and add distilled water to make 100 mL of solution. Store in a dark bottle.
• Mix in equal parts and apply to paper.

Mixing cyanotypes from ready-made stock solutions – 10% ferric ammonium citrate and 10% potassium ferricyanide

• To make cyanotypes from already-made stock. Measure equal parts of solution A and distilled water and mix well. This will dilute it to a 10% solution. Store in the dark.
• Leave solution B as is, since it is already mixed to 10%.
• Mix the diluted solution A and undiluted solution B in equal parts and apply to the paper.

3 Register Magenta negative and expose “35 minutes using 80-watt UV lamp”

4. develop/wash print

5. Bleach/wash Print

6. Tone/wash print

7. Dip print in bleach again then wash and dry.

At this point, I would like to point out that you do not have to do all of these steps at once. Because this process has so many steps and wait times, you are not going to be able to do it all at once unless you dedicate a weekend to it. You can split it up into small steps over several days and make it easier to manage. You can shrink/dry the paper one day, then coat and dry another. You can expose your first layer, wash it and let it dry until you are ready; you do not have to bleach and tone right afterwards. You can bleach wash and dry, then tone at a later time. And finally, you can tone wash and dry your first layer, then get back to it whenever is convenient. 

Second layer of the tri-colour cyanotype – yellow

The second layer follows the same steps as the first layer and the same 10/10 formula.

After coating the paper and making sure it is not overcoated, let it sit flat for a few seconds to absorb the solution, then hold it in front of a fan or a hair dryer on cold until it no longer appears “shiny”, then hang it up to dry. 

It is important that you dry it just long enough to have it ready for exposure, 20-45 minutes, as this will help to mitigate the reaction between the first layer containing tannin and the second layer. This interaction if left for too long, will both stain the paper a bluish green and can also cause the toned layer to slightly change to a lighter colour. On the left is a toned print with one side coated to show how it changes colour after coating; this is normal but should not be left for too long. On the right is an image showing the slight stain and colour change from the interaction between the toned layer and the unexposed layer.

The next key point on the second layer, “yellow layer”, is that a bleached print is very light and needs to be a much darker yellow to work. This is accomplished by exposing the second layer for 2 to 3 times the amount of the first layer. So, for example, the first layer was exposed for 35 minutes, and if I expose the second one for 2.5 times the first, I have to expose the second one for about 87 minutes. The image will appear overexposed during development, but after bleaching, it will be a nice yellow. So register the yellow negative over the first layer, expose longer than the first layer, develop, then bleach, rinse and dry.
 
Below the yellow layer looks like on its own, and what it will look like with the first layer.

You are now ready for the third layer and final step!

Third of the tri-colour cyanotype – cyan

The third layer has one change: it is the same 10/10 mixture from layers 1 and 2, but it is diluted with an equal amount of distilled water. This halves the image density of the cyan layer for better control.

• Measure 1 part of diluted solution A from the first layer and 1 part of solution B, and mix well.
• Dilute the mixed A and B with an equal amount of distilled water and mix well. This dilutes the 10% solution from layer 1 to 5%.
• Apply to the paper.

Coat the image with the 10/10 diluted solution, then allow to sit flat for a few seconds to absorb, then repeat the same procedure as layer 2, dry with a fan or hair dryer on cold until it is no longer shiny, then hang it to dry. Once again, to prevent to much interaction with the first layer, don’t wait too long after drying to expose.
 
Register the CYAN negative and expose for the same amount of time as the first layer, “30-35 minutes with 80-watt floodlight”.

At this point, you are ready to develop the final layer. Develop the print and hang to dry. It is always a good idea to let the print sit for a week or two, as the colours will make their final shift during this period.

Below is the Cyan layer on its own and the final three-layer image.
 

I am happy with the way this print turned out even though you can see a little parallax from where one of the negatives was not registered correctly.

I hope this information helps someone to try this out, even though it is a long process.

See also Matthew Bary’s 7-part Duotone cyanotype series:

• Duotone cyanotypes #1 – Many failed attempts
• Duotone cyanotypes #2 – Pick your subject
• Duotone cyanotypes #3 – Make negatives using GIMP
• Duotone cyanotypes #4 – Print the negative
• Duotone cyanotypes #5 – Shrink the paper
• Duotone cyanotypes #6 – Print the first layer
• Duotone cyanotypes #7 – Print the final layer

Enjoy!

Matthew Bary is a self-taught photographer (spending more time on printmaking than actual photography). He got into alternative photography five years ago and is amazed at all of the processes and innovations done with very old techniques. Matthew Bary lives in Corydon, Indiana, USA and often photographs his local surroundings. See Matthew Bary’s gallery here.