Ziatype

Ziatype prints exhibit rich dark tones and virtually unlimited color combinations from cool to warm. Zia's are a variation on traditional palladium process but offer many advantages in ease of use, and greater flexibility & potential for experimentation than platinum/palladium printing. 

The first part of this class focuses on creating appropriate negatives for the Ziatype process and curves will be shared. After negatives have been generated, we will calculate drops of chemistry and mix the sensitizer, followed by a demonstration of coating technique. Then practice prints will be made using the coated paper which will be sandwiched with the negative in your contact printing frame and exposed. You will learn to process your exposed prints. 

Additional topics covered will include adjusting for contrast with chemistry and warm or cool tone effects.

Materials List Required

• 1 Ziatype chemistry kit from Bostick & Sullivan available here.
• A split back contact printing frame
• A quality brush for coating roughly 2 ½ inches wide
• Some paper for coating your sensitizer. Hahnemühle platinum rag is highly recommended. Available here. 
• Pictorico transparency for printing negatives or your own analog film negatives. This is a contact printing process so your image will be the same size as your negative.
• Several trays for processing big enough to fit your paper. Glass baking dishes will work if you don’t have photo trays.
• Gloves, tongs, a shot glass for mixing sensitizer. Glass for brushes. Distilled water. Pencils for making notes on back of paper. Citric acid if you have it.
• You don’t need a full-on darkroom but will need a dim room and running water for rinsing. I suggest a room you can make as light tight as you can and a string of Christmas lights or dim bulb.  
• You will also need a laptop or desktop computer with your choice of photo editing software and access to a printer for generating your negatives.  
• Also helpful to have on hand is a blow dryer and a small clothes steamer.Exposures can be made using the sun or a UV light box.