Guide to Early Photographic Formats

This guide defines various photographic formats from 1840-1920, providing examples from the Trent University Archives

A black and whitte photograph of a man, woman, and child, inside a frame with yellow, goldish and red matting.

Daguerreotype

A very beautiful photographic process through which a positive image is produced on a thin copper plate with a highly-polished silver coating. Daguerreotypes are usually placed in a sealed package with a piece of glass and enclosed in a hinged leather shell. This process was first developed in 1839 and was popular from 1840 to 1860.   

 

 

 

 

A folded frame is opened up to show a photograph of a young person in a coat, with gold around the photograph

Ambrotype

This photographic process consists of a silver image in a collodion binder on an opaque, non-reflective support (unlike daguerreotypes). While placed on a black background surface, these always exhibit a positive image irrespective of the angle of view. They are often placed in hinged cases similar to daguerreotypes. The ambrotype process was patented in 1854. They were popular until 1865. 

 

 

A black adn white photograph of a man, woman, and two children posing in what looks like the 19th century.

Tintype

First made in 1856, these images are easy to identify by their metal support (iron, not tin). They were a very common photographic product for over 50 years. The image was produced through a collodion emulsion process directly exposed in the camera, hence, there is no negative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matted photograph of a woman standing by a fireplace and a spinning wheel in what looks to be the 19th century

Albumen Prints

Early paper negatives produced prints which were commonly identified by the type of emulsion used. Albumen prints used a very thin paper and were usually pasted onto a card backing to prevent curling. This method of photo printing was invented in 1850 and was the most popular of all nineteenth-century photo processes.
 

 

 

 

 

Black and white photograph of two children posing. The bottom of the photograph says H.S Tait, Photographer, Brooklyn

Cartes-de-visite

These small (63x100 mm) photos were produced by a variety of processes: albumen prints, gelatin printing-out paper, collodion paper. They were enormously popular during the 1860s and 1870s and Trent University Archives has hundreds of examples of these in various family papers. They were popular up until 1920.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A portrait photograph of 6 men in uniforms holding swords. The bottom of the photograph says Cabinet Photo, Esterbrook, Peterborough

Cabinet Photographs

Along with the cartes-de-visite, the cabinet photograph (108x164mm) was the predominant commercial portrait of the nineteenth century. Many early examples were produced by the albumen paper printing process and characteristically show yellowing and fading. They were popular from 1860 to 1920.

 

 

 

 

 

Photograph of a man posing. Photograph is mostly in black and white but he has pink cheeks, a red scarf and pocket square

Cabinet Photographs

Some photographers hand-tinted the photos with somewhat startling results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black and white photograph of a man, woman and a dog, posing. At the bottom, gold letters say Sheldon & Davis, Kingston, Ontario

Cabinet Photographs

Later cabinet photographs (1880-1920) were produced by the collodion or gelatin printing-out processes. These often have a shiny surface and a purplish hue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two nearly identical black and white photographs mounted on teh same board. Image is of two men sitting in chairs on a balcony looking at a landscape with water, trees, and a mountain. There is text along the bottom and sides

Stereographic Views

These photographs consisted of two identical images mounted side-by-side. They were viewed through a stereoscope which gave a 3-D effect. There were many series produced on such subjects as travel, W.W.1, Niagara Falls and so forth. They were popular from 1850 to 1920.  

 

 

Two nearly identical photographs mounted together on a board that says "1326. Street on Ocean Front, Juneau City, Alaska." The hand-coloured photographs are of houses on stilts with mountains in the background.

Stereographic Views

Some publishers offered coloured stereographs.  

 

 

 

 

A photograph of a street scene in hues of blue, with buildings, people, and a horse and buggy

Cyanotype

This process produces a matte, single-layer, blue-hued positive image. The process is identical to that producing blueprints. Cyanotype prints for purposes other than maps and architectural drawings were popular from 1880 to 1920 though the process was discovered much earlier in 1842. This cyanotype shows Water Street, Peterborough, Ontario around 1900.  

 

 

 

 

A black and white negative image of people on horses outside a building. There is some yellowish discolouration on the photograph

Glass Negatives

Thin, sharp-edged negatives were produced by a gelatin dry plate technique. Thicker glass negatives with ground edges were produced by a collodion process. All are subject to breakage, water and heat damage but the images are of superb quality and Trent University Archives has hundreds of examples of these. Most were produced from 1850 to 1920.   

 

 

 

Black and white image of people on horses in front of a white building. There is some bluish discolouration on the lower right quadrant.

Glass Negatives

Digitizing glass negatives poses a problem. A good quality image can be produced by reversing the negative on the platen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wide angle view of piles of rocks, grass, and trees

Lantern Slides

These glass slides were used extensively for teaching purposes from 1900 to 1915.