Watercolor or cotton papers replace light-sensitive photo papers, and no acidic chemicals are used. The developer is no stronger than Coca-Cola, and hypo is not required to fix the print. Platinum prints are contact printed, meaning that the negative is covered with a piece of glass and then exposed, much like a contact sheet is made in conventional photography. The process owes much to the traditional technique of printmaking, where each image is an original, an alchemical spell cast by the sun. Auerbach believes this aspect of photography is a distinct trait.
Platinum prints printed in different ways translate a different end result.
You can make them appear similar if you're good. What's most remarkable about the prints is the permanence. Platinum prints have the potential to last 500 to 1000 years. In comparison, black and white photographs are decay in 100 to 200 years or less. The platinum print suspends an image for immortality.