IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING VIGNETTED PHOTOGRAPHS
Year: 1884

page_text: I HENRY VANDER WEYDE of Regent Street in the county of Middlesex,
Artist, Electrician and Photographer do hereby declare the nature of the said
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING VIGNETTED PHOTOGRAPHS to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to the production of photographic negatives, particularly
of portrait negatives. It has for many years been recognised by all photographers
that in printing from negatives instead of exposing the entire surface equally to
the light and thus printing in all high lights and shadows in full strength to the
very edge of the print, a more artistic and pleasing effect is produced by the
process called vignetting. This consists in first masking off the edges or margin of
the negative by means of a mask applied over the negative and which leaves only
the centre fully exposed after which the paper is taken from under the negative
and the masking process is reversed by shielding the centre of the print from the
light and exposing the white margin so as to tint it or tone it down.
This vignetting is only practised however in printing by the evanescent silver
process and in addition to the ordinary chemical manipulation it requires
considerable mechanical skill and artistic judgment on the part of the printer'
(as each negative often requires a different size and shape of mask) while it more
than doubles the amount of time and labor necessary for plain printing. The
increased beauty resulting from this extra mechanical manipulation is however so
great that nearly every photographer practises it, a considerable additional charge
being paid for these vignettes.
The difficulties of producing vignettes by any of the permanent printing
processes such as the Auto-type or Carbon process, the Woodbury type, the
Photograveur, and all other photo printing processes are evidently so great that
those commercially engaged in them refuse to attempt it and I am not aware that
it has ever been done.
Many of these permanent printing processes would long ago have superseded
silver printing had it been possible to give them the additional delicacy and beauty
obtained by the vignetting process.
Now by my Invention I overcome all this difficulty, and am able not only to
produce the most delicate vignettes in any of the permanent processes, but I
produce them just as cheaply and easily as plain prints and without any of the
additional mechanical labor or skill hitherto requisite in vignetting.

page_text: Moreover by my invention the means of controlling and determining the
beginning and ending of the gradations and their depth is placed in the hands of
the artist or operator while he is focussing the image in the camera instead of
being left to the judgment of the printer.
My Invention consists in the employment of a translucent or reflecting screen,
its illumination and its interposition during exposure between the negative and the
sitter or object being photographed, the shape of such screen being determined by
the form of gradations desired.
Opague screens having neither translucent or reflecting power have before been
tried and they have the power of graduating the image on the negative into utter
darkness i.e. that condition of the film on the negative which will be perfectly
transparent and consequently yield the deepest tone in the print.
In my improved method of vignetting the screen employed has the power
although placed in the same position as those above described of replacing every
ray that it obstructs by other rays which it reflects or transmits from its own
surface into the camera so that instead of producing a gradation into darkness it
produces a gradation into a light or half tone of any depth desired. The negative
when finished will then print only vignettes.
In order to enable one skilled in the art to use my Invention, I will now
describe the operation. I place my sitter and proceed to take a head and bust
portrait. Having posed, lighted, and focussed the sitter, I place the screen well
out of focus, either outside the camera between the sitter and the lens or inside the
camera between the lens and the negative. If I use it inside I construct the
screen of a translucent material with an aperture in the centre.
The material may
be gauze or threads or tissue paper or opal or colored glass, or other translucent
material the aperture being sufficiently large to allow the image of the head and
top of the shoulders to be transmitted uninterruptedly to the negative. The edges
of the aperture may be graduated of different thicknesses or density or the edges of
the aperture may be jagged, the effect aimed at being to obtain a soft vignette into
half tone extending to the very edges of the focussing glass. I then give the
negative the ordinary exposure and development. If the screen be placed outside
the camera, I may use either a translucent or opaque material; if translucent I
fashion it in the same manner as that just described but. on a much larger scale as
go much nearer the sitter; or I may use a reflecting instead of a translucent
screen of a white or light colored though opaque material such as white cardboard
or white opal glass or metal. The reflecting side should face the lens, its surface
being exposed to either direct illumination or to reflected light from a mirror or
mirrors suitably arranged. For varying the shape and size and depth of the
vignettes, I employ screens of different materials and forms.

page_text: I HENRY VANDER WEYDE of Regent Street in the County of Middlesex,
Artist, Electrician and Photographer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING VIGNETTED PHOTOGRAPHS" and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My Invention relates to the production of photographic negatives, particularly
of portrait negatives. It has for many years been recognised by all photographers
that in printing from negatives instead of exposing the entire surface equally to the
light and thus printing in all high lights and shadows in full strength to the very
edge of the print, a more artistic and pleasing effect is produced by the process of
vignetting to a half tone by first masking off the edges or margin of the negative
by means of a mask applied over the negative and leaving only the centre fully
exposed, and then taking the paper from under the negative and reversing the
masking process by shielding the centre of the print from the light and exposing
the white margin so as to tint it or tone it down.
This vignetting is only practised however in printing by the evanescent silver
process, and in addition to the ordinary chemical manipulation, it requires
considerable mechanical skill and artistic judgment on the part of the printer
(as each negative often requires a different size and shape of mask) while it more
than doubles the amount of time and labor necessary for plain printing. The
increased beauty resulting from this extra mechanical manipulation is however so
great that nearly every photographer practises it, a considerable additional charge
being made for these vignettes.
The difficulties of producing vignettes by any of the permanent printing
processes such as the Auto-type or Carbon process, the Woodbury type, the
Photograveur, and all other photo-printing processes are evidently so great that
those commercially engaged in them refuse to attempt it and I am not aware that
it has ever been done. Many of these permanent printing processes would long
ago have superseded silver printing had it been possible to give them the additional
delicacy and beauty obtained by the vignetting and tinting process.
Now by my Invention, I overcome all this difficulty and am able, not only to
produce the most delicate vignettes in any of the permanent processes, but I
produce them just as cheaply and easily as plain prints and without any of the
additional mechanical labor or skill hitherto requisite in vignetting. Moreover by
my Invention the means of controlling and determining the beginning and ending
of the gradations and their depth, is placed in the hands of the artist or operator
while he is focussing the image in the camera instead of being left to the judgment
of the printer.
My Invention consists in the employment of a translucent or reflecting screen, or
screens its illuminated and interposed during exposure between the negative
and the sitter or object being photographed, the shape of such screen being
determined by the form of gradations desired.
Opaque screens having neither translucent or reflecting power have before been
tried and they have the power of graduating the image on the negative into utter
darkness, i.e. that condition of the film on the negative which will be perfectly
transparent and consequently yield the deepest tone in the print.
In my improved method of vignetting, the screen employed has the power,
although placed in the same position as those above referred to, of replacing every
ray that it obstructs by other rays which it reflects or transmits into the camera,

page_text: so that instead of producing a gradation into darkness, it produces a gradation into
a light or half tone of any depth desired. The negative when finished will then
print only vignettes.
In order to enable one skilled in the art to use my Invention, I will now describe
the operation. I place my sitter and proceed to take a head and bust portrait.
Having posed, lighted and focussed the sitter, I place the screen well out of focus,
either outside the camera between the sitter and the lens, or inside the camera
between the lens and the negative. If I use it inside, I construct the screen of a
translucent material with an aperture in the centre.
The material may be gauze
or net or other open work fabric or tissue paper, or opal glass or other translucent
material, the aperture being sufficiently large to allow the image of the head and
the top of the shoulders to be transmitted uninterruptedly to the negative. The
edges of the aperture may be graduated of different thicknesses or density, or the
edges of the aperture may be jagged, the effect aimed at being to obtain a soft
vignette into half tone extending to the very edges of the focussing glass. I then
give the negative the ordinary exposure and develop as usual. If the screen be
placed outside the camera I may use either a translucent or opaque material; if
translucent I fashion it in the same manner as that just described but on a much
larger scale as it is placed much nearer the sitter. Or I may use a reflecting
instead of a translucent screen of a white or light colored though opaque material
such as white cardboard or white opal glass or metal. The reflecting side should
face the lens, its surface being exposed to either direct illumination or to reflected
light from a mirror or mirrors suitably arranged. In this case the edge of the
mask nearest to the centre should be cut in the form of long V shaped teeth.
For varying the shape and size and depth of the vignettes, I employ screens of
different materials and forms. And in order to obtain the desired gradation I
may use two or more screens of different sizes and shapes placed in front of one
another.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1st The herein described process of producing a vignetted photographic negative
graduated off into a light or half tone, by the interposition, during exposure,
between the lens and the sitter or object being photographed, of a translucent or
reflecting screen or screens having an aperture of suitable shape and dimensions,
substantially as herein specified.
2nd The herein described process of producing a vignetted photographic negative
graduated off into a light or half tone, by the interposition, during exposure,
between the lens and the sensitive surface, of a translucent screen or screens, having
un aperture of suitable shape and dimensions, substantially as herein described.
3d As a new article of manufacture a vignetted photographic negative graduated
off into a light or half tone, substantially as herein described.
BOLL 1
Such a 1004
HENRY VANDER WEYDE.
By his Agents,
A. M. & W
Clark,
53, Chancery Lane.