US1546784A - Process of making photographic masks - Google Patents

Description

July 21, 1925.

E. E. HOTTMAN PROCESS OF MAKING PHOTOGRAPHIC MASKS Filed March 27, 1922 Patented July 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES EMIL E. HOTTMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROCESS OF MAKING PHOTOGRAPHIC MASKS.

Application filed March 27, 1922. Serial No. 547,127.

To all whom it may co'ncem:

Be it known that I, E-MIL E. HorrMAz a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Process of Making Photographic Masks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to masks such as are used in covering a portion of a pieceof photo-printing paper to enable the remaining portion to be printed separately.

It is an object of thls invention to prepare such a mask which shall be more convenient to handle than the paper or metal masks heretofore used, and which shall afford a greater variety of gradations of light and shade in the border.

It is a further object of this invention to devise a method by which a mask may be prepared for reproducing any particular style or kind of border or deslgn including those which have black, white and 1ntermediate shades, as Well as those having only the one contrast.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawings.

The invention (in a preferred form) is shown on the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a broken view showing one corner of a form having a border to be produced.

Figure 2 is a broken v1ewi showing one corner of the mask made from Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view showing the entire mask superposed upon the printing paper.

Figure 4. is a view illustrating a mask superposed on the printing paper.

Figure 5 is a view of the finished picture.

'As shown on the drawings:

The desired border or reproduction may be any design or configuration desired. For the purposes of illustration, a border is chosen having an outside black line 1, next to which there is a white marginal space 2, which is followed by a shaded portion 3, the darkest part of which is at the outer edge. This is followed by a curved shaded portion 4, the lighter part of which is at the outer edge. At the corners of the border there is a white space 5 between the lighter edges of the two shaded ortions. The curved shaded portion 4 is intended to inclose a space (i which is to receive the picture.

In the practice of this invention, the cardboard or other white surface containing the border shown in Figure 1 is photographed and the negative resulting is developed. This will consist of an outer white line 1 representing the black line 1 in Figure 1, followed by a black band 2 representing the white band 2. This is followed by a shaded portion 3, the lightest part of which is toward the outside corresponding to the shaded portion 3 in Figure 1, which has its darkest edge toward the outside. Within this is a curved shaded portion 4 with its lightest part toward the inside corresponding to the shaded portion 4 in Figure 1, which has its darkest edge toward the inside. Within this is the solid black portion 6 corresponding to the solid white portion 6 of Figure 1.

The portion 6 should have the greatest degree of opacity possible because it is to completely protect the central portion of the print in making the picture. The opacity should be of such a density as to fully protect the portions of the sensitive material of whatever kind selected, that in the exposures necessary to produce the border, tints or designs there will have been no actinic action of the light on the portions which it is desired to protect. If the desired degree of opacity cannot be obtained in the region 6 by photographing the cardboard or other surface containing the border shown in Figure 1, the plate which is to make the negative shown in Figure 2 is covered by a mask such as shown at 20 in Figure 4, and exposed through the opening of this mask to any source of light. The necessary registration between the mask 20 and the latent image upon the plate is secured by an of the means with which Workers in this art are familiar.

When the border shown in Figure 1 has been photographed and the central portion of the negative additionally exposed if required, the plate is developed and the result is the negative shown in Figure 2. Outside of the border line 1' this negative has a strip 7 of black made by the light which comes around the edge of the cardboard shown in Figure 1 or is reflected from the surface of such cardboard extending beyond the border line 1 in Figure 1. Outside of the strip 7 the negative shown in Figure 2 will have a strip 8 which Will be substantially transparent and which results from that portion of the plate which was protected from light by the device which kept the plate in place during the exposure. The negative thus prepared is designated by the numeral 10.

Having prepared this negative or mask 10, the next step is in its use in making a photographic print as illustrated in Figure The negative 10 is placed on top of a piece of paper or other material 11 which is sensitized to receive the print and the two placed in a printing frame or other suitable device and exposed to light. The result is to impart to the print a border. If the sensitive material is of the printing out variety, this border will show when the negative 10 is removed from the sensitive paper 11. If a developing paper is used, the image of the border will be latent.

The next step in the process of making the print is illustrated -in Figure 4. The border, which has been printed upon the sensitive material 11, is covered by a mask 20 of a shape and size to completely cover the border but leave the central portion of the print wholly exposed. This mask 20 may be of metal or paper-cut to the desired shape, or it may be a negative plate made by exposing a plate to any source of light and having the central portion thereof covered by a protector or mask of a shape and size corresponding to the space 6 or 6. Another way of making the mask 20 is to take a plate that has been exposed all over and remove the coating from the part that is to be transparent. The plate may be developed either before or after such removal. The coating left on it will of course be opaque when developed. The mask 20 may be applied to the sensitive paper 11 directly as shown in Figure 4 and a negative of a picture superposed upon the mask 20, but preferably the negative of the picture is placed between the mask 20 and the sensitive paper 11. I The necessary registration between the mask 20 and the image of the border, whether the image is visible on the print or not, is secured by means with which photographers are famillar.

The resulting print is shown in Figure 5. It is on the sheet 11 of paper or other material and has a border beginning with the outer line 1 and repeating the pattern shown in Figure 1 as far as the inner curved band 4, including the corner spaces 5, and has within the border 4 a picture 30, corresponding to the negative used with the mask 20 in Figure 4.

Although I have represented a border inclosing a curved edge for a picture, it is obvious that the same method may be used for pictures of other shapes having margins made of straight or broken lines or of other curves, as desired. The method is also useful for dividing the central space into subspaces to receive dilferent pictures.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range and that numerous details of procedure in the process may be changed to a large amount without departing from the spirit of this invent-ion, and I therefore do notpurpose limiting the patent granted otherwise'than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of making a photographic mask having an opaque central portion and a marginal portion containing translucent portions which includes photographing a white surface surrounded by the desired border and using a longer exposure for the white surface than for the border.

2. The method of making a photographic mask including photographing a white surface surrounded by the desired border, the border being covered by a mask during a portion of the exposure.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMIL E. I-IOTTMAN.

- 'VVitnesses:

CARLTON HILL, JAMES M. OBRIEN.

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