Arrowroot paper

Description

A photographic printing paper made with an Arrowroot starch binder that was used in the mid 1850s. A thin layer of arrowroot starch mixed with Sodium chloride and Citric acid was applied to a photographic paper using the salted paper process. It was dried then treated with Silver nitrate to make the image layer photosensitive. Arrowroot starch formed a layer, that once dry, did not swell in water. It was colorless and unreactive to the silver salts. Arrowroot paper produced a bright image with a good density range and high resolution. However, by the end of the 1850s it was replaced in popularity by albumen papers.

Resources and Citations

• James M. Reilly, Albumen & Salted Paper Book: The history and practice of photographic printing, 1840-1895, Light Impressions Corp., Rochester, NY, 1980

• E.J.LaBarre, Dictionary and Encyclopedia of Paper and Paper-making, Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam, 1969