The bromoil image is a bromide photograph in which the silver image has been bleached out of the paper and an oil based pigment has been brushed onto the paper to fill the depressions where the silver was previously embedded. The process first requires printing a silver gelatin photograph with standard procedures, fixing the print and allowing the print to dry for 24 hours. the photograph is then bleached using a combination of bleaching and hardening chemicals and again allowed to dry for 24 hours. Once dry, the "Matrix" as the bleached photograph is now called, is then soaked in a temperature controlled water bath for a period of time, removed and very carefully dried. The gelatin surface of the photograph is swollen at this point and an oil based pigment is applied using specially designed brushes.

The application of th pigment or ink is done in repeated applications with resoaking and drying in between each application of pigment. Once the pigment layer is dense enough to achieve a suitable image the print is allowed to dry for 3-5 days.

The resulting image produced by the bromoil process has a granular appearance with pronounced depth to the image which can not be achieved using any other printing process.

The image can be rendered in any monochromatic color, examples of which can be seen below. Any image on the website can be produces as a bromoil print, however images with large areas of sky or water tent to print better as silver or platinum.

For a complete discussion of the process as well as materials and history the reader is referred to the book The Art of Bromoil and Transfer by David W. Lewis as well as David's website bromoil.com.

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