What is "carbon tissue"

Carbon process \Car"bon process\ (Photog.) A printing process depending on the effect of light on bichromatized gelatin. Paper coated with a mixture of the gelatin and a pigment is called

carbon paper or

carbon tissue. This is exposed under a negative and the film is transferred from the paper to some other support and developed by washing (the unexposed portions being dissolved away). If the process stops here it is called single transfer; if the image is afterward transferred in order to give an unreversed print, the method is called double transfer.

Carbon tissue is a gelatin-based emulsion used as a photoresist in the chemical etching ( photoengraving) of gravure cylinders for printing. This was introduced by British physicist and chemist Joseph Swan in 1864. It has been used in photographic reproduction since the early days of photography.

Carbon materials marketing began in 1866 by Joseph Swan which he subsequently sold to the Autotype Company in 1868. His ready-made tissues were in three colours black, sepia and purple-brown. This method was used in Europe and USA throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th. This market was almost closed in the 1950s although some companies produce small amount of carbon tissue and transfer papers for monochrome and three-color work until around 1990