Making large format negatives for contact printing is easily achieved these days by using an inkjet printer and printing on to acetate. Making a negative that matches the required density range of the cyanotype (or any other) process is critical to getting the best possible results. It may not be obvious but some colours will give a greater density range than others so, rather than printing the negative using black inks, it may be better to use a different colour. The question is, which.

To find out, first make a negative from an original containing all possible colours. I found this image on the Internet and used it.

Make a print from the resuting negative and look on the print for the lightest area. This will be the area which has the highest density as far as the process you are using is concerened.

It can help to scan the print then increase the contrast so that only the very lightest areas appear white and everything else black.

Once the lightest area has been identified, this should be compared with the original image to see what colour it corresponds to. In this case the green area is giving the most density so for me, making cyanotypes, I will get the greatest density range in the final print by printing the negative using green inks.

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