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How to Color Photographs:
Detroit Publishing Company photographs were initially shot in black and white.  The photographer would take notes describing the scene and the colors.  After he developed the photograph, the production manager would mark up the color instructions on a print and a retoucher would color the print.  Color prints were then produced by lithography, a process of printing from a flat surface on which the image to be printed is ink-receptive and the blank area is ink-repellent.  The Detroit Publishing Company held the exclusive North American rights to Photochrom, a Swiss-patented method of color lithography.

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A retoucher at work.  Most retouchers were women. Illustration from The Art of Retouching Photographic Negatives, 1913.

Larger version of image (may be more than 50k)
Image of Female retoucher at work.

Copyright © 2003 The Henry Ford        Last Updated: 01/17/2003