Photomechanical process

Claim 2

A PROCESS FOR PREPARING A COMPOSITE COLOR TRANSPARENCY PHOTOGRAPH REPRODUCING A LAYOUT CONTAINING A PLURALITY OF COLORED IMAGES AND, IN WHICH AT LEAST TWO IMAGES ARE TOUGHING, THAT COMPRISES ASSEMBLING SAID COLORED LAYOUT, MAKING A PLURALITY OF POSITIVE COLORED TRANSPARENCIES OF THE COMPLETE COMPONENT IMAGES OF SAID LAYOUT IN ISOLATION FROM ANY OTHER IMAGES OF SID LAYOUT WITH WHICH SAID IMAGES MAINTAIN TOUCHING ENGAGEMENT THEREIN, EACH OF SAID IMAGES BEING MAINTAINED IN THE SAME POSITION MAKING EACH OF SAID TRANSPARENCIES AS IT HAS IN SAID LAYOUT: MOUNTING SAID TRANSPARENCIES IN REGISTRY ON A CLEAR TRANSPARENT FILM: DEFINING AN OPAQUING FILM AN OUTLINE OF EACH OF SAID IMAGES OF SAID LAYOUT: SAID OUTLNE INVADING THE CONTOURS OF EACH OF SAID IMAGES TO THE EXTENT THAT ANY PORTION OF SAID IMAGES ARE OMITTED FROM SAID LAYOUT: REMOVING THOSE PORTIONS OF SAID OPAQUING FILM CONTAINED WITHIN SAID OUTLINE: PLACING SAID OPAQUING FILM CONTAINING SAID OUTLINE IN MATCHED REGISTER WITH ORTHOCHORMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM AND EXPOSING SAID FILM TO PROVIDE NEGATIVES WHEREIN THE PORTIONS OF SAID ORTHOCHROMATIC FILM IN CONTACT WITH THE OPAQUE PORTION OF SAID OPAQUING FILM ARE THEMSELVES RENDERED OPAQUE AND THE REMAINDER OF SAID ORTHOCHROMATIC FILM IS RENDERED TRANSPARENT: PLACING SAID PLURALITY OF POSITIVE CLORED TRANSPARENCIES OF THE COMPLETE IMAGES OF SAID LAYOUT IN CONTACT WITH SAID NEGATIVES AND WITHIN THE PORTIONS THEREOF CONFORMING TO THE OUT LINES THEREOF AS MODIFIED BY SAID LAYOUT AND PLACING IN REGISTRY WITH SAID PLURALITY OF POSITIVE COLORED TRANSPARENCIES AND SAID NEGATIVES AND IN EMULSION-TO-EMULSION RELATIONSHIP THERETO COLOR DUPLICATING FILM TO SECURE POSITIVE COLOR TRANSPERENCIES OF EACH OF SAID ORIGINAL TRANSPARENCIES, THE CONTOURS OF WHICH ARE MODIFIED ACCORDING TO THE OUTLINE DEFINED IN SAID MAKING FILM AND SAID NEGATIVES TO ACCORD WITH SAID ORIGINAL LAYOUT: ASSEMBLYING SAID POSITIVE TRANSPARENCIES OF SAID ISOLATED IMAGES IN REGISTER AND MOUNTING REGISTER THEREWITH AN UNEXPOSED COLOR DUPLICATING FILM IN EMULSION-TO-EMULSION CONTACT WITH THE FOREMOST OF SAID ASSEMBLED POSITIVE TRANSPARENCIES AND EXPOSING SAID UNEXPOSED FILM TO PROVIDE A COMPOSITE POSITIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC COLOR TRANSPARENCY OF THE ISOLATED IMAGES REPRODUCED IN EACH OF SAID POSITIVE TRANSPARENCIES: SAID COMPOSITE TRANSPARENCY FAITHFULLY AND ACCURATELY REPRODUCING THE ORIGINAL LAYOUT OF SAID ASSEMBLED IMAGES.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein each of the exposures subsequent to production of the original transparencies is undertaken in a contact frame.

Claim 4

The process of claim 2 wherein each of said exposures is effected in a vacuum frame with a point source of light.

Claim 5

The process of claim 2 wherein said masking film comprises a clear base film ply and adhering thereto an opaque film ply; and wherein the outline of the image of the original layout is defined solely in said opaque ply; and solely that portion of said opaque ply within the aforesaid outline is removed thereafter.

Claim 6

The process of claim 4 wherein said opaque ply is opaque to light transmission below about 5800 angstroms.

Claim 7

The process of claim 2 wherein the film employed to produce duplicate contact negative transparencies reproducing the outline of each of the isolated images of the original transparencies with the outline defined by said masking film to accord with the original composite layout is an orthochromatic film.

Claim 8

The process of claim 5 wherein said base film ply is polyester and said opaque ply is red dye-infused cellulose acetate.

Claim 9

The process of claim 7 wherein said base film ply has a thickness of about 3 to about 7 mils and said opaque ply has a thickness of about 1 to about 2 mils; said plies being made to adhere one to the other by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive which upon removal of said opaque ply from said base film ply will adhere solely to said opaque ply.

Claim 10

The process of claim 2 wherein there is mounted in matched register with the assembled positive transparencies of said isolated images with contours modified to accord with those portions of the images visible in the original composite layout, a transparency which is of a desired color and from which has been severed that portion of the film corresponding to the outline of the original layout, said transparency being produced on color duplicating film identical to that upon which said positive transparencies are produced and being positioned most remote from the emulsion-to-emulsion contact of one of said assembled color transparencies of isolated images and said unexposed color duplicating film from which the composite positive duplicate transparency of said original layout is secured upon exposure, to provide a colored background about the composite of said images present in said transparency.

Claim 11

In the process of producing a color printing from a layout containing a plurality of colored images and in which at least two images are touching, the steps comprising making a plurality of positIve colored transparencies of the complete component images of said layout in isolation from each other, each of said images being maintained in the same relative position in each of said transparencies as it has in said layout; mounting said transparencies in registery on clear transparent film; defining in an opaquing film an outline of each of said images of each layout, said outline invading the contours of each of said images to the extent that any portion of said images are omitted from the layout; removing those portions of said opaquing film contained within said outline; placing said opaquing film from which said portions thereof have been removed to define an outline corresponding to that portion of each image retained in the layout and placing said opaquing film containing said outline in matched registry with orthochromatic photographic film and exposing said film to provide negatives in each instance wherein the portions of said orthochromatic film in contact with the opaque portions of each of said opaquing films are themselves rendered opaque and the remainder of said orthochromatic film coming within the outline from which the opaquing film is removed is rendered transparent; placing said plurality of positive colored transparencies of the complete images of said layout in contact with each of the corresponding negatives wherein each of said outlines is modified by said layout and placing in registry with said plurality of positive, colored transparencies and said negatives and in emulsion-to-emulsion relationship thereto color duplicating film to secure positive color transparencies of each of said original transparencies, the contours of which are modified according to the outline defined in said masking film and said negatives to accord with said original layout; assembling said positive transparencies of said isolated images in register and mounting in register therewith an unexposed color duplicating film in emulsion-to-emulsion contact with the foremost of said assembled positive transparencies and exposing said unexposed film to provide a composite positive photographic color transparency of the isolated images reproduced in each of said positive transparencies.

Claim 12

In the process of producing a color printing from a layout containing a plurality of colored images and in which at least two images are touching, the steps comprising making a plurality of positIve colored transparencies of the complete component images of said layout in isolation from each other, each of said images being maintained in the same relative position in each of said transparencies as it has in said layout; mounting said transparencies in registery on clear transparent film; defining in an opaquing film an outline of each of said images of each layout, said outline invading the contours of each of said images to the extent that any portion of said images are omitted from the layout; removing those portions of said opaquing film contained within said outline; placing said opaquing film from which said portions thereof have been removed to define an outline corresponding to that portion of each image retained in the layout and placing said opaquing film containing said outline in matched registry with orthochromatic photographic film and exposing said film to provide negatives in each instance wherein the portions of said orthochromatic film in contact with the opaque portions of each of said opaquing films are themselves rendered opaque and the remainder of said orthochromatic film coming within the outline from which the opaquing film is removed is rendered transparent; placing said plurality of positive colored transparencies of the complete images of said layout in contact with each of the corresponding negatives wherein each of said outlines is modified by said layout and placing in registry with said plurality of positive, colored transparencies and said negatives and in emulsion-to-emulsion relationship thereto color duplicating film to secure positive color transparencies of each of said original transparencies, the contours of which are modified according to the outline defined in said masking film and said negatives to accord with said original layout; assembling said positive transparencies of said isolated images in register and mounting in register therewith an unexposed color duplicating film in emulsion-to-emulsion contact with the foremost of said assembled positive transparencies and exposing said unexposed film to provide a composite positive photographic color transparency of the isolated images reproduced in each of said positive transparencies.

Claim 13

The process as claimed in claim 10 wherein said orthochromatic photographic film is exposed over a point source light.