Improving the color balance of multicolor prints by exposure through contrast reducing light distribution means

Claim 1

A method of improving the colour balance of a multicolour reversal image obtained in a photographic material itself or obtained by a diffusion transfer reversal process in an image receiving material, said method comprising the steps of: (1) providing a photographic silver halide material capable of yielding in said material or in an image receiving layer a multicolour reversal image, (2) image-wise exposing said photographic material to or through a multicolour continuous tone original while keeping in the optical path between the light source and the photographic material a light-distribution means dividing the light in line-like or dot-like portions over the exposed area of the photographic material, (3) developing and reversal-processing said photographic material, characterized in that the said material and said developing and processing are such that if the above image-wise exposure were to have been effected without said light-distribution means using a sensitometric grey wedge as original a reversal wedge print would be produced having blue filter (Wratten filter Blue No. 47), red filter (Wratten filter Red No. 25) and green filter (Wratten filter Green No. 58) sensitometric curves (optical density versus log exposure curves) having a maximum density of at least 1.4 and an average gradient of at least 1.8, said average gradient being the slope of the straight line joining the density point 0.2 above fog and the density point 0.2 below maximum density on the sensitometric curves of said wedge print, whereas because the image-wise exposure was effected through said light-distribution means as specified in step (2), blue filter, red filter and green filter sensitometric curves as defined above are obtained the average gradients of which are at most 1.50 but not lower than 1.00.

Claim 2

A method of improving the colour balance of a multicolour reversal image obtained in a photographic material itself or obtained by a diffusion transfer reversal process in an image receiving material, said method comprising the steps of: (1) providing a photographic silver halide material capable of yielding in said material or in an image receiving layer a multicolour reversal image, (2) image-wise exposing said photographic material to or through a multicolour continuous tone original while keeping in the optical path between the light source and the photographic material a light-distribution means dividing the light in line-like or dot-like portions over the exposed area of the photographic material, (3) developing and reversal-processing said photographic material, characterized in that the said material and said developing and processing are such that if the above image-wise exposure were to have been effected without said light-distribution means using a sensitometric grey wedge as original a reversal wedge print would be produced having blue filter (Wratten filter Blue No. 47), red filter (Wratten filter Red No. 25) and green filter (Wratten filter Green No. 58) sensitometric curves (optical density versus log exposure curves) having a maximum density of at least 1.4 and an average gradient of at least 1.8, said average gradient being the slope of the straight line joining the density point 0.2 above fog and the density point 0.2 below maximum density on the sensitometric curves of said wedge print, whereas because the image-wise exposure was effected through said light-distribution means as specified in step (2), blue filter, red filter and green filter sensitometric curves as defined above are obtained the average gradients of which are at most 1.50 but not lower than 1.00.