Polacolor 'effect' ?

:
 >
  > > what color film would you use if you were a fan of the "polaroid look
(type
  > > 108/6668/sx70" but wanted something a neg or transparency
  > >
  > > any fans out there ?
======================================================
 > I use several Polaroid films, and find they have a unique look. With the
Time
 > Zero films, about the closest that emulates that is using Kodak Ektachrome
64
 > Tungsten and an 81A filter. Of course, the easiest non-Polaroid way to do
this
 > is in PhotoShop, and any film will work.
 >
 > The variety of Polaroid films currently available (peel apart films) is
fairly
 > good currently. Each has a slightly different look to it. In general, I
find
 > that Polaroid films can be a bit cool in colour temperature, and tend to
render
 > bluish tones, especially in shadows. The other noticeable trait is that
most
 > are a bit low in contrast, though there are exceptions.
 >
 > Why would you want the look of Polaroid film without using Polaroid films?
Old
 > cameras and Polaroid printers are fairly low cost, and widely available
used.
 > Also, there is quite a bit more experimenting possible with the actual
real
 > Polaroid films.
 >
 > Fuji gave me some of their Instant films to try out. If I get around to
trying
 > these, I will try to post my impressions to this group, or at least one of
the
 > r.p.equipment groups.
 >
 > Ciao!
 >
 > Gordon Moat
==========================================
Well it's interesting what you say. Firstly about using any film and
photoshop - I find it hard to simulate the Polacolor look this way. It's not
just a case of desaturating and sliding the colour balance around. Not sure
what I'm missing.

I dont want to use the actual Polaroid films because many that I took years
ago have faded even though they were kept in the dark etc. I want something
more permanent and I would like more than one copy of a successful print

You're right about the low contrast, and it's the "porcelain" quality to
skin tones that I love.
Frank<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Polacolor 'effect' ? 

fgphotog wrote:

 > :. . .. . . . .

Hi Frank,

 >
 > Well it's interesting what you say. Firstly about using any film and
 > photoshop - I find it hard to simulate the Polacolor look this way. It's not
 > just a case of desaturating and sliding the colour balance around. Not sure
 > what I'm missing.

There is nothing easy about doing this . . . unfortunately. I have about nine
years of PhotoShop experience, and I do this for a living. Sometimes I forget
that what I consider easy may not be that way. I wish I had a nice explanation
of how to do this, but this is something that would be easier to view over
someone's shoulder, than try to explain it. A few hints are using layers, layer
blending, the Hue/Saturation controls, but unfortunately every image is a
little different.

 >
 >
 > I dont want to use the actual Polaroid films because many that I took years
 > ago have faded even though they were kept in the dark etc. I want something
 > more permanent and I would like more than one copy of a successful print

I feel the same way, especially with the transfer and lifts that I have done,
or had on display. The unique one off nature is sort of nice, but I would still
like it to be around many years from now. With the SX70 manipulations, they are
just too small.

A couple of options are high resolution flat scanning, and setting up a copy
stand. With the copy stand, this involves getting the image onto some other
film. The ideal would be 4x5 film, though I just did a few test copies onto 35
mm film, and they seem to work okay. A copy image gains a bit of contrast,
though perhaps adjusting the film type might help. That contrast increase could
be avoided with a high resolution flat scan. With scanning, you would need to
adjust the colours to match the original, and a print off that file may be
slightly different. Mostly, the flat scan method can be a great way to get good
enlargements.

 >
 >
 > You're right about the low contrast, and it's the "porcelain" quality to
 > skin tones that I love.
 > Frank

I find this more with the B/W Polaroid films than the colour choices. Part of
the effect is the large size, and part of it is the slight lower resolution of
the prints. The P/N films are a different area, and the negative can give some
really nice looking enlargements.

Also, a good source of scanned and printed (published) Polaroid images is P
Magazine. This is available from Polaroid, and contains images that used
Polaroid films in some way. The printing quality and paper are really great.
More information is at:

<http://www.polaroid.com/landing/landing.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302023864&bmUID=1062052905072&PRDREG=null>

And click on the P Magazine link. There are two issues put out each year, and
you should be able to get the current issue for free.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
Alliance Graphique Studio
<http://www.allgstudio.com><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Polacolor 'effect' ? 

thanks for all this

 > Hi Frank,
 >
  > >
  > > Well it's interesting what you say. Firstly about using any film and
  > > photoshop - I find it hard to simulate the Polacolor look this way. It's
not
  > > just a case of desaturating and sliding the colour balance around. Not
sure
  > > what I'm missing.
 >
 > There is nothing easy about doing this . . . unfortunately. I have about
nine
 > years of PhotoShop experience, and I do this for a living. Sometimes I
forget
 > that what I consider easy may not be that way. I wish I had a nice
explanation
 > of how to do this, but this is something that would be easier to view over
 > someone's shoulder, than try to explain it. A few hints are using layers,
layer
 > blending, the Hue/Saturation controls, but unfortunately every image is a
 > little different.
 >
  > >
  > >
  > > I dont want to use the actual Polaroid films because many that I took
years
  > > ago have faded even though they were kept in the dark etc. I want
something
  > > more permanent and I would like more than one copy of a successful print

 >
 > I feel the same way, especially with the transfer and lifts that I have
done,
 > or had on display. The unique one off nature is sort of nice, but I would
still
 > like it to be around many years from now. With the SX70 manipulations,
they are
 > just too small.
 >
 > A couple of options are high resolution flat scanning, and setting up a
copy
 > stand. With the copy stand, this involves getting the image onto some
other
 > film. The ideal would be 4x5 film, though I just did a few test copies
onto 35
 > mm film, and they seem to work okay. A copy image gains a bit of contrast,
 > though perhaps adjusting the film type might help. That contrast increase
could
 > be avoided with a high resolution flat scan. With scanning, you would need
to
 > adjust the colours to match the original, and a print off that file may be
 > slightly different. Mostly, the flat scan method can be a great way to get
good
 > enlargements.
 >
  > >
  > >
  > > You're right about the low contrast, and it's the "porcelain" quality
to
  > > skin tones that I love.
  > > Frank
 >
 > I find this more with the B/W Polaroid films than the colour choices. Part
of
 > the effect is the large size, and part of it is the slight lower
resolution of
 > the prints. The P/N films are a different area, and the negative can give
some
 > really nice looking enlargements.
 >
 > Also, a good source of scanned and printed (published) Polaroid images is
P
 > Magazine. This is available from Polaroid, and contains images that used
 > Polaroid films in some way. The printing quality and paper are really
great.
 > More information is at:
 >
 >
<http://www.polaroid.com/landing/landing.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=253437430
2023864&bmUID=1062052905072&PRDREG=null>
 >
 > And click on the P Magazine link. There are two issues put out each year,
and
 > you should be able to get the current issue for free.
 >
 > Ciao!
 >
 > Gordon Moat
 > Alliance Graphique Studio
 > <http://www.allgstudio.com>
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Polacolor 'effect' ?