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Glite Dictionary
📷 A blue photo 🧪 Blue photo method 🎨 To make blue print
cyanotype

cyanotype

9.1
A method of making blue photographic prints using light and iron salts
  • noun
  • /ˈsaɪənoʊˌtaɪp/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cianotipo
  • She hung her cyanotype prints in the gallery, showcasing their unique blue tones and textures.

Examples

  • All images are examples of early paper processes, including carte-de-visites, cabinet cards, albumen prints, and cyanotypes.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The artist used the cyanotype process to create stunning blue images of local flowers.

  • In photography class, we learned about the cyanotype technique and how to make blueprints from sunlight.

How Complex

industrial process
  • Specialized
3 3.4
cyanotype
  • Specialized
9.1
drypoint
  • Specialized
9.3

Surface Forms

cyanotype singular
cyanotypes plural

Morphology

cyanotype = cyan + type (transparent) = cyano + type

Built from 'cyano-' (blue) + 'type' (printing/impression), so the sense 'photographic printing process producing blue images' is directly predictable.

Etymology

Cyanotype comes from the Greek kyanos 'dark blue' and typos 'impression', and the name was given to the printing process that makes those strong blue images, which is why artists and engineers used it to make prints.