Collotype

In 1865, Tessie du Motay and C. R. Marechal applied the gelatin to a copper plate, which was easier to handle than a lithographic stone.

Related processes, or processes developed from collotype, or even alternate names for collotype include albertype, Alethetype, autocopyist, artotype, Gelatinotypy, heliotype, hydrotype, indotint, ink-photo, leimtype, lichtdruck, papyrotype, photogelatin, photophane, phototype, Roto-Collotype, Rye's, and Sinop.

[13] Collotype has a finely reticulated pattern that captures the tonal shifts of photography with a much more subtle effect that other photographic printing processes of the late 19th century, such as halftone engraving.

Best results are achieved with hard finished paper such as Bristol, placed upon the plate and covered with a tympan before slight pressure is applied.

While it is possible to print by hand using a roller or brayer, the best consistency in pressure and even distribution of ink is most effectively achieved on a mechanized press.

It can produce results difficult to distinguish from metal-based photographic prints because of its microscopically fine reticulations which compose the image.

Its possibilities for fine art photography were first employed in the United States by Alfred Stieglitz and Tong Jixu's Yanguangshi Publishing House in China in post WWI period.

Pablo Picasso's 1920 artist's book Le Tricorne was printed in (black) collotype with applied pochoir color.

[16][18] Marcel Duchamp's La Boîte-en-valise (Box in a Suitcase), produced in the 1930s and 1940s, combines the techniques of collotype and stencil to create its "copies.

[23] In Europe, the firm Fratelli Alinari (Florence) and Lichtdruck-Kunst (Leipzig) still produce collotypes, primarily as high-quality art reproductions for museums.

[24] In 2010, only a small number of facilities in the United States, primarily art studios or organizations, still have the ability to create collotypes.