C-type is one of several types of prints favoured by photographic artists. The ‘C’ is for ‘Chromogenic colour print’.
C-type prints are full-colour photographic prints produced with chromogenic materials and processes.The first of its kind was Kodacolor introduced to by Kodak in 1942, and became mainstream, with equivalent solutions offered by competing brands from Agfa and Fujifilm. The colours were chemically instable at the beginning, but eventually the technique was perfected, to the extend that you do not need a ready squad of art restoration specialists to restore photo art bought by you earlier in your collecting career.
The first commercially available chromogenic print process was Kodacolor, as pioneered by Kodak in January 1942. Kodak introduced a chromogenic paper with the name Type-C in the 1950s, and then discontinued the name several years later. The terminology Type-C and C-print have remained in popular use since this time. The chemistry used to develop chromogenic prints today is known as RA-4. As of 2010, the major lines of professional chromogenic print paper are Kodak Endura and Fujifilm Crystal Archive. Plastic chromogenic “papers” such as Kodak Duratrans and Duraclear are used for producing backlit advertising and art.
The aforementioned is analogue. Today we have digital C-Type print of photos from artists. Still it has a few things in common with the past. E.g. prints can also be exposed using digital exposure systems such as the LightJet and ZBE Chromira, Durst Lambda, Océ
As a result two synonyms for digital C-type are Lambda print or LightJet print respectively. Both systems use RGB lasers to expose light-sensitive material with light, and both use conventional silver-based chemicals. The part that is still digital uses ICC colour profiles to achieve colour print accuracy via computer.
