Other Printing Machines
Throughout the last century, some truly amazing printing machines have been
built, and it requires a separate publication to review them properly. From an
archives point of view only a few of the more complex ones have any relevance. Generally,
they were designed to produce prints more quickly or more cheaply than other
printers, but the following types, some old and some modern, have had a
significant influence on film production.
- Cascade Printers
Cascade printers comprised a sequence of rotary contact printing heads
arranged on a single negative path.
Each head [up to 10] printed the negative onto separate print stock rolls.
These printers were extensively used for printing multiple copies of
newsreels.
- Panel Printers
Panel printers are rotary contact printers printing first from the
head of the film and then printing in contact onto another roll of film in
the reverse as the negative is rewound, speeding up production for
multiple copies. Extensively used from about 1970 onwards.
- Loop printers
A loop printer is usually a unidirectional rotary contact printer,
like a Bell and Howell Mod C, printing two loops of film, one image
negative the other the sound negative continuously to produce multiple
copies of a short film. The loops are housed in loop cabinets built very
much like a processing machine drying cabinet. Especially used for TV
commercials.
Numerous other specialist printers exist, for high
outputs, for multiple copies, for specialist printing procedures such as for
Dufay colour film, for Technicolor, for Cinecolor, for duplitized film exposed
on both sides of the film base and so on and so on.
Details of these are given in such publications
listed in the bibliography, notably, Wheeler, L.J. and Cornwell-Clyne, A. for
colour films.