Sun prints (aka cyanotypes) are a fun and fast way to create prints that come out a lovely blue (cyan) and white colour. The great thing – you don’t need access to a dark room to develop your prints. Once you’ve got your hands on some sun print paper it’s as easy as putting some objects on your sun print paper, leaving it under the sun rays for a couple of minutes, then developing or rinsing it off in water. For more info + inspiration click your way to sun printing or cyanotypes, sunprints.org, or google images.
Sun print paper is available online from retailers such as Lawrence Hall of Science, amazon.com, Dick Blicks, or easy enough to find by a google search within your country. It comes in a range of sizes – the smaller sizes are great for printing small single specimens, while the larger sizes are perfect for assembling a collection of specimens. I’m intending to have a go at making my own sun print paper, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Those of you who want to make sun prints of your own - here’s a how to:
Make Your Own Sun Prints 
1. Once you’ve bought some sun print paper the first step is to dash around home and back yard (or wander off into the woods) to collect a bunch of interesting objects you want to use for your sun printing. Flat objects are easiest to use, but things get more interesting the more difficult they become, so experiment with some 3D objects too.
2. Using blu-tack, stick a sheet of sun print paper into the center of a larger piece of sturdy cardboard.
3. Take your objects and arrange them on top of the sun print paper. You can use tiny bits of blu-tack to keep them in place – make sure the blu-tack is placed on a part of the object that won’t be exposed to the sunlight.
4. If your objects are flat you can place a clear plastic sheet (like an acetate sheet, or the supplied acrylic sheet that comes with some sun print kits). It will keep your objects in place and it will also prevent your objects being moved around by the wind.
5. Place the ready sun print in a spot of direct sunlight. If it’s not windy you can place it outside under the sun, otherwise you can place it under the sunlight streaming through a window.
6. Leave the sun print to ‘burn’ the image. V ery strong sunlight (like summer midday sun here in Australia) will burn the image very quickly, sometimes in less than 30 seconds! But, in gentler sun light, especially during early morning or late afternoon, it will take longer to burn the image. You will know your sun print is ready when the paper has turned from blue to nearly white.
7. Separate you sun print paper from objects and cardboard backing, then quickly place it in a tub or basin of water. Leave it to ‘develop’ or set for a minute before drying it flat. Once it’s touch dry and if it’s a little warped, place between sheets of paper and under a pile of books. After a day or so they’ll be flat again.
8. Stick them in an grouped arrangement on your wall using blu-tack. Easy-as! Upload them online and show them off in flickr groups such as Sunprints, or Cyanotypes. Mount them on paper and display. Scan and turn into postcards or mini-prints.
Next post: I’ll be following up on sun printing with a handy bunch of tips I’ve made from making my own sun prints.
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