Making a bromogravure is as easy as making wine.
However, making a good bromogravure is as difficult as making a good wine.
Image nº1
Image nº2
Image nº3
Image nº4
Image nº5
The technique of bromogravure is simple but difficult at the same time, because obtaining satisfactory results is not the result of chance but of methodical and systematic work.
In essence, it consists of, taking as a reference a correct copy (image nº1), making another with less contrast and much more exposure (image nº2) and a longer development.
Once this copy has been processed (as if it were final), it will be subjected to a reduction process, in a substance whose main components are sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate, until the desired result is obtained (image nº5).
Images nº3 and nº4 show unsatisfactory results although more than one would justify them.
Bromogravure can be considered a technique linked to pictorialism in terms of its more formal or plastic appearance.