transparency

photography

Also known as: slide

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 14, 2026

Quick Summary

Transparency in photography refers to images that can be viewed by transmitted light. This is achieved through processes like reversal (slide) films, which create positive dye images by breaking down colors into primary components.12

In additive color films, a filter raster of red, green, and blue lines is used. Light passes through these filters before reaching the emulsion, and the resulting image appears as a composite of the filtered light. This contrasts with subtractive methods, where colors are created by superimposing dyes. The concept of transparency is fundamental to how light interacts with materials in optics, influencing how images are formed in devices like cameras.324

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

6 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

history of photography
Color photography
Because Autochrome was a color transparency and could be viewed only by reflected light, however, researchers continued to look for improvements and alternative color processes.
Read More
Because Autochrome was a color transparency and could be viewed only by reflected light, however, researchers continued to look for improvements and alternative color processes.
Read More

technology of photography
Reversal (slide) films
…light passing through the resulting transparency loses its green and red, but not its blue, component; thus, the sky appears blue. Similarly, green subject components end up as positive yellow image density in the blue-recording and positive cyan density in the red-recording layer, combining to green in the transparency. Yellow…
Read More
…light passing through the resulting transparency loses its green and red, but not its blue, component; thus, the sky appears blue. Similarly, green subject components end up as positive yellow image density in the blue-recording and positive cyan density in the red-recording layer, combining to green in the transparency. Yellow…
Read More