Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

Which type of film is known to reverse tones and colors for printing on color paper?

1. Color negative

2. Black and white

3. Color reversal

4. Infrared

The correct answer is: Color negative

The type of film known to reverse tones and colors for printing on color paper is color negative film. This film is designed in such a way that it produces images with inverted colors, which can then be printed onto color paper to obtain the correct colors in the final print. When a photographer exposes color negative film, the light-sensitive emulsion captures the images in a way that creates negatives of the intended colors. This means that the colors and tones are reversed; for example, reds appear as cyan, greens as magenta, and blues as yellow. When this film is developed, it goes through a process that allows the resulting negative to be printed onto photopaper, which interprets those inverted colors and produces a positive image, revealing the true colors as they were originally intended. This unique capability of color negative film makes it compatible with standard color printing processes, allowing for a broad range of applications in portrait, wedding, and commercial photography. In contrast, color reversal film, also known as slide or transparency film, produces a positive image directly and does not require reversal in tones for printing. Black and white film primarily captures tonal variations in shades of gray and is not used for color images, while infrared film is characterized by its sensitivity to infrared light