Cyanotype is a 170-year-old photographic printing process that produces prints in distinctive blue tones. The word cyan comes from the Greek, meaning “dark blue substance.” The process was invented by Sir John Herschel. The cyanotypes are made by coating handmade paper with a light-sensitive emulsion. It then gets exposed to UV light for several minutes using a film to get the best image quality. Finally, the print gets washed and fixed with water. If done well, the result is an image with blue tones in gorgeous, subtle variations.