fototype

Fototype is a term used in photography and image reproduction to denote the type or category of an image, particularly its production method and tonal or color characteristics. The word appears in several European languages as fototype or fototip and is often used in archival, conservation, and printing contexts to describe how an image was created or reproduced, such as black-and-white, color, sepia-toned, digital pigment, or infrared imagery. In practice, fototype can refer to the overall look of an image rather than a specific technical process, serving as a shorthand in catalogs and metadata to help people understand the image's appearance and reproduction requirements.

In printing and historical photography, fototypes historically referred to different classes of prints or reproduction methods, and may be used to distinguish between, for example, photo-based lithographs, albumen prints, gelatin silver prints, or modern digital prints. The term is less common in English-language photography, where phototype or simply image type is more standard; it remains more widely used in other languages and disciplines.

In medical and dermatological contexts, some languages use fototype to translate phototype as skin phototype, a classification of a person’s skin response to sunlight, though the established English term is skin phototype or Fitzpatrick scale.

Etymologically, fototype derives from Greek photos 'light' and typos 'impression' or 'model,' reflecting its original association with light-based image production.