tintype

thumb|right|450px|Tintype of two girls in front of a painted background of the Cliff House, San Francisco|Cliff House and Seal Rocks in San Francisco, thumb|300px|Studio tent of ferrotypist J. Q. Galusha, 12,7 × 17,7 cm, USA, c. 1880–1900 A tintype, also known as a melanotype or ferrotype, is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal, colloquially called 'tin' (though not actually tin-coated), coated with a dark lacquer or enamel and used as the support for the photographic emulsion. It was introduced in 1853 by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in Paris. It competed with both the ambrotype process and the older and established daguerreotype, finding particular adoption in North America. Tintypes enjoyed their widest use during the 1860s and 1870s, but lesser use of the medium persisted into 1930s and it has been revived as a novelty and fine art form in the 21st century. It has been described as the first "truly democratic" medium for mass portraiture.

Tintypes were particularly used for portraits. They were at first usually made in a formal photographic studio, like daguerreotypes and other early types of photographs. At the time though the process like the professional were called specifically ferrotype and ferrotypist respectively (not photograph|er). Later on tintypes were most commonly made by ferrotypists working in booths, tents, or the open air at fairs and carnivals, as well as by itinerant sidewalk photographers (with carts or wagons). Because the lacquered iron support was resilient and later did not need drying, a tintype could be developed and fixed and handed to the customer only a few minutes after the picture had been taken.