Ambrotypes
   An ambrotype is made by coating a wet, light sensitive emulsion on a glass plate in the darkroom. The plate is then inserted into a light tight plate holder and then the plate holder is inserted into the prearranged camera. The dark slide is removed and the exposure is made by removing the lens cap thus exposing the plate. The dark slide is replaced and the holder is then removed from the camera and taken back into the darkroom and in the dark, while the plate is still wet, it is developed and fixed and washed with water and placed to air dry. After the plate is dry the back is coated with a black backing and placed under a brass mat with a clear glass cover. The whole package is then wrapped with a brass preserver and placed in a case or frame. The ambrotype process was devised in 1851/1852 by Frederick Scott Archer and Peter W. Fry and were mainly used for portraiture as an inexpensive substitute for the daguerreotype.
   Ambrotypes were patented in 1854. It remained popular up to the 1860s, with some use up to the late 1880s.

Tintypes
   A tintype is a photograph made on a sheet of iron instead of a piece of paper. 
   In 1856, Hamilton Smith patented the process for producing tintypes. Most tintypes were brownish in color and the most common size was about 2 ½ " x 3 ½". 
   Tintypes were popular from1856 until the early 1900's. 
   Tintypes were also called ferrotypes and melainotypes. Many tintypes were put in cases making it more difficult to differentiate them from a daguerreotype. Many tintypes were placed in a paper or cardboard frame while others were used in jewelry or in photo albums.