latent image

American  

noun

Photography.

1. an invisible image, produced on a sensitized emulsion by exposure to light, that will emerge in development.

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latent image British  

noun

1. photog the invisible image produced by the action of light, etc, on silver halide crystals suspended in the emulsion of a photographic material. It becomes visible after development

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Example Sentences

The acidity of the beer, combined with the added ingredients, creates a solution that can reveal the latent image on the film.

From BBC • Aug. 3, 2025

But the silver bromide outside the latent image remains soluble.

From Time Magazine Archive

In conventional photography, the light which comes through the lens forms a "latent image" in the silver bromide of the film.

From Time Magazine Archive

As the chemicals go to work, one of them "develops" the latent image in the film, turning its silver bromide into metallic silver.

From Time Magazine Archive

If a silver bromide paper is used in making the print, a latent image is produced which must be developed as in the case of the negative itself.

From An Elementary Study of Chemistry by McPherson, William