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This website houses a tool developed by electrical and computer engineer Leah Lackey, colleague Austin Canales, and PhD candidate Arick Grootveld, for the use of characterizing texture data taken from various samples of photographic paper. The tool primarily uses a characterization model known as the Triplet Loss algorithm, which was developed by Leah Lackey and Western Washington University professor Andy Klein.

The primary use for this tool is to create a visual representation of a paper’s texture, which can range from smooth to rough, and with a wide degree of variation in between. This tool aims to identify and specify that in-between, and also match pre-loaded paper textures in our database with potentially those uploaded by researchers. This tool will aid conservators, researchers, and scholars interested in the history of photography, to trace their texture profiles and develop new points of understanding photographic paper collections.