A dc planar magnetron, of an unbalanced type, has been used for the sputtering of graphite in both argon and a mixture of argon/propane. Hard carbon films were prepared, with some polymeric inclusions in the latter case, as witnessed from the measurement of the optical gap and ir spectra. Silver was incorporated using a composite silver/graphite target. The optical transmission has been measured and structure and composition examined by TEM and ESCA. Some aging effects have been observed. After annealing, the films gave a resistance with an exponential variation with temperature described by an activation energy of 0.35 eV. The sputtering of a silver target in an argon/propane mixture resulted in films with a different microstructure but the films, macroscopic properties were not substantially affected, though they were not as stable.