Selenium Toner

[John Flavell]

I have a couple of negatives that may need a little bump in the shadows. They may be a bit too thin. I'd like to try a Selenium Toner on these to bump up the contrast a bit. Will a toner help long after the film has been processed?

Thanks in advance.

[Brian Ellis]

Yes it will (or at least it can).

[Mark Sampson]

Um, not exactly. You can intensify with selenium toner, but it works on the highlight (denser) areas of the negative, causing a contrast increase. Usually said to be worth about 1/2 paper grade increase. I believe the procedure is outlined in the 1980's/current edition of thee Ansel Adams manuals. But it won't do much in the thin shadow areas, there's not much to work with in the first place. Your situation sounds like underexposure, and ther'es no cure for that yet.

[Eric Woodbury]

Selenium toner plates evenly to any image, even those areas that you can see under bright light, but your paper can't. Thus, it benefits the shadows more than the highlights. Yes it increases contrast, but again, this is in the shadows where you need it. It is not a cure for no exposure, but in areas where the neg is thin and there was some exposure, it should make those more printable. It won't block highlight as it is adding a thin, uniform layer (small density) to the entire image.

[Brian Ellis]

I thought the thrust of his question wasn't the degree of the effect but whether it would work at all long after the negative had been processed. However, with respect to the degree of the effect, selenium is a proportional intensifier so it will have some effect on any areas from Zone III up but a proportionately greater effect on the highlights. Whether it will produce the "little bump" he wants in his particular negatives, who knows but he certainly can give it a try.

[Doremus Scudder]

You may selenium tone anytime after the film/paper has been processed. Just be sure the negs/prints are fixed and washed well. If so, all you need to do is wet them thoroughly first.

I use selenium toner at 1:2 for around 5 minutes for negative intensification.

Eric, the even plating you describe is something I have never experienced when toning negs with selenium. My experience is as usually described: proportional intensification of the neg with the highlights gaining 1/2 to almost 1 Zone and the shadows very little.

Intensifying the whole negative will give the above results. If you really only want a "bump in the shadows" try selectively intensifying the shadow areas with toner and a cotton swab. Careful if there are abrupt breaks in tonality where you are toning though, since you can end up with visible halos if you are not careful.

There are other intensification methods that work better with underexposed negs (chromium I believe).

Good luck

[paulr]

it's worth experimenting with. what others have said is true; the selenium will intensify the negs proportionally, so it will do a lot for the highlights and relatively little for weak shadows. it's much less drastic a measure than bleach and redevelop intensifiers, so it makes sense to try it first. i would definitely wash the negs for a good long time first ... maybe even briefly refix, rinse, hypoclear, and then wash, unless you're certain that the negs were processed impeccably and stored far away from any contaminants. selenium can cause staining if there are minute amounts of certain impurities present.

[Brian Ellis]

You wouldn't want to refix. The rest is a good suggestion. It's the possible fix remaining in the negative that can cause selenium to ruin the negative, so it's not a bad idea to hypo clear and rewash but if you also refix you're kind of defeating the purpose of the other things.