Ilford fb warmtone--problem

[false_Aesthetic]

Hey,

I'm running into a problem I've never seen before.

I'm printing 4x5 neg (efke in pyro) onto 16x20 Ilford FB warmtone paper--color head.

1) 1 min soak in h2o
2) 3.5 min in the edwal platinum dev (1:15)
3) 30 sec h2o stop
4) then initial fix for 5'

The edges of the paper are yellow--fades to paper white after about 3/4"...

Water, dev., fix are all fresh.

Any thoughts?

[evan clarke]

Sounds fogged...EC

[Ralph Barker]

A couple of additional questions. How long of a wash after fixing? And, what is the water source used for the pre-fix processing steps?

[Robert Ley]

Why are you using a water pre-soak? Am I missing something here?
I have never seen the need to pre-soak paper prior to development. Is this a special need for the developer that you are using? Please explain. Sorry if this is really an ignorant question.

[Glenn Thoreson]

I use that paper regularly. Most is several years old. I've never seen a problem like that. I don't understand the pre-soak thing, either. Never heard of it before. Yellow doesn't sound like fog, in my experience. I've never seen yellowing with this paper.

[JW Dewdney]

Sounds like your fix is too weak? or you're not fixing long enough. Could also be that you're turning on the room lights too soon into the fixing.

[false_Aesthetic]

pre-soaking.... hmmm. nick nixon suggested I do it... so I do it.


T.

[Oren Grad]

pre-soaking.... hmmm. nick nixon suggested I do it... so I do it. T.

Specifically for paper? Many people presoak film, but I can't recall ever hearing of a presoak for paper. To my knowledge, no paper manufacturer recommends it.

At any rate, there's nothing to lose from trying your processing sequence without that step and seeing whether that makes a difference.

[domenico Foschi]

False,
I have never heard and seen anything like it.
I use Platinum as well.
Mhmmm.... Try without pre soaking, ( but I don't think that is the problem). try a minimum amount of stop.

That is all I can think of. Try to fix a sheet unexposed and undeveloped in case the paper might be defective.
try one unexposed, developed and fixed.....

Are using old trays? You might have contamination somewhere.

[Merg Ross]

My guess is that the stop bath and fixer are the weak links. I would suggest eliminating the pre soak, useing an acidic short stop and perhaps a rapid fixer. Your paper apparently has not sufficiently cleared prior to turning on the room lights.

[false_Aesthetic]

Ok,

So I opened up a new package of paper. Same chemistry... no problems.

I'm still confused about the yellowing of the paper edges... it almost looks like the yellowing on the pages of an old book . . .

Its not a big deal since I'll just end up using the older paper for tests. Im just kind've curious whats goin' on.


T

[Gene McCluney]

A water pre-soak for developing paper is a needless step. I know of no one that does that.

[domenico Foschi]

A water pre-soak for developing paper is a needless step. I know of no one that does that.

But I also don't think it's harmful.If False prefers that workflow, well, so be it.

[Graham Patterson]

One pack of paper, yellow-ish edge fogging (all edges equally?). Sounds like chemical (gas or vapour fogging) to me. If it is all edges then I would hazard a guess that it was stored in a paper safe, not a polythene bag. Traditional sepia toning, perhaps?