Lith Printers Question

[DanK]

For the lith printers out there...

Most of my lith printing has been pretty much warmtone - minimal coloration in prints... I enjoy the grain and inf dev...

I came across some older fogged paper - orange box, made in France - no other manufacturer info....believe an older bromide...

It prints a very pleasing peach to pink - I'm curious - How stable is this coloration for long term ?

Thanks,
Dan

[bob carnie]

You are good to go,, many papers have that peachy to die for look.
As long as you double fix , hypo clear and wash as normal the prints are permanent.
I have a box of old Elite for those very reasons.
Some of the Sterling Lith papers were very pink, Kentmere Ketona was very pink as well.

have fun

For the lith printers out there...

Most of my lith printing has been pretty much warmtone - minimal coloration in prints... I enjoy the grain and inf dev...

I came across some older fogged paper - orange box, made in France - no other manufacturer info....believe an older bromide...

It prints a very pleasing peach to pink - I'm curious - How stable is this coloration for long term ?

Thanks,
Dan

[DanK]

Thanks Bob...Sure Appreciate the Response...

Spent most of last night, and all of this morning trying to dial it in....so fogged I could barely get an image with conventional developer...liths beautifully...

I usually use KRST, should I expect a color shift?

Thanks again,
Dan

[bob carnie]

Krst yessiree bob It will shift big time, make a few extra prints.

I like to slightly bleach then sepia , then selenium.
Iron blue toner is also very beautiful.
One of the most beautiful looks to lith is , sepia, gold, then iron blue, what a colour cornipication.
really looks choice.

Today I am lithing digital negatives , works quite nicely , need to pump up the contrast of the neg .

Thanks Bob...Sure Appreciate the Response...

Spent most of last night, and all of this morning trying to dial it in....so fogged I could barely get an image with conventional developer...liths beautifully...

I usually use KRST, should I expect a color shift?

Thanks again,
Dan

[DanK]

Thanks again Bob...

I just now walked out of the darkroom with a print I've been looking for....now to make a few more close to it...

Opposite on contrast for me - I'm using a normal contrast negative - but I've had to push exposure up to 6 minutes, wide open, to bring the highlights in a decent range...

I only have a couple toners on hand, but have plenty of mistakes to experiment with...

Thanks,
Dan

[bob carnie]

Try flashing the paper with another light source with timer,
this will bring in your highlights faster.
I use a very strong dilution and all my snatch times are 3-4 min.
others use a very dilute dev and 20 min agitation.
I use a 250w bulb in my enlarger , its only rated for 150w but I have been doing this close to twenty years on lith and yes I burn through the bulbs but much faster times.
I use fast enlarger lenses and I hope you are using a glass carrier or your neg will be popping like Orville Redenbacker.
I would rather pull my teeth out one at a time than stand for 20 min to see the result.



Thanks again Bob...

I just now walked out of the darkroom with a print I've been looking for....now to make a few more close to it...

Opposite on contrast for me - I'm using a normal contrast negative - but I've had to push exposure up to 6 minutes, wide open, to bring the highlights in a decent range...

I only have a couple toners on hand, but have plenty of mistakes to experiment with...

Thanks,
Dan

[DanK]

Bob,

I commonly flash for paper negatives - pre exposure - But never considered it for lith, thanks I'll give it a try...

My snatch times are usually in the 10-15 minute range - I use LD 20 - 1:9 with 30% old brown... I used to use a more dilute solution and realized I didn't have the patience for 45 min developing times...

I use a cold light....and running max output - unstabilized...componon s 150/5.6 wide open...

This paper is extremely contrasty - most likely age - first time I've had to expose this long - but I'm using a #1 kodak vc filter - plus dodging to even everything out... (with a normal contrast neg)

The paper is from a batch of 'free' paper from the 70's and 80's listed on CL - around 800 sheets of various papers....of course, doubt I can find more but sure am enjoying the results...

Half of the papers were RC - which I don't use - have you ever tried lith with RC?

Thanks again,
Dan

[Iga]

Hi Dan !
I can't say how stable colour is for LONG term, but my lith prints made in 2004 look fine. As for fogged paper - it's OK for lith, just try different dilutions / times. If you want to convert pink in blue - try very diluted bleach. Weak selenium gives interesting tones as well. Tim Rudman book has a lot of information, tips etc..
Best wishes,
Igor.



For the lith printers out there...

Most of my lith printing has been pretty much warmtone - minimal coloration in prints... I enjoy the grain and inf dev...

I came across some older fogged paper - orange box, made in France - no other manufacturer info....believe an older bromide...

It prints a very pleasing peach to pink - I'm curious - How stable is this coloration for long term ?

Thanks,
Dan

[bob carnie]

It sounds to me you are not getting enough light on your paper.
Lith works best in my darkroom with very contrasty negatives, not normal.

The flash can be quite strong with heavy negatives, you will be surprised
Can you put a Condensor head on your enlarger with 250w bulb ?, this will really help
My dilution is 1:8 so we are really on board there- though my snatch time is always around 3 1/2 min which is manageble anything longer and the session sucks.

I would get more exposure on the paper with a stronger head and use a glass carrier.
You do not need a filter for lith.... your prints if contrasty because of underexposure and no flash.

I only use RC for contact sheets.


Bob,

I commonly flash for paper negatives - pre exposure - But never considered it for lith, thanks I'll give it a try...

My snatch times are usually in the 10-15 minute range - I use LD 20 - 1:9 with 30% old brown... I used to use a more dilute solution and realized I didn't have the patience for 45 min developing times...

I use a cold light....and running max output - unstabilized...componon s 150/5.6 wide open...

This paper is extremely contrasty - most likely age - first time I've had to expose this long - but I'm using a #1 kodak vc filter - plus dodging to even everything out... (with a normal contrast neg)

The paper is from a batch of 'free' paper from the 70's and 80's listed on CL - around 800 sheets of various papers....of course, doubt I can find more but sure am enjoying the results...

Half of the papers were RC - which I don't use - have you ever tried lith with RC?

Thanks again,
Dan

[DanK]

Thanks for the tips Igor...Appreciate it.

Dan

[DanK]

Bob,

My usual exposure times for lith, with modern papers, are usually pretty short - 2 - 3 stops over a conventional print time.

This old paper and that particular negative just didn't quite agree...

Thanks again,
Dan





It sounds to me you are not getting enough light on your paper.
Lith works best in my darkroom with very contrasty negatives, not normal.

The flash can be quite strong with heavy negatives, you will be surprised
Can you put a Condensor head on your enlarger with 250w bulb ?, this will really help
My dilution is 1:8 so we are really on board there- though my snatch time is always around 3 1/2 min which is manageble anything longer and the session sucks.

I would get more exposure on the paper with a stronger head and use a glass carrier.
You do not need a filter for lith.... your prints if contrasty because of underexposure and no flash.

I only use RC for contact sheets.