The other night I went in to do some printing. I had a half pint bottle of Illford paper developer concentrate that was about 90 days old and used once. I also have a gallon of paper/film developer concentrate that is about 5 years old that has about 2” left in the bottom.

I used the new stuff but noticed when I mixed it up 1:9 that it was very dark. I made a test print and nothing. I might as well have dipped the print in tap water. I turned the light on and still nothing. Finally I mixed up some developer from the 5 year old gallon and it worked perfectly.

I guess I have several questions:

Is there some reason paper/film developer lasts longer than straight paper developer?

Should I just use film developer to develop paper?

What is the best developer for someone that might spend a month or two between work sessions?

Note: I don’t think Illford has the film/paper developer any more.