B&W toning help

[steve barr]

After setting up and running B&W again I am interested in ideas/help/advice for using toners when printing on paper........sepia,brown,blue...........Does anyone have a method that works best for them? I am leaning towards extra help finding the right 'bleach' ( ? ) chemicals. Kodak does sell them in their toner kits but I am open to your ideas. Also feel free to advise on your own ways of toning/bleaching and the steps to get to workable results. Just a small homemade darkroom here but having LOADS of fun!!! Happy F-Stops. THANKS!!!!! steve

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Check out "Toning Techniques for Photographic Prints" by Richard Newman (Calumet, item number IP6240, $28.99), it has some very good information on toning.

This will be a good source of information for you.

Hope this helps a little anyway.

[domenico Foschi]

Check " The Photographer's toning Book " by Tim Rudman.
If ,you are interested in toning also you might want to explore the world of alternative processes. A good book to introduce it to you is " Coming into Focus" by Barnier, where our own Sandy King gives an excellent introduction to monochrome Carbon printing.
Have fun.

www.dfoschisite.com

[Ellen Stoune Duralia]

I'll second the recommendation for the "Coming Into Focus" book - it's an awful lot of fun!

[Jim Ewins]

I found Forte FB easy to bleach & tone as opposed to Ilford which was not. GRAVES' B&W Printing has a number of formula for toners.

[Richard Littlewood]

A good brown/reddish/yellowy toner is Hypo Alum. When I started to do 40x30 inch prints I wanted a sulphide toner without the perilous bleach stage. I've found Hypo Alum toner works well on all the papers I've used so far - Ilford MG and warmtone, Forte poly and warmtone. Prints can be pulled as the colour changes at a more leisurely pace than a bleach process. Downside - slow emulsion paper can take half a day to change colour - at least!. A plus is that it lasts for years. I've had a quantity mixed now for at least 3 years, it still works and I've not found anything to ruin it yet like selenium or gold. It is an ultra low tech toner!

[domenico Foschi]

Richard, Tim RUdman mentions that adding silver nitrate or potassium iodide speeds up the toning.
Have you had any problem with fogging of sensitive material in the darkroom, due to the slow toning ?

[Richard Littlewood]

Domenico. No problems with fogging, in fact the solution dosn't smell at all. It did more when it was fresh, but even then no where near as much as other toners. The silver nitrate is added to 'prime' the toner and is optional. Without it a few scrap prints must be put through the toner when it is first mixed as it is a reducer until a certain 'balance' is brought about by using the duff prints or silver nitrate. I used silver nitrate. Potassium iodide will alter the colour slightly and make it cooler - I havn't done this so I can't comment! The only way to speed up toning is to make the solution warmer - up to 40 degrees c. I always use it un-warmed though and do something ealse while a print is toning and give it the odd agitation now and again.