Recent results: warm-tone paper and developer, selenium toning

[Ulophot]

The following may be of little interest to those who have been using a warm-tone paper for a while; for those relatively new to processing B&W, I hope it may have some value.

I print mostly on Ilford Warmtone Fiber and like to tone it in selenium 1:19, which yields moderate toning. Over the past year, I have tried several warm-tone developers and recently have done some more extensive testing with one developer.

I had been using either Multigrade or Dektol. When both were back-ordered recently, I bought three others: Photographers' Formulary TD-30 Improved Dektol, their D-52 (Kodak Selectol) warm-tone developer, and something called Eco-Pro (EP), which also advertises advantages for warm-tone papers. I will focus here on the last.

First I'll say that I could see virtually no difference between D-52 and EP prints, toned or untoned. If anything, D-52 yields a tiny touch more contrast, but the difference is so subtle that in practical application , i.e., side-by-side in good light, let alone the vagaries of display conditions, it was effectively nil. There is a difference, in that D-525 must be mixed and Eco-Pro comes in liquid; in economy, similar amounts of stock cost the same but D-52 mixes 1:2 while EP is 1:9 and boasts better keeping properties. Chemistry is certainly not the major cost in printing, but I think it worth mentioning.

In comparison with Multigrade or Dektol, EP is a softer-working developer and also does yield a slightly warmer-toned print. The contrast difference is perhaps a gentle 1/2 a grade. Dektol requires less exposure of a given print than EP, about 22% less to match averaged appearance of a full-range negative. (I do not use step wedges in my testing and did not go through the full process of comparing separate times for Zone II and VIII or IX.) The low-value shadow detail stays a bit more open with EP, relative to mid-values, in comparison with Dektol when mid-values are matched.

Two minutes is the recommended development time. I tested also 3, 4, and 5 minutes. These yielded appreciably darker prints progressively. Another print developed for 5 minutes but with exposure time reduced to a yield a match for the 2-minute print, it confirmed that contrast did not increase. By the way, contrast increase with longer print development is a long-standing matter of contention, and I will not argue either side, other than reporting my particular results here, and adding that, if you have a print in which areas of very high value and pure white are significant, longer development can indeed increase the appearance of an increase in contrast, in a texture as well as in overall print range. It is, in any case a tonal-control variable that some printers use.

EP-developed prints tone nicely, at 1:19. Today's variable-contrast papers have a tendency for split-toning, with high values remaining more neutral (until full toning is allowed), especially as stronger toning dilutions affect mid- and low-values more strongly. One difference I have noted, is that while Dektol and Multigrade can sometimes allow a certain out-of-key reddish color to emerge in the mid-tone range, even at 1:19, when toning is carried a bit too far, EP shows the effect less, if at all.
For those new to selenium toning, it's worth mentioning temperature, though you'll find this covered in plenty of other places.

1. Toning time varies considerably with temperature. Four to five minutes at 70 degrees F and 75 degree F will, at least on papers I have used, produce very different results, and 80 degrees will speed up the process even more.
2. Your darkroom's temperature, along with evaporation-cooling, can make a big difference! In some recent tests, I was toning identical prints for 5, 7, 9, and 11 minutes. I started out at 76, both toner and darkroom air temp, with 5 minutes in the toning bath. Even though my air temp remained fairly steady, I was wondering why the toning appeared to be slowing down and checked the toner temp after four minutes in the 11-minute bath -- it had sunk to near 70 degrees! A warmer water bath in a larger tray underneath the toning tray may help.

3. Toning can continue after the print is removed from the selenium toner and placed in a water bath. Ansel Adams recommended three minutes of "vigorous agitation" in a fixer-clearing bath following toning.

4. The apparent contradiction to this is that, if the after-toning bath is not cooler than the toning bath, the toning can be diminished. If your tap water on hot summer days is 75 degrees or so, you may wish to follow my practice of adding ice-water periodically to rinse and washes to keep them around 70 degrees -- the opposite of the drill in the winter, when the toner needs to be kept warmed up.

[LabRat]

On #2, a reason is with metallic toners, there is a concentration of available metals floating around in bath, the first print in attracts much more to the Dmax areas than the next prints in... In the old days of gold toning, it was suggested to place 3 prints in new bath at the same time, then the last couple to get better consistency before bath is exhausted...

Prolonged dev time for prints usually show little difference when wet or semi-dry, but final call is when prints are fully bone dry... This is because exposed/developed silver is suspended in wet swollen emulsion, it has some "space" between other grains, but upon drying, this "space" shrinks and grains overlay each other (like a pile of leaves under a tree that cover ground)... And this action happens in the shadows that might get too dark... Generally, you print blacks a hair lighter so wet print darks look not pitch black, but smokey grey (or slightly green with WT) black, and dry - down takes care of it later...

Also note dry - down is not complete until even dry print is hot flattened or heat dry mounted as the final moisture is removed, so you see a very slight darkening after heating FB...

Steve K

[Ulophot]

Thanks. I am aware of dry-down (another of those contentious issues; I use a Zone VI compensating print timer and am happy with the control it affords), but I didn't know about the first-print-in toning effect.

[Doremus Scudder]

I'm going to question Steve K. about the "first-print-in effect" here. I rather think that the proportion of toning between denser and less-dense areas remains the same despite toner concentration, however, the toning speed changes. I've been toning in selenium for years and have always been able to tone the same paper the same way in weaker toner simply by leaving it in longer (yes, I've done the test...).

Important to realize, however, is that times to achieve the same toning effect (degree of toning) get longer with each successive print. With a relatively active solution, this is negligible at first, but after several prints have been through the toner, toning times increase significantly. This is why simply toning by time (e.g., those that tone everything for 3 minutes in 1+19 selenium toner) won't give consistent results. The first prints through get more toning than the last ones.

I tone visually, i.e., judging the toning as it progresses an pulling the print when the desired amount of tone change has been reached. When toning times get too long, I simply add some more toner concentrate to replenish the toning bath. My toning baths get filtered, stored and reused indefinitely, and get replenished when needed. I have toner that's been going for well over 10 years.

Best,

Doremus

[Ulophot]

Doremus, after seeing several posts on "topping up" selenium toner in a thread a while back, probably including one by you, I gave it a try. My toner bottle holds 40 oz. I was testing identical prints and trying to maintain consistency, and found that the topping procedure either gave me too little or too much concentration. Perhaps I was not careful enough. I would like to know from you 1) how you might recommend choosing an amount of fresh toner to add, and 2) whether there is any economy of significance or other benefit to be derived from this practice. At about $25 for a delivered quart, and cutting the max stated capacity from 160 prints to 120, the cost per print is still only 20 cents. (What ever happened to the cent symbol on keyboards?)

Thank you.

[cowanw]

Hold alt and type 0162. Who knew?

[Doremus Scudder]

Philip,

When I replenish selenium toner, I add something in the neighborhood of 20ml of concentrate per liter of toner solution. When in doubt, add less. If the toning times are still too long, add a touch more. It doesn't take much.

I tone at times between about two and six minutes, depending on the print, paper and toner activity. I don't replenish till the toning times end up around the five or six-minute mark. If I get the toner too strong, I'll just dilute it a bit. You get a feel for how much replenishment you need after a while. The upside of this is that you never have to discard your toner; just filter it and save it for next time.

Again, the exact toning time doesn't seem to be critical; you can achieve the same toning with a weaker solution and a longer time as with a stronger solution and a shorter time. It's the toning at x dilution for x amount of time that results in uneven toning in a batch, since the toner will have lost some activity when the last prints are put through.

And, if you see no change in tone, you're not toning... Some think that dipping prints in a very weak solution of selenium toner for a few minutes has some magical archival qualities. However, there is no protection from toning if no toning occurs. For selenium toning, full protection is only achieved by complete toning, something most of us rarely do. We just tone enough to enhance D-max or remove the objectionable green-black tint many papers have. Even those who like a bit more purplish-brown tone to their prints (like me) don't tone anywhere near completely.

If you want your print to last a long time, fix and wash well.

Best,

Doremus

[Ulophot]

Thanks, Doremus. Perhaps I'll give the topping-up another try. My toning preferences are probably similar to yours. Our digital brothers and sisters have the advantage of being able to tone all values without the split-toning that tends to obtain the VC papers. Maybe someone will come up with a solution, so to speak, for those of us who stick to chemistry. But I sometimes forget how warm my images are, since I print pretty consistently, for now, on WTF.

[Ulophot]

Well, I should have known. My day job involves my special MS Word skills, and I am aware of the various coded "alphabets," though I rarely use them. Anyway, thanks -- I immedidately opened Word and typed the shortcut you gave. Nice to see to old symbol once again. Reminiscent of childhood.