Mixing Kodak Crocein Scarlet

[tgtaylor]

How do you mix this stuff Anyone know?

I picked up a 1oz bottle with the idea of treating scratches on 8x10 negatives.

Thanks,

Thomas

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Dilute with a little distilled water. Build up the density to where you need it to be. It is an art to use.

[frotog]

Try to find a copy of the 1944 photo techniques book "Lootens' photographic techniques". They're readily available, non-collectible...http://www.amazon.com/Lootens-Photog.../dp/B002A3U5DC

Possibly the best description that I've read on how to effectively use Crocein Scarlet.

You will need an eyedropper and several small bottles for different degrees of dilution. Diluted ammonia works well as a dissolving agent and as a removal agent. Start working on the non-emulsion side first. CS is a great tool to put sparkle in highlights and hold back shadows but to remove scratches or dust marks you're better off using opaque.

[tgtaylor]

Thanks for the replys everyone!

I've done some research in CS online and it sounds like amazing stuff indeed. If anyone out there has a copy of the Lootens book and could scan and email me the pertinent pages I'd really apreciate it. The only library's that have it locally are school libraries but I imagine I could get it on an inter-library loan. A used copy is on ebay but it's priced too high.

Thanks,

Thomas

[Bill Burk]

Thanks for the replys everyone!

I've done some research in CS online and it sounds like amazing stuff indeed. If anyone out there has a copy of the Lootens book and could scan and email me the pertinent pages I'd really apreciate it. The only library's that have it locally are school libraries but I imagine I could get it on an inter-library loan. A used copy is on ebay but it's priced too high.

Thanks,

Thomas

There was a copy down at Kaufmann's in San Mateo last time I stopped in... It's half the book, so not that easy to scan.

[frotog]

$2.69 plus $4 shipping at the amazon link above.

[Drew Wiley]

There's nothing to it. It dissolves in water, though I prefer distilled to prevent any hypothetical mineral stain. Test on a scrap
negative, and if necessary make it more dilute. I personally keep on hand a slightly strong red bottle, which is then diluted for use. Build it up slowly, letting each layer dry between coats. It doesn't take long. Any b&w printing manual from the
40"s or 50"s should illustrate the technique. Just use an appropriate watercolor brush. Apply to the base side of the film. It was particularly popular back when smoking a ciggie was supposed to make a portrait sitter look sophisticated, but they didn't want smoke in the studio, so they'd simply dub the cigarette smoke afterward with a few swirl or red dye. Clouds were
also added this way. Their version of Fauxtoshop, which in fact is even easier for some things.

[Mark Sampson]

In the files at the company I used to work for, there were many old negatives (1950s-60s) that had had CS applied. The old-timers there used it to add density to the shadow areas of 8x10 negatives. We had a few jars around, left over from those days, but never used it. Although I might have, if anyone had ever shown me the technique.

[Drew Wiley]

A bottle in dry form with last a lifetime, it seems. It can be removed if necessary. Or anther trick is to register a sheet of frosted mylar and apply the dye to that - it can become a built-in dodging/burning mask for blue sensitive emulsions, capable
of handling details difficult to dodge/burn in a conventional manner. I don' use it often; but it sure can be handy at times.

[frotog]

There's nothing to it. It dissolves in water, though I prefer distilled to prevent any hypothetical mineral stain.

Wrong. It will not dissolve entirely in water. You need to add ammonia to the distilled water to make the concentrate. How do I know? Because I frequently use the stuff, even on small negs. And there is definitely something to it, despite what Drew says. I'll still screw negs up from time to time - it takes rigorous technique to gradually and subtly build tone without visible edge marks. Fortunately, when the inevitable mistake occurs, it'll wash off and you can start all over again.