Re: Sepia Question

Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Sun, 22 Dec 1996 17:45:25 -0500 (EST)

On Sun, 22 Dec 1996, David Mendelsohn wrote:
> I appreciate your help. By "solutions" I mean a remedy and not necessarily
> a soup....but I would welcome, actually love a bichromate or any other formula
> that you might dig up. Often I will print up an image somewhat darker
> than normal, then bleach it to varying degrees, overall and/or selectively
> without bringing it back up in solution B....like the look and resultant
> tones but indeed, would love to experiment with other possibilities.
>

It's a long time since I've used these formulas and I'm not certain if
the first two can be used selectively as you envision, but here is

Bleach-Stain Remover (Kodak SR-6)

Solution A. 5% potassium permanganate solution

Solution B. 7.5 g sodium chloride (table salt without iodine OK)
1.6 cc sulfuric acid (don't worry about such precision)
in 100 cc water

Mix equal parts A&B at time of use. Bleach 3-4 minutes. Remove brown stain
in 1% sodium bisulfite. (Sodium sulfite is OK too.) Redevelop in strong
light in Dektol or other non-staining developer.

If you have hydrochloric acid instead:

20 cc of 5% potassium permanaganate in 180 cc water with 2cc hydrochloric
acid added. (I find muriatic acid -- cheap construction grade from
hardware store -- is fine.

You can usually buy potassium permanganate at the drug store, or could.
People soak their athlete's feet in it, or did.

And here's a bichromate formula my notes say "apply with brush."

To bleach sepia-toned images, use a very dilute potassium or ammonium
bichromate (say 1/2 tsp per litre) + 10 cc glacial acetic.

> The second portion of your post intriques me. I do not recall any
> post on rubber cement from last week. Is it possible that I didn't get 'em ?
> Ah, the mysteries of the net. If they dealt with applying the stuff to selected
> portions of the print, then toning around them, this is not my intent....rather,
> I would like to "paint" certain portions of my image away after they've
> been hit
> with solution B. Maybe your bichromates just might work.

I mentioned rubber cement in a thread about masking, pointing out that I
find it better than all the patented maskoids & friskits which I have
found a big pain to use & also come off photo paper before their time.
(However there's a new one from England, bright red, that looks better. I
saw it at last year's viscom, but haven't seen it in stores.)

My point was that rubber cement is hard to use mostly because you can't
see where it's at. I think it was Alex suggested adding pigment & we
talked about dispersing pigment in a rubber cement solvent, either the
dedicated thinner or xylol, which I thought an excellent idea.

Let us know how you make out.

Judy