Re: Gold toners


Richard Knoppow (dickburk@ix.netcom.com)
Wed, 19 May 1999 01:30:48 -0700


At 04:40 PM 5/18/99 +0000, you wrote:
>Greetings-
>
>Judy Seigel wrote:
>
>>>As far as hardening fixer inhibiting toning, my experience, BTW, is that
>>>it doesn't with the, let's call it dynamite toners. I used to teach toning
>>>workshops where students brought their ready-made prints to tone, all of
>>>which had been fixed with hardener. I never noticed any difference in the
>>>way theirs toned, and the way my own prints toned in the same formulas, my
>>>own having been fixed in non-hardening fix.
>
>Agreed. The toners which utilize strong bleaches will be fairly
>uneffected. All bleach/redevelop toners and copper toners come immediately
>to mind.... Split-toning, especially with gold toners is, in my experience,
>far more temperamental - more like pinot noir than zinfandel.
>
>>>I myself don't see any particular reason for a hardener in fix,
>
>I've never heard a convincing argument for its use.
>
>Richard Knoppow wrote:
>
>>Nelson's Gold is a sepia or brown toner covered by a (now expired)
>>patent. I think you are confusing it with the Gold toner used to produce
>>blue tones. That toner can be used in a similar way to Selenium to protect
>>the image silver. Kodak formula GP-1 is a weak thiocarbamide-gold toner for
>>this purpose.
>
>The GP-1 (ie -"Gold Protective") formula was historically used for archival
>enhancement - it fell from use due to its expense. When it's used in
>stronger dilutions, or for extended amounts of time it will shift the print
>color blue - although not dramatically. And in my experience, this is true
>for either warm or cold tone papers.
>
>GP-1 contains sodium thiocyanate and gold chloride. I believe it is the
>GP-2 gold toner which contains thiocarbimide. I have a formula for GP-2,
>but have no experience using it. It is on the list of things to try....
>(Douglas Nishimura of The Image Permanence Institute at RIT was kind enough
>to send me the formula - according to his letter, it seems to be used
>mainly for films, but I see no reason not to try it on papers!)
>
>I use the GP-1 gold toner frequently. Like many gold-based toners it has
>significant potential for stunning visual effects. (Here comes a shameless
>plug:) The next issue of Judy Seigel's "The World Journal of Post-Factory
>Photography" (due out, perhaps, any minute) will contain an in depth
>description of my use (or abuse) of this interesting toner. Stay tuned!!
>
>>When a previously sepia toned print is treated in a gold blue toner it
>>turns red.
>
>My understanding and experience is that this particular combination of
>sepia and gold to achieve red tones utilizes the Gold-231 formula (which
>contains ammonium thiocyanate and gold chloride - and also sodium
>thiosulfate when used to achive the red tones specifically). But with all
>of these unusual applications results and experience will vary - I'd love
>to know more....
>
>Best -
>
>Jon Bailey
>
>
>
  A large Ooops. I may have been thinking of a POP gold toner which does
use thiocarbamate. I was looking at the Kodak formula book when I posted too.
  I can't find the GP-2 formula in any of my references. Can you post it to
me via e-mail?
  For comparison here is GP-1 and an Agfa/Ansco Gold toner formula meant
for either blue toning or for red modification of sepia prints.
 Kodak GP-1
Water 750.0 ml
Gold Chloride, 1% solution 10.0 ml
Sodiumn thiocyanate 10.0 gm
Water to make 1.0 liter
Recommended toning time: 10 minutes

Ansco/Agfa 231

Water, at 125F 750.0 ml
Ammonium Thiocyanate* 105.0 gm
Gold Chloride, 1% solution 60.0 ml
Water to make 1.0 liter
*For Sodium Thiocyanate use 110.0 gm
*For Potassium Thiocyanate use 135.o gm
 Blue toning takes 15 to 45 minutes.
  For red tones the instructions recommend toning in a bleach and redevelop
type sepia toner.
 Redder tones can be produced by cutting the amount of thiocyanate in half.
  Split tones with red highlights and blue shadows can be had by partially
toning in a hypo-alum type sepia toner.
 GP-1 is not as effective in passivating the image silver as Selenium
toning but may result in a more pleasing image color with some papers.
 None of this seems very alt proc to me.
----
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles,Ca.
dickburk@ix.netcom.com



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Oct 28 1999 - 21:39:34