Alt-photo-process-l February 2002: RE: Kallitype again

Just a short time ago there was a brief thread on the kallitype. Since that time I have received a number of questions from folks on the list about my working procedures with this process. Since I have already jotted down the notes I am going to post them to the list for anybody who might be interested.

But fist, a few personal observations.

Many want to compare kallitype with pt/pd. It is certainly true that kallitypes are capable of a tonal range equal to that of pt/pd and in fact can be made to be virtually identical with certain developers and toning options. Ate the same time, however, it is also possible to obtain a range of image colors not possible with platinum, and therein lies the greatest attractiveness of the process for me.

Bear in mind that kallitype can be a very complicated or a very simple process. Look at Dick Stevens' book if you want to see an example of how complex it

Just one more note. To avoid spreading trays all over my darkroom I do all of the processing in just one tray, with a water rinse between each step.

Required Materials

10% silver nitrate
20% ferric oxalate (I mix from the powder)
Developer - 20% sodium citrate
Clearing Agent -3% citric acid
Fixer - 50g sodium thiosulfate, with 10g sodium carbonte plus 2g sodium sulfite per liter.
Hypo Clear -Kodak Hypo Clear, or 1% sodium sulfite solution
Toner - Per liter, 10g of citric acid plus either 5ml of platinum #3 solution, or 25ml of 1% gold chloride (or 5ml of 5% gold chloride).

Steps

1. Mix equal parts of 10% silver nitrate plus 20% ferric oxalate for sensitizer. I coat with a brush, a Hake or more recently the Richeson, and use about 6ml of combined solution for a 12X20 print.

2. Coat paper and allow to air dry. This takes about 15-20 minutes.

3. Expose.

4. Develop for 6-10 minutes. The procedure is to place the print in tray and pour the developer over the print as quickly as possible. If you immerse the print in the developer you may get lin

The platinum toner will give a final print that is virtually identical in color to a platinum print. The gold toner gives a very attractive purple/brown/blue tone. With the platinum toner the density of the print will be greater after toning than before, but contrast will be the same. With the gold toner the contrast of the image is increased by about a step through loss of density in the high values, but Dmax values (shadows)
are changed little if at all.

9. Rinse in running water for one minute.

10. Fix for three minutes.

11. Rinse in running water for one minute.

12. Hypo Clear, (or 1% solution of sodium sulfite) for two minutes.

13. Rinse in running water for 20 minutes.

14. Hang to dry.

Good luck!