Re: toning VDB & kalli - 2 questions

About this list Date view Thread view Subject view Author view

From: Sandy King (sanking@clemson.edu)
Date: 11/24/02-09:57:29 PM Z


Judy wrote:

>
>She's tried the gold toning method from Chris James's book, but it totally
>spoiled the color of both emulsions.. turning it from rich blue black to a
>conventional brown. That was toning before fixing.

First,how in the world was she getting a rich blue black from vandyke
without toning? I am somewhat perplexed by this statement.

Which toning formula did she use? There are quite a number of gold
toners described in James. I use the one that calls for 5g citric
acid + 5ml of a 25% gold chloride solution to a liter of water. When
using this formula with both vandyke and kallitype on Stonehenge
paper I get the purple/blue black tone that is typical of most gold
toning. Substitute 5ml of either platinum or palladium solution #3
and you will get a neutral black to brownish black color.

>
>the questions are:
>
>What about toning after fixing? Is that effective? It might also alter
>the color, but then it might not.

Ever thing I have read indicates that toning before fixing is
effective from an archival perspective. However, in my experience the
color will change very little if you tone after fixing. And there is
another outstanding reason to tone before fixing, and that is to
avoid the loss of density through bleach back. When I tone before
fixing there is almost no loss of density in fixing, even when fixing
times are as great as 6-8 minutes.

>
>Has anyone got a different toner formula that might not alter color to
>brown? What about selenium toning for these emulsions?

I avoid selenium like the plague with both vandyke and kallitype. The
gold and platinum toners described above are quite economical to use
and avoid the myriad of problems associated with selenium. Some have
reported good results with selenium in very dilute solutions, say
1:200, but I have seen very little to make me happy with this toner
in vandyke and kallitype.

Sandy King


About this list Date view Thread view Subject view Author view

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : 12/17/02-04:47:05 PM Z CST