Arista Litho A/B Developer Powder

Anyone using this lith developer successfully for prints?

I got some with a recent Freestyle order - I like the idea of it being a powder, 'cause it'll be easier to ship.

Mixed it up two nights ago; so it's pretty fresh.

At any rate, so far it's been pretty grim. I've tried Emaks Gr 2 & 3, Agfa MCC111, and Rollei 111 - giving each one 2.0 stops more exposure. Pretty standard stuff - I just want to get a feel for the developer.

Diluting it 1+1+3 didn't give a lot of love. No blacks (I've had a piece of emaks in there all afternoon, room lights on - and it's still just dark grey), no real lith action. A bit on the Agfa MCC111 - a *bit* - and less on the Rollei 111. They all look like ass, colour wise. No grit / grain / etc... The images would come up very faint in the first 2min, and by 10-12min they were getting 'muddy'. Blacks never really showed up.

Yesterday a friend was using the developer at 1+1+8, and I tried the emaks in it. Awful results. Took 30min to get anything resembling a print, but the colour was as gross a brown as you could imagine. He was using all sorts of paper; Foma, Rollei 111 & 132, some Maco VC, Ilfobrom... No interesting results. Consistently weak blacks.

So I'm wondering - does anyone use this with positive results? Any pointers? Any papers that seem to sing in it?

Would be very interested to hear what other's have to say.


Thanks!

Usually the way I've always done it is to make an litho negative using litho film and lith dev, and printing that normally. Try it, it works a lot better.

As a print developer shouldn't it be used
much more dilute? Maybe 1:39. Most lith
developers are formulated for film. Dan

I received some good advice regarding this developer here:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

It's been working good for me. There are some examples in my gallery.

I've used it as a super-fast-acting and high-contrast print developer, usually for banging out lots of RC contact sheets really fast, and also fairly often for getting halftone or high contrast results in prints. It is all I have ever used for a lith printing developer.

For lith printing, I mix A:B in a 1:1 ratio, then dilute this 1:9 with water.

This means that to make 2 L to fill an 11x14 tray, I mix 100 mL of part A with 100 mL, and add the resulting 200mL to 1.8 L of water.

It usually takes a few prints to "warm up" the lith developer.

For high contrast printing, I have used the standard working solution for graphic arts film anywhere from straight to to 1:3.

I've used two batches of it, so I have some experience. The first time I used it to print, I found that it was very sensitive to contamination fromm other developers. So if your trays have been used for anything but the same Arista Lith developer, you need to wash and scrub them thoroughly.

If you had a sheet of Fotokemika Emaks in the bath for half an hour with the room lights on, your developer was either exhausted or contaminated.

My dilution was 200ml pt 1 to 1,300ml water + 200ml pt 2 to 1,300ml water. Mix together. Add 800ml 'old brown' (obviously won't work the first printing session unless you have old brown from a previous batch of the same developer).

I think that to religiously follow 2 x 'normal' exposure time is to deprive yourself of the best results. You need to experiment a bit with each negative to get the most out of it. Every print does not work at 2x normal...

When you start your printing session, take some out of date paper and put it in the tray to season the developer. For the volume I use, 3,800ml (1 gallon) I use two 8x10 pieces and let them fully develop in room light. That usually takes about five minutes for them to go black.

I've had wonderful print results with it. Very strong blacks, not as intense colors as with Fotospeed Lith, but this means nicer with things like portraits. The attached jpeg was made with it on Forte Polygrade paper. I've also used it successfully with Ilford MGWT, Fotokemika Emaks G3 and G4, Fotokemika Varycon, Agfa Portriga Rapid G2 and G3, Fomabrom 112, and Fomatone 132 and 542. The Ilford and Fotokemika Emaks papers usually have to be toned afterward as the color from the developer can be iffy. The Ilford turns green, and the Emaks turns a neutral brown that I don't care for. But with some sulfide toner it warms up and the green disappears. Especially if you use selenium on top.

Good luck!

Marco Buonocore said:

Anyone using this lith developer successfully for prints?

I got some with a recent Freestyle order - I like the idea of it being a powder, 'cause it'll be easier to ship.

Mixed it up two nights ago; so it's pretty fresh.

At any rate, so far it's been pretty grim. I've tried Emaks Gr 2 & 3, Agfa MCC111, and Rollei 111 - giving each one 2.0 stops more exposure. Pretty standard stuff - I just want to get a feel for the developer.

Diluting it 1+1+3 didn't give a lot of love. No blacks (I've had a piece of emaks in there all afternoon, room lights on - and it's still just dark grey), no real lith action. A bit on the Agfa MCC111 - a *bit* - and less on the Rollei 111. They all look like ass, colour wise. No grit / grain / etc... The images would come up very faint in the first 2min, and by 10-12min they were getting 'muddy'. Blacks never really showed up.

Yesterday a friend was using the developer at 1+1+8, and I tried the emaks in it. Awful results. Took 30min to get anything resembling a print, but the colour was as gross a brown as you could imagine. He was using all sorts of paper; Foma, Rollei 111 & 132, some Maco VC, Ilfobrom... No interesting results. Consistently weak blacks.

So I'm wondering - does anyone use this with positive results? Any pointers? Any papers that seem to sing in it?

Would be very interested to hear what other's have to say.


Thanks!

Click to expand...

Arista Lith Powder

Hi Marco.

Attached are two examples using Arista Lith Powder and Arista EDU Glossy. One had a relatively short exposure, the other a much longer expsore.

I found it gave a nice color with Forte Polywarmtone, but as that is no longer available I didn't bother scanning any of those.

I hope this helps.

Neal Wydra

Correction: My above post, #6, was not on Forte Polygrade paper. It was Fotokemika Emaks Grade 3...

Banana, Neal, 2F, Thomas - Thanks for the responses. Just the information I was looking for.

I'll have to try it again, this time scrubbing the developer try a bit more. It was, admittedly, filthy! It's good to know that people are getting results with the Emaks. I agree that that paper likes a bit of selenium toning to take care of the nasty brown colour it tends to go. I've seen some gold toned Emaks lith prints at Elevator Lab that were out of this world.

Insofar as the whole "add 2 stops of exposure" for lith printing; I just use that as a guideline when adding a new variable. Having never used the developer before, I reckoned it was as good a place as any to start. Once I'm comfortable with a particular paper / developer combination, I've got less use for that 'rule'. I'm pretty new to lith printing, so I keep my Rudman books close at hand

Again - thanks for the quality responses. I'll be keen on having another crack at it!

Marco,

If you live in Toronto, and go to Elevator, you should try get some face time with Bob Carnie. He really is a master printer, and may be able to really help out with tips.
Be prepared for a completely different approach to lith printing, though. Most people develop by inspection with lith, Bob develops with time, and controls everything with preflashing and exposure.
Nevertheless, his lith prints (and any other prints he makes) are truly spectacular.

My favorite paper with the AristaLith (powder) was the Ilford MGWT. You must tone on the tail end, though.

Good luck!

- Thomas