Can I undo Direct Brown toning?

[NB23]

Holy sheet, ilford art 300 really tones quickly in Viradon original (not new), sulfide direct toning.

I love Viradon but not when it goes berserk. Is there a way to revert the brown toning, at least slightly? I’d hate to reprint 20 sheets, and they’re the expensive kind!

thanks

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Holy sheet, ilford art 300 really tones quickly in Viradon original (not new), sulfide direct toning.

I love Viradon but not when it goes berserk. Is there a way to revert the brown toning, at least slightly? I’d hate to reprint 20 sheets, and they’re the expensive kind!

thanks

one could try to bleach the printsin potassiumerry but he results will be rather unpredictable and bleach the highlightsmorethan all other tones;a reprints seems unavoidable;sorry.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Best to just reprint it.

 

[NB23]

Thanks guys

 

[koraks]

Is there a way to revert the brown toning, at least slightly?

No. Silver sulfide is very stable.

 

[tezzasmall]

Holy sheet, ilford art 300 really tones quickly in Viradon original (not new), sulfide direct toning.

I love Viradon but not when it goes berserk. Is there a way to revert the brown toning, at least slightly? I’d hate to reprint 20 sheets, and they’re the expensive kind!

thanks

I have to ask... but did it not occur to you after the first toned print going wrong, that it was not going the way you wanted it to go?

As you say, Art300 ain't cheap, so one likes to get things kinda right.

Terry S

 

[NB23]

The way I work is different. I’m on a decade long marathon composed of daily sprints of 40-50 prints. Yes, it sounds insane and it is.

The error I made yesterday was to warm the viradon bath excessively (40c) and things went berserk, fast.

I have to ask... but did it not occur to you after the first toned print going wrong, that it was not going the way you wanted it to go?

As you say, Art300 ain't cheap, so one likes to get things kinda right.

Terry S

 

[pentaxuser]

NB23 I quite like what I assume to be deep brown toned prints in your case. It would be nice to see just how brown the toner was able to make the prints
Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[NB23]

Actually, what I’m going going to say might be important to some and should be of knowledge to any darkroom printer.

Brown toner will save any print that is too dark. There was a time where I couldn’t adjust to the drydown of some papers. Especially ilford matte: prints looked gorgeous and the next day, when they we’re dry, i’d tear them all with frustration.

I couldn’t go through this anymore and that’s when I found out that brown toner acts on the dark parts of the image. This is how I saved A LOT of prints that we’re missed/too dark. Those prints went from being good for garbage to looking awesome with those deeeep brown tones.

Just now as I type this, I have saved 6 prints that were candidates to get ripped because too dark. Now they are just intense enough, warm. They look good! A bit too brown, but they have been salvaged.

Yesterday’s prints we’re all on the light side. When prints are light, I dip them in brown toner just enough to get the warm tinge. Anything other than a slight warm tone for prints that are very light to begin with, starts to look ugly quite quickly, pink and orangey. Dark prints with lots of black in them are the best candidates for brown toning. And the Bonus is that you gain extra archival properties.

Direct brown toning is extremely simple. A dip of a few seconds/minutes right after a quick rinse and before a Kodak Hypo clear bath. Then wash.


My advice is to keep all the missed/dark prints that you have and when you have enough for a toning session, tone them all. Chances are that you will salvage them.

NB23 I quite like what I assume to be deep brown toned prints in your case. It would be nice to see just how brown the toner was able to make the prints
Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'm tempted to make my own solution using liver of sulfur to save money. But right now, I'm still using the Legacy Pro concentrate, which claims to be a replacement for Kodak Brown Toner, but is slightly different and a bit less predictable, but does the job. I use it very dilute and very briefly, mainly after gold chloride for sake of split toning, but sometimes by itself to add a hint more life or subtle glow to any otherwise near-miss print, like NB23 just described. I'm never after a deep conspicuous brown.

 

[pentaxuser]

NB23 I take it you have had a change of mind about some of your prints at least. Was it my post that brought that about? If t was my invoice for services rendered is in the post but if you don't feel like paying I'll settle for a look at some of the saved prints

pentaxuser

 

[mrosenlof]

Drew,

Could you put some numbers to "very dilute" and "very briefly". Every now and then I am looking for something to warm up a print.

 

[NB23]

Drew,

Could you put some numbers to "very dilute" and "very briefly". Every now and then I am looking for something to warm up a print.

It depends on the paper.
A very brief 30 seconds witg warm tone paper will make the print sepia, while even 5 minutes with Ilford mgfb (the regular kind) will give a hint of warmth.

Each kind of paper need its own tests.