Coldest Lith Combo

silvergelatin · Jun 25, 2017

I'm looking to play around with lith printing again after many years. Of the current paper and developer combinations out there, which give the LEAST amount of color (without toning)? I never liked the warm tones I used to be stuck with when lith printing. Thanks!

WHof · Jun 25, 2017

Although I have yet to try it, from what I hear Slavich papers papers will give you a monochrome, gritty look, probably best with Arista developer.

silvergelatin · Jun 25, 2017

WHof said:
Although I have yet to try it, from what I hear Slavich papers papers will give you a monochrome, gritty look, probably best with Arista developer.

Thanks. I remember using that last time, but I thought it has since been discontinued. Is there still a source for it in the US?

MarkL · Jun 25, 2017

You can order in through B&H.

Marco Buonocore · Jun 26, 2017

Slavich isn't so much cold as it is colourless. To me it looks like newsprint, at least the current product. The old paper behaved differently.

If you ever go down the route of making your own lith developer, I had success replacing potassium bromide with benzotriazole. I got quite blue lithy prints out of a few papers, Forte Polygrade in particular. It was not the look I was after, but it was nice to know that it could be done.

mooseontheloose · Jun 26, 2017

If you don't like the warm colours you get you can always add more of the "B" solution - that's what I do with the Foma papers, as I find the colour can get too intense most of the time. Adding more B makes the colours much more neutral (more sandy) - it's not cold, but definitely scales back the colour quite a bit.

silvergelatin · Jun 26, 2017

Thanks, all. I will order up some Arista developer (seems to be the most economical) and try some Slavich, then some of my exiting stash of Foma papers with more B stock.

silvergelatin · Jul 6, 2017

One more follow up:

I have another thread going about intensifying some negs that were developed in exhausted developer. It might be easier, given the volume, to print in lith developer to get the contrast way up from where it is, rather than screwing with a bunch of cut negs. If I use extra solution B, is it possible to get a massive contrast boost without the lith effect? Thanks

Coldest Lith Combo

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