Different B/W Paper Developers

[distributed]

A lot is said about the characteristics of different film developers, both here and in the greater internet. Film developers are classified according to principal chemical components, whether they have a solvent action, whether they promote acutance and a plethora of other criteria.

I feel that very little is said about black and white paper developers. The only categories I can think of reading about of are cool, neutral and warm tone developers. Why is there so little talk about paper developers? What are considerations that forum members take into account when choosing a paper developer?

 

[gone]

The qualities of the negative are largely controlled by film choice, exposure and developer/agitation protocols. The look of the print depends on that of course, but unless you're doing something special w/ the print like toning or something, I haven't found paper developers to be very critical in how the print looks. I like Dektol because it can also be used as a film developer if you like the grain thing, but I usually buy paper developers based on price and how stable and long lasting they are after mixing stock solutions.

 

[Peter Schrager]

modern papers are very contrail by using different developers. I've done numerous tests with many home made brews and there is little to no effect on these papers. I like warm tone papers so I make ansco D55 which is easy to make. I won't buy commercially made stuff as I use too high an amount to justify the cost
you could buy several different developers and find out for yourself what works for you or make one from scratch

 

[MurrayMinchin]

I did the whole Dektol, Selectol Soft combination thing for intermittent grades on graded papers for a while, then someone here suggested I try Ansco 120. Man, what an amazing difference compared to Selectol Soft!

Ended up morphing to my own Glycin & Metol concoction with Ilford FB Multigrade papers and was more than happy with the quality and print colour when toned in selenium.

So, that's what I would suggest...try mixing up some Ansco 120 and some Ansco 130 to get your feet wet and see how your images respond. Once you start mixing your own, a whole new world of flexibility opens up.

 

[Paul Howell]

Over the past 55 years I've used just about very type of paper developer, many no long make like Edwal Ultra Black, the standards like Dektol, low contrast such as Ansco 120, hard tone like Clayton cool tone, my case not much of a difference, currently I use Clayton P20.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I've never seen much difference. You (well, I) can get more out of adding extra P. Bromide or S. Carbonate to D-72. Of the two, I prefer Bromide for keeping highlights brilliant and giving a warm tone to the print.