Diffusion Transfer Printing ("Polaroid" peel-apart) recipes

[alecrmyers]

It really had me going there, until it got to the comments about commercial receiver sheets. I'll take three boxes of the 8x10 size, please

In general the issue I have run into with asking AI systems for help with, for example, chemical syntheses, is that to the unknowledgeable enquirer (which was me in that case), the confident voicing of the answer completely obscures the total garbage that it contains. Do try the suggestions though, and let us know which ones work for you. Experimentation is the way forward. But I am stuck. I want to comment that, from the considerable experimentation I have done (I didn't magic the reagents, concentrations and timings out of thin air) I don't recognize any of its suggestions as having the effects that it says they will. But also I don't want to poo-poo genuinine enquiry.

I've got some information about image fading now, based on the images I produced earlier this year, so I will update at a convenient moment.

 

[Qebs]

That's wonderful Alec, I'm sure we all look forward to your new information on fading.
I, myself am getting fairly good and consistent image quality.
All I had to do was adjust for my negative type.
Occasionally, the images get a bit brown/yellow and I think this has to do with not consistent amount of NaBH4.
Too much and too little lead to the same issue.
I'm now moving forward with getting my mammoth camera setup ready.
Thanks so much again Alec. You're really helping my life come together!

 

[analogwisdom]

Hi Alec (+ everyone else),

Firstly, sorry that I got the material from you and went MIA, life happens. I really appreciate you doing that.

I finally got around to getting some stuff on my own, and I've had some decent success. Right now, I'm just focusing on making a paste that can be used to resurrect dried B&W Polaroid material, several friends and I have a LOT of it so there's some interest there. I got a bunch of chemicals, from ArtCraft (who was kind enough to order from TCI on my behalf), Amazon, and a local distributor:

Not pictured: Metol, Lithium Hydroxide, Zinc Acetate, Stannous Chloride, Triethanolamine, Sodium Sulfite, et al. I'm using hydroxyethyl cellulose instead of sodium CMC. I don't know how much of a difference that makes.

I've been thru five different "recipes" so far. I've had success resurrecting dried Type 55, which gives good neutral tonality and the negative also comes out good:

The previous photos (and the following one) were developed with tert-butylhydroquinone as the developer + Na₂S₂O₃ as the silver solvent.

I've also been testing it out with Polaroid Type 804 (Polapan 100) 8x10. Unlike T55, no matter which developer combinations I've tried, it always comes out with a heavy sepia tone. I will continue to experiment..

The next few images were made with the 5th iteration of developer, I lowered the TBHQ and added a bit of Metol.

(Type 55)

(Type 804)

If anyone is interested in the full "formula" for the developers I've used, let me know.

This is a lot more fun than I thought it'd be. I'm going to continue to experiment and eventually work toward not having to rely on legacy Polaroid material.

Thanks for all the work you've done with this, @alecrmyers.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

The previous photos (and the following one) were developed with tert-butylhydroquinone as the developer + Na₂S₂O₃ as the silver solvent.

Thank you for sharing your results which are quite interesting. Can you share details of tert-butylhydroquinone developer?

 

[analogwisdom]

Thank you for sharing your results which are quite interesting. Can you share details of tert-butylhydroquinone developer?

Sure! This is the recipe for my "Developer #5" previously mentioned:

30g base (2.5% HEC + 10% w/w NaOH)
600mg Sodium Sulfite
500mg Sodium Thiosulfate
500mg tertiary butylhydroquinone
100mg Metol
250mg Lithium Hydroxide

This was just to fill a 30mL syringe, but you can scale it up as needed. Like Alec, I made a big batch of base beforehand.

I will be honest, I know very little about chemistry or how this insanely complicated process works. I am mostly copying Alec's work, along with information from various Polaroid patents. I am learning as I go.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Thanks @analogwisdom.

 

[analogwisdom]

Just tested a new developer (with Type 803 again). Very, very excited on the outcome. Close to perfect tonality. The artifacts are from me being impatient and not waiting for air bubbles to float out, and not cleaning the rollers on the 8x10 processor beforehand.

The only difference is that I added 30mg of cysteine to Developer #5. Crazy how such a small thing can make such a big difference!

 

[analogwisdom]

Great result on type 55!

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Great result on type 55!

+1

 

[analogwisdom]

+1

Thank you!


I've tried a few formulae that are thiosulfate free, using Uracil as the silver solvent, a la Alec's previously detailed formula. I have not been very successful with these so far, I'm sure I'm messing something up along the way. Interestingly enough, this happened on a Type 55 negative:

Solarization resulting in a negative that's actually a positive. Extreme blue staining, too. Still pretty neat!

I'm working on ordering some chemicals and the tools to start coating my own receiver sheets. I've got plenty of reading to do first, though.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Solarization resulting in a negative that's actually a positive. Extreme blue staining, too. Still pretty neat!

Though unintended, the result is indeed very cool!