Dry Print Out Palladium

Richard Puckett submitted a new resource:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists) - Dry Print Out Palladium

It is quite a simple matter to print out palladium with no hydration of paper and no development. You simply coat the paper with the sensitizer, allow the coating to dry, place your negative in contact with the paper and expose it all to UV light or sunlight. Examine the progress of the print out and when you are satisifed, immerse the print in a first bath of ice cold water. The remainder of the clearing process is the same as for all the iron processes: a weak acid bath, a water wash, EDTA...

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

Can you achieve a warm-tone image with this method? I usually resort to heating the developer (potassium oxalate) to at least 130f degrees to get a warmer tone.

I apologize for the delay in responding. I have not attempted warm tones with palladium and ammonium ferric ferrous oxalate (AFFO). If I were developing out palladium, I would opt for lithium palladium chloride, as Dick Sullivan advises that version is warm, even chocolate when developed out in cold bath developer. As for print out with AFFO, I am sure cesium palladium chloride instead of lithium or potassium palladium chloride would yield warm tones. I would also recommend immersing an exposed test print in a first bath of phosphoric acid or of tartaric or lactic acid. I have a contact print of the Alamo given a first bath in lime away, which is 36% phosphoric acid, which is brown. But I rarely print in palladium alone -- I mostly print in pure gold, gold-platinum, or gold-palladium and use an initial wash to shift the tone to neutral gray. Instead of using gold for color, as is the case when using ammonium ferric oxalate as the light sensitive component in print out, I use gold to boost Dmax and contrast with the other metals. Strong Dmax, beautiful gradation, delicate highlights.

doughowk,

Yes, I figured out how to get a warm tone palladium print -- add 1 drop of ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate to make up a total of 10% of the actual metals. For example, 6 drops 15% palladium and 1 drop 10% ruthenium (for whole plate); 11 drops 15% palladium, 2 drops 10% ruthenium for an 8x10. With ruthenium, I recommend ammonium ferric ferrous oxalate prepared by adding 8 drops of 2% ascorbic acid to 10 ml of 40% ammonium ferric oxalate. Add about 6 drops of 26% ferric oxalate (no C) for a negative that would print out on grade 2 silver gelatin; 3 or 4 for a very contrasty negative.

The benefits are creamy (and I mean CREAMY) smoothness, a warm -- very light brown-gray -- hue, and incredibly fast print out time. I got one print out in 15 seconds; a second one, wtih fresh AFFO(8:2%) printed out in 90 seconds. Additional bene is of course there won't be many other palladium-ruthenium prints at any show at which you exhibit. (Ruthenium is fairly inexpensive, provided you buy 5 grams at a time. Artcraft sells it for around $30/gram; a seller on Ebay sells it for $135 for 5 grams. I found a chemical company online today that sells it for $20/gram for 10 grams. You could start a nice sideline biz reselling it ...

Of course, you can always just buy some cesium palladium chloride from Bostick and Sullivan ... That stuff prints out brown. You don't have to use it straight; you can cut it with potassium palladium chloride to get the desired degree of warming.

Regards

I've just started printing palladium prints with Ziatypes. I got a beautiful print with my first try because it's so idiot proof. I get a kit from Bostick Sullivan. So what's the difference in the final print? I'm just curious.