First Lith Test and Questions

Hello everyone. I know there's an abundance of Lith-related questions this week on the forum, so I guess I'll share mine.

I recently acquired some cheap Ultrafine 4x5 lith film after reading Otto Litzel's classic book, Darkroom Magic, hoping to make a little magic of my own. After making some positives from enlargements and contact prints, I noticed my developed film lacked what I set out for -- pure whites and pure blacks, only. Sure, the positives looked punchier than usual, but they still had midtones which I wanted to do without. Only after I made contact negatives from my first tests the midtones started to go away.

My guess is the developer. I'm using my usual PQ Universal paper developer to develop these and I am wondering if I should change the dilution or skip it entirely and shell out for Dektol (which seems to be the fav paper developer to use if NOT using run-of-the-mill A/B lith developer). Then again, it could also be my exposures too. I figured since I'm only rendering two shades, exposure time in the enlarger wouldn't really matter. Again, I could be wrong.

I know there's a lot of variables here but I'm very much intrigued by high contrast film, and I hope one day I can (successfully) put it to use! So, as usual, any suggestions?

I haven't used Ultrafine film, but if it is a dedicated lith film, for pure blacks you will need lith developer. I used to use kodak lith film and developers in the 80s to make pure line work, (no midtones) mostly for text slides for AV productions pre Powerpoint. As I remember, each part of A and B had to be mixed 1+3, the film was developed for three minutes, (or was it 2.45?) which resulted in the film being processed to completion. If it is under developed, you can get a tonal result in lith dev, which is exactly what happens with 'lith' printing, though the developer is much more dilute to control when to snatch it out the dev. You can certainly get a tonal result in print dev.

If using PQ or Dektol, I would expect a high contrast which may well print as pure black on a hard grade, but lith dev is what will give you pure black and clear highlights on the film. I was actually wondering last week if any lith film is still available. Will have to look into Ultrafine. Thanks!

When (most) people talk about "lith printing", they are generally referring to the process of heavily over-exposing a sheet of paper and then developing it in a very dilute developer. A good "lith" paper will display a range of mid tones and highlights, often with a colour shift. At some stage in the development process, the blacks will rapidly start to appear - This can be a gritty appearance, or deep and smooth depending on paper, developer, & moon phase.

In your situation, you appear to be after a high contrast negative - i.e. A line or halftone negative - I'd suggest exposing the film as normal, or even under exposing, and using a developer such as D-9 or D-85 at full strength. This should give you the high contrast neg that you are looking for.

PQ Universal ought to work, but you will have to use it at at least double strength. True lith film should give you an abrupt transition between full developed black and clear film. The exact location of that transition is controlled by exposure. True lith developer will give denser blacks, but strong universal or strong normal print developer should give you enough density.

If you are doing the usual negative to lith separation positive, lith positive contacted to give lith negative, then the two steps will lift the contrast a lot.

I did some posterizations on Kodak lith film any years ago and I certainly did not use a true lith film developer. Probably PQ Universal or Acuprint (that dates it!) at double strength.

Do check your safelight meets the film requirements. This sort of film normally requires a red safelight, not the usual orange or light brown.

Even Kodalith showed quite noticeable gradation in normal developers. D-19 and Dektol showed rather little midtone gradation, but still a little.