forte paper with green cast. HELP!

[john c]

i have recently begun printing the new batch of forte polywarmtone fiber and the results have been disappointing. the prints show a distinct olive green cast or color. i normally use agfa multicontrast develepor. with neutol the green was reduced. with dektol the results were even better though the green was still present. i know that this batch of forte is the new or fresh batch produced late last year. i believe selenium toning might erase the green, but i would rather not have to do this.

has anyone else been having this problem?
can anyone suggest alternatives?

i need to produce prints of a deep ivory or eggplant for an exhibition later this year.

john c

 

[Sportera]

I use it with Edwal platinum II. There is a slight green cast but has very warm tones. Selenium will remove the cast but also darken your shadows quite a bit. Also selenium will add the eggplant tones that normally come with Se. toning.

I also find the prints look greener when they are wet improve when drying.

 

[Paul Sorensen]

I have also found that the warmtone paper loses most of the green cast upon drying. I use Dektol. Have you dried them? It was a big difference in my experience.

 

[BBMOR]

hello

the only thing to do with good result ,the green cast will disapear is to use Se in a high diluted way 1+100/1+200 this will only solve your problem (some batches of Forte have this problem)
succes

jm

 

[blackmelas]

With PWT a dip in selenium 1+19 for <2 minutes will neutralize the color cast before it starts to take on any real color change toward the reddish browns. I get this cast using Dektol at any dilution. It is less prominent or nonexistant when I use Tetenal Eukobrom, Centrabrom S or Dokumol developers.

 

[Leonidas]

The brown/ green cast is a choice and not a problem.
Change paper!!- maybe Ilford Warm Tone.

 

[blackmelas]

Leonidas,
Yes, Ilford WT has its place but the paper base is creamy not white like Forte/ADOX PWT. As you say its a choice but one you can manage by choosing another paper or by working with different developers and toners.
Best regards,
James

 

[john c]

green leaves little choice. brown has a wide range of possibilities.

my feeling is that this particular batch of forte pw is green. i have printed an older batch and the results were excellent deep warm and no green.

i have little choice in paper in australia. i don't consider ilford warmtone a good paper.
agfa was the best. can i still buy any over the net?

 

[timeUnit]

I might be far out here, but the Forte Warmtone papers don't go purple/eggplant in selenuim, they go chocolate or deeeeep red. At least that's my experience with Fortezo and Polywarmtone. So if you have a slight green cast, throw them in a nice bath of KRST 1+19 for about a minute and they get warmer and no green cast. Let them sit for longer and they slowly move towards red--brown--chocolate.

 

[Rolleijoe]

I tried the Forte papers, and found the same color casting. Like you, I was accustomed to printing on Agfa papers. Ilford just doesn't have "it", and are of no use.
Try switching to the Foma papers, in testing so far, they seem to come closest to Agfa, have a very nice look to them.

 

[Fotohuis]

The new Fomabrom variant paper (baryt) is quite close to the Agfa Photo MCC paper. It is just a less bit warmtone.

Best regards,

Robert

 

[Ian Grant]

This green tinge is quite normal particularly with fresh paper which hasn't aged. Some Agfa warm-tone papers behave the same. Because of demand the Forte papers aren't aging in warehouses before distribution like they used to.

However with selenium toning you will get the results you are after.

Ian

 

[john c]

thanks

thanks to all. the selenium works quite well on forte and the green is dispensed with. i now feel like i am getting a foot hold in the steep mountain side. i want to test forte out on with neutol developer. this printing process can become obsessive but i believe the end result will be excellent.

 

[Jim Chinn]

Forte must have changed some things about the emulsion because I can never recall a green cast with either the polygrade or the warmtone and do not see it with the older paper I have in storage.

 

[bobbysandstrom]

John C Try neutol WA with the Forte Polygrade. A beautiful combination exhibiting rich tonality.

 

[john c]

bobby, will try neutol tomorrow and tell about results tues.

 

[Maine-iac]

i have recently begun printing the new batch of forte polywarmtone fiber and the results have been disappointing. the prints show a distinct olive green cast or color.

can anyone suggest alternatives?

i need to produce prints of a deep ivory or eggplant for an exhibition later this year.

john c

Don't think you'll get eggplant without significant selenium toning, and perhaps not even then--might be more brown. But I use a Phenidone/Ascorbic acid version of Dektol (E-72) with benzotriazole instead of bromide, and that gives a cooler tone to begin with.

Then, I mix KRST into my hypo-clearing bath (about 1:40) and this further cools the image away from the greenish cast to a more neutral tone.

Larry

 

[john c]

Don't think you'll get eggplant without significant selenium toning, and perhaps not even then--might be more brown. But I use a Phenidone/Ascorbic acid version of Dektol (E-72) with benzotriazole instead of bromide, and that gives a cooler tone to begin with.

Then, I mix KRST into my hypo-clearing bath (about 1:40) and this further cools the image away from the greenish cast to a more neutral tone.

Larry

thanks larry.
you're right about selenium not getting eggplant. oh well. but green cast is almost neutralised. with KRST 1:40 in hypo, how long in it and how often would you have to throw out the hypo+KRST?

john c

 

[bobbysandstrom]

John C:

The combo I suggested will give you eggplant with selenium 1:20 72F and about 3 1/2 minutes. More time, more eggplant.

 

[James Glaze]

I am using the Forte Polywarmtone with both Dectol and Agfa Neutol developers. In both cases the print has a "olive-like" tint. I use selenium at 1:10 for one to one and a half minutes to remove this cast and reveal a rather pleasing warm tone. At about 2 minutes, the tone hints at "eggplant" and longer than two minutes it rapidly turns a rusty brown almost like sepia tone. Unlike Ilford MGIV the tonality of Forte changes quickly with selenium.

 

[john c]

james
are you working with the new batch of forte post restructure?
and if so keep an eye on whether or not the paper settles down and the olve cast begins to disappear. this is important as my printing will have to change accordingly over the next month. regardless of toning.

john c