How to get grainy shadows with lith

[SadChild]

Hello,

Thanks to advices on APUG i achived fast lith printing with heating device. One question still bothers me. When i used Kodak D85 and long developing time (25+ min) the grain in the shadows was big. But now it is almost invisible. I've tried ID13 - the same result - the shadows are not grainy. Fomatone MG paper were used.

How can i increase grain in shadows?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mark Fisher]

If you are looking for something more grainy, consider Slavich Unibrom Gr 3. It tones nicely in selenium if you want a warmer tone (Slavich is reasonably neutral for a lith paper). For examples, look at Mayfair710 (Marianne) or my gallery. I'm sure there are other examples out there, but I know Marianne uses a fair amount of it.

Mark

 

[Angelo di Mango]

If you want grainy shadows, the trick is to snatch the print before the blacks set in. When you have the first black dots which multiply , be extra vigilant and check with a small torch ligt (with a red filter of course) and snatch the print when you judge the effect is satisfying.
But Mark's remark is right too, some papers will give you more grainy pictures than others, I do not know about Slavich but I know Emaks papers do give grainy pictures.
Angelo

 

[Shangheye]

...and fomatone 131 gives cooler colours and more grain that 132....you have to experiment...that is part of the fun!

Rgds, Kal

 

[tim rudman]

Hello,

Thanks to advices on APUG i achived fast lith printing with heating device. One question still bothers me. When i used Kodak D85 and long developing time (25+ min) the grain in the shadows was big. But now it is almost invisible. I've tried ID13 - the same result - the shadows are not grainy. Fomatone MG paper were used.

How can i increase grain in shadows?

Thanks in advance.

Dear SadChild
As already advised try snatching before the blacks solidify - it's hard to be sure without seeing a print. Then try other papers. Fomatone is about the smoothest grain available for lith and although you can tweak it by technique other papers will give you a much grainer look.
Fomabrom Variant III and Slavich Unibrom are the grainiest but also hardest to control so choice of developer becomes more important. Other papers fall between these two extremes.
You can download a guide to all currently available lithable papers and lith developers from my website if it would help you. just log into mailing list and download.
Best wishes
Tim

 

[SadChild]

If you are looking for something more grainy, consider Slavich Unibrom Gr 3. It tones nicely in selenium if you want a warmer tone (Slavich is reasonably neutral for a lith paper). For examples, look at Mayfair710 (Marianne) or my gallery. I'm sure there are other examples out there, but I know Marianne uses a fair amount of it.

Mark

Thanks, i definitely will try Slavich. Like your works.

 

[SadChild]

If you want grainy shadows, the trick is to snatch the print before the blacks set in. When you have the first black dots which multiply , be extra vigilant and check with a small torch ligt (with a red filter of course) and snatch the print when you judge the effect is satisfying.
But Mark's remark is right too, some papers will give you more grainy pictures than others, I do not know about Slavich but I know Emaks papers do give grainy pictures.
Angelo

Thanks!

 

[SadChild]

Dear SadChild
As already advised try snatching before the blacks solidify - it's hard to be sure without seeing a print. Then try other papers. Fomatone is about the smoothest grain available for lith and although you can tweak it by technique other papers will give you a much grainer look.
Fomabrom Variant III and Slavich Unibrom are the grainiest but also hardest to control so choice of developer becomes more important. Other papers fall between these two extremes.
You can download a guide to all currently available lithable papers and lith developers from my website if it would help you. just log into mailing list and download.
Best wishes
Tim

Hello, Tim,

Your book is great and i've already check your last guide. I'd like to master one paper to achieve different results.

Regards.

 

[SadChild]

...and fomatone 131 gives cooler colours and more grain that 132....you have to experiment...that is part of the fun!

Rgds, Kal

Hi, Kal,

I thought that 131 and 132 have the same emulsion and different degree of gloss. It seems i need to experiment with 131 too.

Thanks.

 

[paulie]

foma variant 112 or 111 will give you the grain in the shadows, and its only 20 euro for 7x9inch 50 sheets 20 euro