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Hypo-Alum Sepia toner

after toning, i would wash with warm water and take a cotton ball and gently wipe the print as there is a sludge build up that can show up when the print is dry.
 
Ann's right, in fact I do that after any toner including selenium.

Hypo Alum was the first toner I ever tried back in 1969/70, the colour shift depends on the paper. It's purple/sepia more purple with Bromide paper. Ilford recommend adding Potassium Iodide for additional warmth.

Ian
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sepia the Acid Way?

Guillaume Zuili said:
Hi,
I'm going to try this toner. There are few comments and
very old on APUG. Any hint or advise ? Thanks. G.
Click to expand...

A method of hypo toning with out the alum or high
temperatures was posted a week or so ago. First
soak in hypo then transfer to a bath of vinegar.

Another suggests a pre soak in a weak sulfuric acid
bath followed by the hypo alum bath.

Either acid would initiate the decomposition of the
hypo and so generate silver sulfide.

I'd think the pre or post acid methods would make
for a very convenient way to sepia. Have any
others experience with the method? Dan
 
I just tried it today and yes, it's a very interesting toner.
I put some scrap prints to ripen it and was very surprised by the already beautiful results.
The bleached highlights were beautiful and glowing. Not burnt at all.
Stunning chocolate color with subtle yellowing. Even some blue in between.
Definitely something to dig in.
G.
 

Bleached? Did you bleach before toning? Indirect toning
with a hypo alum toner. Interesting. A few details if you
please. Temperature, time, formula, paper and, ? Dan
 
Guillaume Zuili said:
Hi,
I'm going to try this toner. There are few comments and very old on APUG.
Any hint or advise ?
Thanks. G.
Click to expand...

This sounds neat.

What kind of paper(s) are using with this toning?

Do you have a source for the formula?
 
jim
the photoforumulary has a formula posted on their site
 
Formulary sells a kit that contains 1 g. of potassium iodide. I will probably buy the kit initially but I was wondering if the potassium iodide 1% solution sold in health food and aquarium stores will work? Can you substitute a certain amount of 1% solution to equal 1 g. of dry bulk accounting for the volume of water in the solution when mixing up 1 litre?

Also, does varying the amount of potassium iodide vary the warmth or tone of the print or is 1 g. per litre pretty much standard for warm tones?
 
I think I still have the IT-2 I made up in about 1973 on my darkroom shelf

Ilford IT-2 Hypo Alum Toner

Sodium Thiosulphate 150 g
Potassium Alum 25 g
Water to 1 litre

It has a reducing action until ripened. After that there's no bleaching, you should top up with fresh solution when necessary. Ilford say it lasts for years - it really does

I'd add so do other toners. Except IT-8 the Pyrocatechin re-developer has a a shorter lide.

Ian
 
I use it a fair bit. Painfully slow if the temp is low, and I've found on some cold tone papers it can have a bit of a dulling effect even though it gives a warm tone, but on multigrade matt its great. Also with most warm tone paper. Can small a bit.
 
we use it in a tray bath of hot water about 120 degrees, and it does smell. It is slow even at 120 degrees, but for some images it is worth the time.
 
Thanks Guillaume, when I first used IT-2 there were no warm tone papers readily available in the UK, I used with Ilfobrom and the results were purplish.

Ian
 
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