Hypo-Alum Sepia toner

[Guillaume Zuili]

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

 

[Ian Grant]

Yes it needs ripening with old scrap prints, it's an interesting toner.

Ian

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Thanks Ian.
I know about ripening.
What's interesting exactly... ? Could you describe ?

 

[ann]

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.

 

[Ian Grant]

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

 

[dancqu]

Sepia the Acid Way?

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

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

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

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.

 

[dancqu]

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.

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]

No I didn't bleach. There is a bleach like effect on highlights on these first scrap prints. I was on the "ripening" stage.

 

[SuzanneR]

There is a photographer in New Orleans who uses this toner, then, I think she adds layers some kind of oil paint on the prints. They are gorgeous.

http://victoriaryanphotography.com/

 

[bsdunek]

Samples, please!

 

[Jim Chinn]

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

This sounds neat.

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

Do you have a source for the formula?

 

[ann]

jim
the photoforumulary has a formula posted on their site

 

[Jim Chinn]

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?

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

I used the Photoformulary kit. Will post sample later on.
Paper used was Ilford Warmtone.

 

[Ian Grant]

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

 

[richard littlewood]

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.

 

[ann]

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.

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Ilford Warmtone. 10 and 15 minutes in toner.

 

[Ian Grant]

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

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Ian, I'm going to try with Slavich and Fomabrom. I really like the slow progression of the toner. Perfect for control.
Take care, G.