Ilford Warm Tone Developer and Ilford Warm Tone Paper

[david b]

I just spent the day printing some negatives of Iceland
that I made with Bill Schwab last April.

Anyway, I had made some prints a few weeks back
using dektol and Ilford MGIV as well as Ilford
Semi Matte Warm tone. All fiber.

None of this looked quite right to me.

So today, I used Ilford Warm Tone Glossy Fiber paper along
with Ilford Warm Tone Developer (1+9).

To my surprise, the prints are less warm than dektol and
semi-matte WT and the gloss is really nice.

If you haven't tried this combo, I say give it a try.

One thing I did notice is this combo is really slow to develop
and needs the full 3 minutes in the developer (yes the temp
was 68 degrees).

 

[JBrunner]

Sounds like you like it the way it is, FWIW I found Ilford's WT (in LPD) didn't really warm until it spent time in KRST.

 

[johnnywalker]

Anybody tried the warmtone paper and developer and then toned with selenium? I'm only short the developer to try it myself.

 

[eclarke]

I just spent the day printing some negatives of Iceland
that I made with Bill Schwab last April.

Anyway, I had made some prints a few weeks back
using dektol and Ilford MGIV as well as Ilford
Semi Matte Warm tone. All fiber.

None of this looked quite right to me.

So today, I used Ilford Warm Tone Glossy Fiber paper along
with Ilford Warm Tone Developer (1+9).

To my surprise, the prints are less warm than dektol and
semi-matte WT and the gloss is really nice.

If you haven't tried this combo, I say give it a try.

One thing I did notice is this combo is really slow to develop
and needs the full 3 minutes in the developer (yes the temp
was 68 degrees).

This paper is a lot happier at 70-71 degrees...Evan Clarke

 

[herb]

Warm tone paper/dev

Ok I give up. WTH is KRST?

 

[Uhner]

Ok I give up. WTH is KRST?

Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner

 

[david b]

thanks evan.

I will try it sometime next week at 70 degrees.

 

[SuzanneR]

This combination.. or at least Ilford WT in a warm tone paper developer (Ilford WT, Edwal Plat. II or Ethol LPD) with a quick bath in selenium. The differences between each of these developers is hair splittingly small, so I'll take whatever I can get my hands on.

Rich black and whites that are slightly warmer than the regular Ilford, but not brown, if you know what I mean. If you want the prints to be more "brown" then I think you can dilute the developer to like 1:20.

There are several examples in my gallery, though I do find the scans hard to match the prints EXACTLY!!

I hope you'll post some examples, David.

 

[Don Wallace]

I have just got back to printing after a long absence, and was not a very good printer in the first place. I took a course in fine printing and it has really helped, but I am still in the experimentation stage. I started with MGIV in Dektol and found that KRST did almost nothing to it. I switched to MGIV warmtone and toning makes a BIG difference.

It was amazing to watch it happen - something like the excitement when you saw your first print appear in the developer. I put an untoned print in a tray of water beside the toner and the more the other print toned, the more the untoned one looked green (seriously). I had heard people in here talk about green in a print, but seeing it was a real eye-opener.

For the record, I develop MGIV warmtone in Dektol (1:2) for 3 minutes and tone in KRST (1:9) for 3 minutes at 80F.

 

[Trevor Crone]

Interesting, I get quite warm tones using Harman's WT dil. 1:9 but used at a higher temperature of 23-24*C for 1.5-1.75 minutes.

 

[eclarke]

Anybody tried the warmtone paper and developer and then toned with selenium? I'm only short the developer to try it myself.

KRST will brown it up and the Harmon selenium even more so...EC

 

[AlanC]

I too get fairly warm tones with Ilford Warmtone fibre gloss paper in Harman warmtone developer at 1+9, at around 23-24C. But I give it a full 3 minutes.
Unlike Suzanne Revy I find the developer does make a difference. Prints developed in Neutol WA are noticably less warm, and this difference is exaggerated when toned in Selenium. The Harman WT prints go a warm plummy colour and the Neutol WA prints go a coolish purple. I use either of these to suit what I have in mind for each print.
My preference is to pull the prints as soon as I see an increase in contrast and a change of image colour, as I prefer prints with just a hint of colour.
I always use selenium on Ilford Warmtone paper. It really enriches the print. Not sure if Dmax actually increases but the shadows certainly darken down, increasing contrast and making the highlights sing out.

I make most of my prints using this combo.

Alan Clark

 

[SuzanneR]

I too get fairly warm tones with Ilford Warmtone fibre gloss paper in Harman warmtone developer at 1+9, at around 23-24C. But I give it a full 3 minutes.
Unlike Suzanne Revy I find the developer does make a difference. Prints developed in Neutol WA are noticably less warm, and this difference is exaggerated when toned in Selenium. The Harman WT prints go a warm plummy colour and the Neutol WA prints go a coolish purple. I use either of these to suit what I have in mind for each print.
My preference is to pull the prints as soon as I see an increase in contrast and a change of image colour, as I prefer prints with just a hint of colour.
I always use selenium on Ilford Warmtone paper. It really enriches the print. Not sure if Dmax actually increases but the shadows certainly darken down, increasing contrast and making the highlights sing out.

I make most of my prints using this combo.

Alan Clark

Interesting.. I haven't used Neutol WA with this paper. There is a difference between developers, but it looks so minor to me, that it doesn't change the effect I am after for my prints, and they are pretty consistent.

I wonder if I would see a greater difference at a warmer temp. I tend to keep my printing chemistry to 68F (20C). Thoughts?

 

[AlanC]

Suzanne,

I'm not sure if a warmer temperature will give warmer tones. To reduce variables I always dilute Harman Warmtone and Neutol WA to 1+9, and always use them at 23-24 C. This gives me the effects that I like. If you like your results don't change anything!
But you might give Neutol WA a try with Ilford WT paper.

Alan Clark

 

[hywel]

When I finally got my hands on the new Ilford developers last year I did a set of 'tests' and found that warmtone paper in warmtone developer then into selenium looks exactly the same as warmtone paper in multigrade developer then into selenium. With my selenium at 1+9 and at 1+5. Sorry didn't try it at different temperatures. No question that the paper needs 3 minutes in the warmtone developer, 2 minutes and it wasn't there but 5 minutes made no extra difference at all. Untoned, yes, side by side I can tell the difference between the warmtone and multigrade developer but they have to be side by side...

Hywel

 

[Colin Corneau]

This is a very timely conversation, I've got prints in Ilford WT fibre-base, developed in the Ilford WT developer 1:9.
I really like the look, warm and creamy but still subtlely so.

I have some of the Harman/Ilford Selenium toner, and have been meaning to give it a try and see for myself...many thanks for the info and suggestions.