Intensifying a Pyro negative

I have a Pyro 4x5 sheet that is very underexposed. I tried scanning it and there is actually a good bit of detail there but the negative is too hopelessly thin to print traditionally. Is there any good way of intensifying it a bit? I read that one way to intensify negatives it to bleach and re-develop in a staining developer. Since this negative was already developed in a staining developer can I just re-develop it or stain it a bit more somehow?

Are you sure it is too thin to print? I have had good luck printing what I thought were thin pyro negs. As to building up I see two options Bleach and redevelop, and silver intensification. And no you cannot just develop more

Bleach the image and then develop. This will leave the stain and add to it, you might even selectively bleach the image.

You could use a silver intensifier to build up silver. Have not done with pyro negs so not sure of the results.

Lastly I would under expose another sheet and practice with it, you can find what works for you before destroying the neg you want to save.

Have you tried printing traditionally? Pyro negs can appear very thin, but print just fine. You do know, don't you that you can't judge a Pyro negative printability by the same visual standard you judge a non-stained negative?

Definitely try printing traditionally before you do anything to the neg. A good pyro neg should usually look thinner than a good non-stained neg, because the stain is denser to the paper than it is to your eye. If you can't get a good print out of it, then I've used Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner 1+3, 8 minutes, and it gets about a one zone expansion, just like it does with non-staining developers.

If it's an important neg and intensification really doesn't do it, as for a severely underexposed neg, but you can get a usable scan, that's the point at which I'll make a digital neg, but that's a topic for hybridphoto.com.

Domaz,

The bleach and redevelop method is really quite safe and simple. Here is my method:

For one negative, I have had good results with

Potassium ferricyanide 5g (50ml 10% solution)

Potassium bromide 1.75g (50ml 3.5% solution)

Water to make 250 ml


The exact proportions are not critical. Some recommend 4g each per 250ml. The main thing is to have enough bleach and bromide to fully rehalogenate the silver in the negative

Presoak the neg in a tray of water for several minutes, then transfer to the bleach solution. Bleach until the image is completely gone. A very faint yellow or tan residual image will remain (this is the stain image from first developing). Rinse the bleach off then redevelop in the your staining developer. I use about 1.5 times my normal development time just to be sure. You can do the entire procedure in normal room light. Wash and dry as usual. Your negative will have regained the silver image plus another layer of stain.

Keep in mind that this increases negative contrast. It is more like overdeveloping than an even intensification of all negative values.

Hope this helps some,

Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com

Thanks for the formula- I think I will give it a try. I have already scanned the negative so I have a "backup copy". Increase in contrast isn't a problem for this negative- I think it looks better that way anyways.

If you need only slight to moderate intensification, try selenium toner.

First try either the highest grade of graded paper or the highest number of VC filter, along with the highest contrast prin developer you can find.

domaz said:

I have a Pyro 4x5 sheet that is very underexposed. I tried scanning it and there is actually a good bit of detail there but the negative is too hopelessly thin to print traditionally. Is there any good way of intensifying it a bit? I read that one way to intensify negatives it to bleach and re-develop in a staining developer. Since this negative was already developed in a staining developer can I just re-develop it or stain it a bit more somehow?

Click to expand...

Thin does not necessarily mean underexposed. If there is good detail in the shadows but it looks thin it was underdeveloped, not underexposed, and you can print it. If it's a stained pyro negative, so much the easier. Did you try printing it before pronouncing it underexposed?

Patrick,

Of course, you are correct, one should try all printing avenues before fiddling with the negative. I assumed the poster would do this first, but didn't make it clear. Thanks for pointing it out.

nworth,

Selenium intensification removes the stain in pyro negatives, producing an effective zero gain in contrast. It may be possible to regain the stain by bathing the negative in an alkaline bath (or even used developer), but I haven't tried that yet, so was hesitant to recommend it. The bleach/redevelop process is simple and effective and has replaced selenium intensification with pyro negs for me. I will have to try the selenium/alkaline bath on pyro negs and see what happens...

c6h603 (That's pyrogallol, isn't it?),
Right you are. The poster should try to print before fiddling with the negative. If the negative is underdeveloped and not underexposed, and very difficult or impossible to print, the proportional intensification achieved by bleach/redevelopment should help a bit. I agree, though, that negatives with adequate shadow detail but weak highlights are underdeveloped. If that is the case and it is an isolated incident, the developer may have been weak or exhausted. If it is regular, development times need to be increased.

domaz,

Do try to print first as recommended by the above posters. I assumed you would before trying any kind of negative manipulation as a matter of course. I may not have been clear.

Best,

Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com

Doremus Scudder said:

c6h603 (That's pyrogallol, isn't it?),
Right you are. The poster should try to print before fiddling with the negative. If the negative is underdeveloped and not underexposed, and very difficult or impossible to print, the proportional intensification achieved by bleach/redevelopment should help a bit. I agree, though, that negatives with adequate shadow detail but weak highlights are underdeveloped. If that is the case and it is an isolated incident, the developer may have been weak or exhausted. If it is regular, development times need to be increased.


Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com

Click to expand...

I have a really thin negative that I developed in ABC pyro with really old B solution (the sulfite). I don't know what it was that caused it to be so underdeveloped, but the depleted sulfite really accentuated the stain. Since there was good shadow detail it prints beautifully on grade 3 Azo, albeit with approximately a 2 second exposure. I never judge a negative until I try to print it first.