Intensifying Palladium Prints?

[tomkatf]

Is there some kind of toning/other process that will intensify previously printed Palladium prints? I know they tend to be soft/full scale but I have a number that could use stronger "blacks"... Thanks!
Tom

 

[doughowk]

I've used watercolors to darken an overly bright area. Might work for your issue.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

You can try toning them with Gold Chloride or Selenium toner. Another option when printing is using NA2 as a contrast booster (strictly for Palladium prints), or you could double-coat the print before exposing, or if you can handle some kind of registration system, you could do two exposures with two separate coatings, each with a different contrast so you don't just end up blocking up your shadows.

 

[Vaughn]

Gum-over platinum

 

[jeffreyg]

Check with Bostick and Sullivan they may have a suggestion.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com/

 

[nmp]

Given that this is metallic palladium, nothing will "tone" it like you could do with silver. So the next bet is add a layer on top of it. If you have the negatives for the original print then, as Vaughn suggested, add a black gum layer or a cyanotype layer (quicker and easier.) If you don't have the negatives, I don't know, may be you scan the print and create one for the added layer. You could run into registration issues that way, though.

:Niranjan.

 

[Vaughn]

Registration will be an issue to deal with. Some people find they and adjust the size of the inkjet negative to account for the paper shrinkage.

The other way to achieve deeper blacks is to display the print in lower light...

 

[tomkatf]

Tx guys, I have an email in to B&S... Will also give selenium a try, although that may be a non-starter... I love gum over Pt but I'm looking for the lazy man's solution(haha) right now! Just looking to salvage a few existing flat prints...

 

[awty]

Try gold chloride toner, I don't think selenium will be as effective. Be careful they don't bleach away the highlights.

 

[koraks]

Neither gold nor selenium will work. They may stain, but won't tone. Platinum and palladium are about as noble as it gets, not much will attack them.

 

[NedL]

I don't know how it works ( it may deposit gold onto the platinum or palladium, rather than replace ) but B&S sells a gold toner for use on pt/pd prints and Christopher James mentions it in his chapter on pt/pd printing. The toning is "cleared" by using weak film ( hc-110 ) or print ( dektol ) developer. Never tried it myself, so that's all I know.

B&S sells the toner at the following link. It's gold chloride + sodium formate:

https://www.bostick-sullivan.com/cart/503.html

Page 58 of this document describes using this gold toner on pt/pd prints:

https://www.christopherjames-studio.com/platinumPalladium3rdEdBookOfAltPro.pdf

 

[tomkatf]

I don't know how it works ( it may deposit gold onto the platinum or palladium, rather than replace ) but B&S sells a gold toner for use on pt/pd prints and Christopher James mentions it in his chapter on pt/pd printing. The toning is "cleared" by using weak film ( hc-110 ) or print ( dektol ) developer. Never tried it myself, so that's all I know.

B&S sells the toner at the following link. It's gold chloride + sodium formate:

https://www.bostick-sullivan.com/cart/503.html

Page 58 of this document describes using this gold toner on pt/pd prints:

https://www.christopherjames-studio.com/platinumPalladium3rdEdBookOfAltPro.pdf

Thanks Ned, that sounds like what I'm looking for... also interesting info on waxing the prints... I have some Renaissance Wax and will give that a try too! Tom

 

[nmp]

I don't know how it works ( it may deposit gold onto the platinum or palladium, rather than replace ) but B&S sells a gold toner for use on pt/pd prints and Christopher James mentions it in his chapter on pt/pd printing. The toning is "cleared" by using weak film ( hc-110 ) or print ( dektol ) developer. Never tried it myself, so that's all I know.

B&S sells the toner at the following link. It's gold chloride + sodium formate:

https://www.bostick-sullivan.com/cart/503.html

Page 58 of this document describes using this gold toner on pt/pd prints:

https://www.christopherjames-studio.com/platinumPalladium3rdEdBookOfAltPro.pdf

Intriguing....here is the toning procedure per Dick Sullivan:

https://www.bostick-sullivan.com/articles/goldtone.html

Sodium formate will reduce gold chloride to metallic gold, that's why the instruction says to start using soon as the two are mixed. So it may well be simply depositing metallic gold, as you say, everywhere in the first step. Then what does the HC-110 treatment do selectively in the highlights so the gold stays back in the shadows. Not sure of the chemistry there. Obviously this is not the classic definition of "toning," but if there is density enhancement in the darker areas without touching the highlights, then the effect is the same.

:Niranjan.

sodium formate will reduce gold chloride

 

[NedL]

Intriguing....here is the toning procedure per Dick Sullivan:

https://www.bostick-sullivan.com/articles/goldtone.html

That link was a good find.