Jobo and RA-4 with no prewash or preheat...is that ok?

[rpavich]

ive been trying my hand at printing and i find i get the best results with no prewash or preheat even.

Is that ok to do if its working?

Also, i only use a stop bath, no wash between dev and blix...is that ok? Its working for me too.

 

[Berri]

ive been trying my hand at printing and i find i get the best results with no prewash or preheat even.

Is that ok to do if its working?

Also, i only use a stop bath, no wash between dev and blix...is that ok? Its working for me too.

if something produces the rsults you aim for, than it is ok to do it.
My workflow is similar to yours; I keep my chemicals at 38°C in a thermostatic bath the jobo drum is on the rollers outside the bath. I don't do prewash or stop bath. I manage to print 10 20x20 sheet per 250ml of working solution.

 

[rpavich]

if something produces the rsults you aim for, than it is ok to do it.
My workflow is similar to yours; I keep my chemicals at 38°C in a thermostatic bath the jobo drum is on the rollers outside the bath. I don't do prewash or stop bath. I manage to print 10 20x20 sheet per 250ml of working solution.

I was wondering about the stop bath too. The Arista directions don't mention using it, but I thought I had read here on the APUG that using one makes blix last longer so that's what I was doing.

 

[bvy]

if something produces the rsults you aim for, than it is ok to do it.

That's true in general, but steps which save time or materials or help promote consistency are definitely worth exploring, even if they don't have an impact on your results.

I process at 94F so a prehwash helps temper the drum and paper, and under certain conditions helps promote even development. As far as a stop bath goes, I don't use one when processing test prints and I sometimes get uneven development, so I know it helps there. The stop combined with a rinse keeps you from carrying over too much acetic acid (it's what I use to make a stop bath) into the blix. All of this (stop and rinse) is done to maintain the pH of the blix and extend its usable life.

Incidentally, I use a separate supply of blix for working with test prints where I'm skipping the stop bath. Obviously this blix doesn't last as long but it speeds up the process.

 

[rpavich]

That's true in general, but steps which save time or materials or help promote consistency are definitely worth exploring, even if they don't have an impact on your results.

I process at 94F so a prehwash helps temper the drum and paper, and under certain conditions helps promote even development. As far as a stop bath goes, I don't use one when processing test prints and I sometimes get uneven development, so I know it helps there. The stop combined with a rinse keeps you from carrying over too much acetic acid (it's what I use to make a stop bath) into the blix. All of this (stop and rinse) is done to maintain the pH of the blix and extend its usable life.

Incidentally, I use a separate supply of blix for working with test prints where I'm skipping the stop bath. Obviously this blix doesn't last as long but it speeds up the process.

Ahh...interesting!
I guess I'll keep doing this; it's working. Now cutting paper straight and getting it into the easel straight... that's another issue entirely. Nothing worse than getting all done with a print only to find that it went in crooked and it's hanging off of one edge of the paper.

 

[rpavich]

One question came to mind: can you over-develop or over-blix?
In other words; the directions say at 40c you develop for 50 seconds and blix for 50 seconds...what happens if you let it go 10 or 15 extra seconds?

Does it develop to completion or does that make a difference and cause things like color shifts?

 

[afriman]

if something produces the rsults you aim for, than it is ok to do it.
My workflow is similar to yours; I keep my chemicals at 38°C in a thermostatic bath the jobo drum is on the rollers outside the bath. I don't do prewash or stop bath. I manage to print 10 20x20 sheet per 250ml of working solution.

So what would the average temperature of the developer inside the drum be - around 30°C?
And do you pour the full 250ml into the drum for each developing run and re-use it until you've done 10 sheets, or do you use a smaller quantity at a time?

 

[bvy]

One question came to mind: can you over-develop or over-blix?
In other words; the directions say at 40c you develop for 50 seconds and blix for 50 seconds...what happens if you let it go 10 or 15 extra seconds?

Does it develop to completion or does that make a difference and cause things like color shifts?

I believe both processes are to completion. The different times for different temperatures are the minimum times needed to get there. I haven't tried overdeveloping a print (doubling the time or more). Ten to fifteen seconds shouldn't make any noticeable difference.

 

[rpavich]

Thanks!

 

[Berri]

I believe both processes are to completion. The different times for different temperatures are the minimum times needed to get there. I haven't tried overdeveloping a print (doubling the time or more). Ten to fifteen seconds shouldn't make any noticeable difference.

I tried once to overdevelope and nothing happend, i believe the process is to completion

 

[rpavich]

I tried once to overdevelope and nothing happend, i believe the process is to completion

Thanks guys.

 

[Mick Fagan]

I tried once to overdevelope and nothing happend, i believe the process is to completion

I'm not so sure about that.

Many, many moons ago I used to redevelop colour prints. This was the EP2 process, which is the Kodak process before their RA4 process came out.

The idea is to get a higher colour and higher contrast colour print; which this process does.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Read the postings in link and look at the picture.

I would be interested if anyone here doing RA4 in drums or dishes with a separate bleach and fix bath, not a Blix, has a go with that process. I see no reason why it wouldn't be the same.

Mick.

 

[Photo Engineer]

If it works, use it!!!!!

PE

 

[Berri]

I'm not so sure about that.

Many, many moons ago I used to redevelop colour prints. This was the EP2 process, which is the Kodak process before their RA4 process came out.

The idea is to get a higher colour and higher contrast colour print; which this process does.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Read the postings in link and look at the picture.

I would be interested if anyone here doing RA4 in drums or dishes with a separate bleach and fix bath, not a Blix, has a go with that process. I see no reason why it wouldn't be the same.

Mick.

Later today I will be printing some frames, I'll do another test to see if there is any difference in processing for 45" or 1'30", I'll post the results here

 

[rpavich]

Later today I will be printing some frames, I'll do another test to see if there is any difference in processing for 45" or 1'30", I'll post the results here

Thanks!
I guess I'll do the same, however I can already tell that most of my issue with washed out colors was my exposure.

I happened on this article and it really helped me this morning.
http://www.earthscenics.com/manuals/colorman_8_11_05.pdf

 

[Photo Engineer]

With EP2, you could vary development time and get variations in contrast (along with profound color shifts and crossover), but with RA4, it is nearly impossible.

Perhaps these two threads by yourself could be combined??

PE