Lighter Sepia Tone

John Irvine

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If I want a lighter Sepia tone, should I

A. Start with a lighter/darker print?

B. Leave it in Part A - Bleach less/more time?

C. Leave it in Part B - toner for a shorter/longer time?

D. Use more dilute bleach/toner?

E. All/none of the above?
 

RalphLambrecht

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Ian is correct, but maybe you mean less toning with 'lighter'? If so, try direct sulphide toning instead of your indirect process. It is easier to control and gives a much lighter toning effect.
 

tim rudman

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John, what exactly do you mean by a lighter sepia tone?
Do you mean a sepia print that is lighter than the original?
Do you mean a sepia print where the sepia only lightly touches the B&W tones?
Do you mean a more yellow sepia rather than say a chestnut (darker) sepia?
Or do you mean something else?
Tim
 

pentaxuser

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I have seen texts, I think, in which it was said that direct sulphide toning which I presume to be the rotten eggs smell toner can fog paper. Maybe the OP knows of this but if not and if I am correct then it might be worth mentioning it in case toning is done in the room in which the paper is kept.

pentaxuser
 

Jon Shiu

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For a light sepia tone, bleach for a short amount of time, ie seconds instead of minutes. Also, diluting the bleach will help. For example dilute the bleach 2x and then try bleaching for 30 seconds. Experiment with the bleaching times.

Jon
 

Vaughn

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If you go Jon's route, pay attention to the amount of toning in both the highlights and the shadows. Going with a very light bleaching can result in split-toning (can be a very nice affect) where the highlights and upper mid tones are warmed up, and the darker values closer to the original black of the photo paper.

Vaughn
 

RalphLambrecht

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Good point, but not limited to direct toners or indirect toners. Direct toning changes the image silver partially into silver-sulphide, which is a very stable compound. Since you are doing this on an already fixed and washed print, it cannot fog the paper. However, unexposed paper should not be stored in the darkroom, because several chemicals used there can potentially fog the paper. My paper is stored in a fridge outside the darkroom, taken out for printing and returned prior to toning.
 

dancqu

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Rotten Egg Smell

The odor of hydrogen sulfide, H2S. I've never
encountered any odor when preparing solutions
of sodium sulfide, Na2S. Such solutions are quite
alkaline so odorless. I've a pack of Kodak's sepia
toner. The toner is sodium sulfide, Na2S. The
packet instructions hint not at all of odor or
of any precautions to take.

Just to spell it out, direct toning is done without
bleaching. Toners of the hypo alum type including
Nelson's Gold are examples of direct toners. Dan
 
OP
OP

John Irvine

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What I mean is given in Tim Rudmans' "Do you mean a sepia print where the sepia only lightly touches the B&W tones"? The suggestions seem to be either a direct toner or less bleaching. I think I'll try less bleaching. The possibilities pointed out by Vaughn sound interesting.

Either I smell H2S in Kodak sepia toner or Old Spice ain't working anymore.
 

tim rudman

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In that case John you must cut back the bleaching. If you use a warmtone paper you will probably also have to dilute the bleach a good bit too to get smooth control (very short bleach times with full strength bleach may give uneven bleaching). neutral papers may or may not need a dilute bleach.
The result is a split toned effect with upper values toned and lower values untoned. this gives a colour contrast in addition to tonal contrast. it also gives a more 'solid' looking base tone (colder and higher Dmax) than full bleaching and toning.
tim
 

dancqu

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Split Tones with Hypo and Vinegar

tim rudman said:
The result is a split toned effect with upper values
toned and lower values untoned.
Click to expand...

I'm reminded of a few posts some months ago.
The fellow posting described a method he had
learned by which toning was accomplished by
a soak in a sodium thiosulfate solution
followed by a soak in dilute vinegar.

Can you shed any additional information on
that method or similar? Dan
 

RalphLambrecht

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This must put new meaning to acid-free processing!
 

gphoto120

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Regarding the sepia...is there a significant difference between using thiorea or sulphide base toners and the ability to split tone ?
 
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