lith printing

[w rollinson]

i have just printed some pictures in lith developer ld 20 i am pleased with my results but my question is should i be printing with no filters dialed in as exposure determines contrast thanks in advance ,wayne

 

[doughowk]

No filters should be necessary. Detail in light areas controlled by total exposure while dark area detail controlled thru time & age of developer. Highly recommend the two books on Lith printing by tim Rudman. Btw, really like your lith prints in gallery.

 

[dancqu]

...question is should i be printing with no filters
dialed in as exposure determines contrast ...wayne

Contrast can be altered by varying exposure and
development. As filtration is varied the grade of the
paper changes. Likely there is an interaction which
may be quite complex. No filtration sets A grade
for a specific paper. All things being equal.
I suggest testing it out. Dan

 

[w rollinson]

thanks for your help i have just baught tim rudmans book it hasnt arrived yet ,cant wait one other thing is constant agitation nessesery or should i just leave it ,its along time to keep moving but i wasnt sure if developer would slow down withought agitation,ps im glad you like my prints i am just doing some more now .i have a zonemaster 2 and have been just dialing in filters like i would with normal black and white and just thaught is there any need, sorry for ramlbing ive had a few glasses of wine

 

[Travis Nunn]

From my experience, constant agitation is necessary. I've tried just letting the print sit in the developer and I got uneven development.

 

[Gay Larson]

I use split filter in the enlarger for all my prints and I am happy with the results so far in Lith. I haven't scanned any prints lately but I will try to do one today, just so "I put my money where my mouth its" Of course what I like and what is best may be different, since I am self taught with Tim Rudman's books and lots of questions and research on this forum. I have signed up for Tim's workshop in September and I am very excited. In the meantime I'll just keep experimenting.

 

[Bob Carnie]

No filters in the head is ok, flash,exposure and pull time will determine contrast and density and any variations of the three will be your tools to control the look of the print.
Tim is in favour of a very diluted developer with long times in the chemistrys.
The looks that he gets are wonderful.
I prefer a much more concentrated dev and shorter chemistry times. If you like Anton Corjbins work the shorter times and stronger chem mix is the way to go.
very contrasty negatives are helpful for lith effect.
Toning opens a whole can of whoopass as far as what can be achieved.

 

[w rollinson]

thanks for all your comments thats great im going to start using fibre and experimenting will post results ,thanks once again wayne

 

[jeroenw]

I had also a question about he use of contrast filters while exposing a lith print. I asked Tim Rudman about this and he answered:
---
I don't very often use VC fiters for Lith. They do of course affect your results and provide an extra layer of variables - which can be a good or a bad thing! So yes you can gain additional contrast control. However, I find that for almost all my lith prints I can get so much control over contrast without them that I generally keep them out of the light path as this also helps with exposure times. This can be a real issue with some slow papers like Fomatone MG - a pyro neg enlarged to 16 x 12" or 20 x 16" can with reciprocity failure need 20 or even 30 minute exposures and the last thing I want to do then is add filtration into the light path! Sterling Lith paper for example, (not a VC) would give me 7 grades of contrast easily. many papers give similarly impressive ranges of contrast without filters. I know some printers use them more than I do and the best way really is to experiment and find what gives you the look you want.
besy wishes
Tim
-----

 

[Gay Larson]

maybe, I'll try printing without them, I've used them for so long in my printing I'm not sure I know how without them. (just kidding) I think his suggestion of experimenting is excellent. got to remember to try other things than what I have always done.

 

[Travis Nunn]

I stopped using filters since most of my favorite lithable papers are graded. I got so used to not using filters that I stopped using them even on the VC papers.

 

[dancqu]

...many papers give similarly impressive
ranges of contrast without filters.

Lith printing for contrast control and B&W results.
The little lith printing I've done has produced hues
of various colors. How for B&W? Dan