Paper contrast revival

[newcan1]

I have a good supply of older b&w paper that has lost contrast measurably. I can get a slight boost using a developer such as ID-14, but not much really. What causes contrast loss, and what can be done to effectively reverse it?

 

[newcan1]

I think fog is a separate issue from contrast. I can control the fog with benzotriazole but wonder if anything can be done to significantly boost contrast.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

You can try adding potassium bromide in increments of 0.1 g/l to working strength developer until you get acceptable results. That will increase contrast and decrease fog. There will probably be some discussion as to the maximum amount to add. I would stop at 3 to 4 grams total. If that doesn't work the paper isn't salvageable.

 

[Marco Buonocore]

I think fog is a separate issue from contrast. I can control the fog with benzotriazole but wonder if anything can be done to significantly boost contrast.

I agree with you that fog is different than loss of contrast. I have used plenty of old papers that are not fogged, but lack contrast. Why some papers dramatically loose contrast while others don't is a mystery I'd love an answer to.

I don't think there is an easy fix. Restrainers help, using developer full strength helps, and changing light source helps. For a meaningful change, you'd probably have to do all three. Even then, maybe you get a grade or a grade an a half out of it. Sometimes that just isn't enough. You could tone the negative in selenium for a boost. You could experiment with chromium intensification of the print - on some papers, that works quite well. It's a fairly drawn out process though, with all the washing stages.

The best solution is probably the simplest: use contrasty negatives. There is no joy in trying to print a flat neg on a flat paper.

If none of that works, try lith printing, or photograms, or sell it on ebay and let someone else deal with the problem.

 

[piu58]

You may increasing contrast by combining:
- If it is vc paper, use the maximum magenta of your colour head AND add a grad 5 filter
- Use the developper moost concentrated (1+4 if it is a fluid concentrate)
- Make the developing time as long as fog permits. Use benzotriazole in the maximum concentration to reduce the fog level. You may use then a time up to 5 mins.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I have a good supply of older b&w paper that has lost contrast measurably. I can get a slight boost using a developer such as ID-14, but not much really. What causes contrast loss, and what can be done to effectively reverse it?

use a normal developer and filter the light for a igher contrast.

 

[Pat Erson]

Try some Dokumol? (hint hint)

 

[Ian Grant]

ID-14 gives about a grade boost in contrast, I used to always have some made up on my shelf, so if this isn't working the reality is the paper has lost speed, bromide or benzotriazole will also cut contrast once the level reaches an optimal point unless you increase the pH to compensate.

Ian

 

[newcan1]

What causes contrast loss?

 

[Ian Grant]

It's the slowing down due to fogging and other degradation of the emulsion with aging, an inability to develop properly to a good Dmax. Past a point where this was slight there's no reviving old paper. An old Gd 3 paper might work passably as Gd 2 with say ID-14 but you'd never revive it to its former contrast.

Ian

 

[greg zinselmeier]

add sodium or potassium carbonate. start with a 10% solution adding 50 or 100 ml per liter of developer. this will increase developemnt with shadows, while pulling out early will increase contrast too. etc. . . . with addition of KBR you can find the right balance per paper. cheers.

 

[Ian Grant]

add sodium or potassium carbonate. start with a 10% solution adding 50 or 100 ml per liter of developer. this will increase developemnt with shadows, while pulling out early will increase contrast too. etc. . . . with addition of KBR you can find the right balance per paper. cheers.

The Ilford ID-14 Press "contrast" developer essentially is doing that in proportion s that work well, there's threshold where nothing will work when paper is essentially toast, to use a US saying.

Ian

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I've always wondered if you could use reciprocity failure to gain some contrast. In theory I guess it might work. Never tried it though.

 

[greg zinselmeier]

The Ilford ID-14 Press "contrast" developer essentially is doing that in proportion s that work well, there's threshold where nothing will work when paper is essentially toast, to use a US saying.

Ian

I did not know that, sincerely GZ thanks

 

[tezzasmall]

May I suggest a read of this thread that I did some years ago, but could be very relevant:

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=6190

Terry S

 

[newcan1]

May I suggest a read of this thread that I did some years ago, but could be very relevant:

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=6190

Terry S

Thanks Terry. I will try additional carbonate next time I experiment with the old papers.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I seriously doubt adding additional sodium carbonate is going to have much effect on contrast. In the past books on printing suggest adding TSP to the developer to increase contrast. TSP is much more alkaline than sodium carbonate. Some commercial liquid developers use a mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide to achieve a sufficiently high pH due to the limited solubility of sodium carbonate in the concentrate.

 

[bence8810]

I had a thread running on this - feel free to give it a glance.

The only thing I found working was to add Benzotriazole to my developer and this somehow holds the whites back. The contrast increase is visible but don't expect a miracle.

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

I am also told the "farmer's reducer" should work but I haven't gotten as far as testing that.

Ben

 

[MattKing]

If the problem is with manageable fog, bleaching back the highlights may help.
If the problem is with an inability to reach maximum black, bleaching back highlights might help a little, and selenium toning afterwards might help a little more, but you are going to still end up with a more restricted range of tones.
You might like the result if you sepia tone your results - this has full dMax, but it looks just as good if I print it lighter.

 

[pentaxuser]

I seriously doubt adding additional sodium carbonate is going to have much effect on contrast.

Well the author of the link may know little or nothing of the theory but he did appear to be experimenting carefully and did report a difference that wasn't apparent at low doses but became apparent when he reached a certain dose. Now it might be that eventually he needed to see a difference so his brain told him that there was a difference when in fact there was none but this didn't seem to be the case and on reading the whole thread I was impressed by the measured approach and language used throughout and I had a feeling that everyone there wanted to help. People seemed to want to ask open questions and not take positions unless doing so added genuinely to seeking wisdom and truth.

On that basis and by the standards of some of our APUG threads it was a strange forum but I can't help feeling that there may be something in that kind of ethos

pentaxuser

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Well the author of the link may know little or nothing of the theory but he did appear to be experimenting carefully and did report a difference that wasn't apparent at low doses but became apparent when he reached a certain dose. Now it might be that eventually he needed to see a difference so his brain told him that there was a difference when in fact there was none but this didn't seem to be the case and on reading the whole thread I was impressed by the measured approach and language used throughout and I had a feeling that everyone there wanted to help. People seemed to want to ask open questions and not take positions unless doing so added genuinely to seeking wisdom and truth.

On that basis and by the standards of some of our APUG threads it was a strange forum but I can't help feeling that there may be something in that kind of ethos

pentaxuser

Hence my comment "not much effect." I didn't say no effect. You really need to add something more alkaline that sodium carbonate.

 

[naugastyle]

Is ID-14 actually still available anywhere? Or is there something similar under a different name?

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Is ID-14 actually still available anywhere? Or is there something similar under a different name?

I don't know about availability, but it's pretty easy to mix yourself from common photochemicals.

ID-14 High Contrast Press Developer

Metol 1.5 g

Sodium Sulphite (anh) 75 g

Hydroquinone 12 g

Sodium Carbonate (anh) 37.5 g

Potassium Bromide 2 g

Water to 1 litre

For maximum contrast use 1+1, lower contrast 1+3. ID-14 gives almost a full Grade more Contrast with Bromide, & Chlorobromide papers (Thanks to Ian Grant, LF forum)

Best,

Doremus

 

[newcan1]

Well I have adopted ID-14 as my go-to print developer. But I still have some old papers that need more of a contrast boost. I have been experimenting with Lith developers, but they are too contrasty. Is a controllable method possible for split development of prints, e.g., partially develop in lith to bring out some contrast, then continue in something else to fill in detail? It seems to me that as contrast control is possible with film, so should it be for paper. Any suggestions?

 

[newcan1]

Here is a question that is a variation on this theme. What is done to an emulsion layer when paper is manufactured, to affect its contrast? What makes a grade 2 paper different from say grade 5? Is it something that is lost when the paper is washed? For example, if I take an unexposed grade 5 paper and wash it in total darkness before using it, will it still be grade 5 afterwards if I then dry it and use it?