Polaroid Type 55 and pt/pd

Does anyone have any experience with printing Polaroid Type 55 p/n negs on pd? I tried printing one this weekend, but while I recall it printing nicely at around Grade 2 on silver paper, it was REALLY flat on pd. It also looked rather grainy by comparison to stuff that prints nicely at grade 2 on silver paper done with FP4+. Is there some trick to shooting/processing Type 55 for Pd, or should I just pick a different neg?

The best way to get the contrast increase you need for quality pt/pd prints is to bleach and redevelop the negative in either a staining developer like pyro or pyrocat, or alternatively, redevelop in a fresh thiocarbamide sepia redeveloper. Either of these solutions will add actinic density to the highlight areas of your negative and give you a contrast boost. Mostly likely the cause of your graininess is the amount of contrast agent you had to add to the print sensitizer solution to print on such a flat negative.

The first print I did with this negative was with NO additional contrast agent - just FeOx 1 and Pd 3. I tried a second print with 3 drops FeOx1, 1 drop FeOx2, and 5 drops Pd 3. I gave it reduced exposure time as well. It was defintiely contrastier, not significantly grainier, and a bit lighter overall.

Clay - if you have more precise directions on how to bleach/redevelop a negative, I'd love to see them. PM me with it or post it here if you're feeling generous.

clay said:

...the cause of your graininess is the amount of contrast agent you had to add to the print sensitizer solution to print on such a flat negative.

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I had a lot of this printing old T55 negs with Platinum, but with the Na2 process of contrast control I have had some great luck with those older flat negs without having to go to bleaching and redevelopment. Just a thought to perhaps save you some steps.

Bill