Prints getting gray next day after print.

Prints getting grey next day after print.

Two days ago I printed at new to me Agfa RC paper. It isn't very old, because it is marked as made in EU.
Borders where white after fixing, rinsing and hanging to dry. But next day I looked at them, borders are grey instead of white.
I suspect it is the fixer, it wasn't fresh.

You are probably right

Most likely the fix.
Is there any difference in colour where the hangers have covered the paper?

Sounds like a fixer problem

I'd suspect the fixer as well.

Make two prints, run one through the suspect fixer and the other through fresh.

Wait two days and see if there's a difference. If so, there's your culprit. If not, it's something else.

Ko.Fe. said:

Two days ago I printed at new to me Agfa RC paper. It isn't very old, because it is marked as made in EU.
Borders where white after fixing, rinsing and hanging to dry. But next day I looked at them, borders are grey instead of white.
I suspect it is the fixer, it wasn't fresh.

Click to expand...

You are right;definately under fixed;the residual fsilver was not dissolved andwashed out, so, itdarkened and the borders turned gray;refixing may clear them up somewhat.

Ko.Fe. said:

Two days ago I printed at new to me Agfa RC paper. It isn't very old, because it is marked as made in EU.
Borders where white after fixing, rinsing and hanging to dry. But next day I looked at them, borders are grey instead of white.
I suspect it is the fixer, it wasn't fresh.

Click to expand...

If it was branded as Agfa paper then it would be getting on a bit, Agfa stopped making paper a few years ago now, Adox now re makes the Agfa MCC papers, and has done soe for a while, as far as your problem. it is well underfixed. refix in fresh fixer may clear things up a bit, never overuse fixer, never use for more than 2 or at most 3 printing sessions, with RC paper, depending on how many prints are made, I would always change to fresh after 15 prints 10/12 in a litre of fixer'with FB I would use fresh fixer every time for the first bath

new fixer. If it were the paper it would have been gray right from the start.

Definitely bad fixing. (If you leave an unexposed sheet of bromide paper out in sunlight, you get a grey-blue darkening, bit like the old printing-out-paper idea).

Might be a mix of underfixed and fogged.

Thanks for answers! I'll try to re-fix tonight in fresh mix.

I'm using Ilford rapid fixer for paper. And after dilution it works for one printing session on FB paper and for few rolls of film. But this time I decided to use it twice, since it was good for film on previous night.

Under fixing or bad fixer

Ko.Fe. said:

Thanks for answers! I'll try to re-fix tonight in fresh mix.

I'm using Ilford rapid fixer for paper. And after dilution it works for one printing session on FB paper and for few rolls of film. But this time I decided to use it twice, since it was good for film on previous night.

Click to expand...

That might be another issue for you - I thought it was standard to keep separate solutions of fixer for film and for paper, since they exhaust fixer at different rates, and that the silver left behind from film can affect prints.

Get the edges wet and they will lighten again. But it will be back to gray after it dries. I'd get some fresh paper.

Ko.Fe. said:

Two days ago I printed at new to me Agfa RC paper. It isn't very old, because it is marked as made in EU.
Borders where white after fixing, rinsing and hanging to dry. But next day I looked at them, borders are grey instead of white.
I suspect it is the fixer, it wasn't fresh.

Click to expand...

As R.Gould writes , Agfa paper has not been made for many years. If it is Agfa MCC it is definitely to old and to my experience that can give you grey whites. Besides that , the EU has been hanging around for quite some time now. Try to get some fresh ADOX MCC and fresh chemicals and your problems will most certainly be solved.

Karl-Gustaf

when you fix your prints ( and film ) do you agitate them in the tray ( and film tank ) ?

paper and film doesn't get fixed unless it is agitated, and agitated well ..
which means constant agitation for prints and agitation 1 full min and 10sec/min if it is film ( like you would do for developer ).

saving a scrap of film leader that you cut off before you load your film in reels is a good way to test your fixer.
( the drops don't give consistant results, and 9 times out of 10 people don't use the drops right )

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
the double the clip clearing time tells if your print AND film fix are spent.

good luck !

Don't use exactly the same fixer for both film and paper.

The byproducts from film fixing are different than the byproducts from fixing prints.

So any capacity recommendations are rendered useless.

From the horse's mouth:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2006130218312091.pdf

Fixer has a limited shelf life, even new in the bottle. If your fixer concentrate smells of sulfur and/or you see copious yellowish/white precipitate, then the fixer has likely "sulfured out" and is no longer good. Read up on the shelf life as well as the capacity and times in the document linked to above. You can use a piece of film for a clip-test to test the fixer's activity.

Refixing your prints in fresh fixer may save them, especially if they were stored in subdued light. Often, however, there is a bit of light-reduced silver fog that remains. You may be able to combat this with a weak bleach (I've saved some prints from old, fogged paper that way). Soak - bleach - rinse - refix - wash. Do this with all the lights on so you can see the effect. Be careful not to over-do it; you just want to clear the whites. Practice on your worst prints first.

FWIW, I think saving used fixer for longer periods of time is bad practice. I mix what I need for a batch, or a session. When doing lots of printing, I'll keep my fixer for a couple of days, discarding bath one and replacing it with bath two as throughput capacity is reached. However I never keep it even close to the published storage life. For film, I try to mix just what I need for a session.

And, as mentioned above, don't use fixer already used for film for prints; the by-products don't get along.

Best,

Doremus

I've always found fixer for printing applications to be rather more robust than has been suggested in this thread. Though I would always mix up fresh solution for anything important, for run-of-the-mill prints I've typically kept the dilute solution in full, tightly capped bottles until the unexposed film clearing test gives fixing times in excess of what I'm prepared to tolerate. That period could be several months if I've not done much printing, but I've never had any problems of the type the OP describes.
I suspect that the use of the same fixer for both prints and film is the issue here. Whereas print fixer retains the much same appearance throughout its useful life, film fixer (same thing, different container!) usually develops gunge/precipitates/smells, etc. in a matter of a few weeks and relatively little use and whereas prints can always be re-done, film can't.

Steve

I wasn't able to refix. But I'm thankful for all comments, because I learned a lot. I feel good!