Problems with overlapping

[Jos De]

Hey guys, I wonder if anyone has any solutions or experience with prints that are in the water-bath that overlap.. and then leave a slightly lighter/or darker tint on the one it was covering. Almost as if the one underneath it was still developing ? It's weird and happens sometimes (last night dammit!).

I'm going to make a print washer to hold prints separate of one another but I was j/w.

Thanks.
Joe

 

[MikeSeb]

Prints don't continue to develop in the wash, which presumably happens after you've fixed them.

Use a larger wash bin/tray/bucket, and/or stuff it less full. Better yet, bump that print-washer project up on your to-do list.

 

[Jos De]

I know thats why I'm finding it weird, it just seems as if it were continuing to become darker where the print wasn't overlapped (or vice versa). It's weird.

 

[Ian Grant]

I think you might be over-fixing, sometimes prints on top are get bleached in the fixer - a small amount of silver is dissolving, where a print overlaps another in the fix the one underneath isn't attacked so much by the fresh fix.

Rapid fixers will start to bleach an image quite quickly, particularly with warm tone papers. This could continue in the wash if the prints aren't agitated enough in the wash, and two prints are stuck together.

Ian

 

[dancqu]

I'm going to make a print washer to hold
prints separate of one another ... Thanks. Joe

No problem. I tray wash using separators. Might think
of it as being a horizontal slot washer. Stop by a fabric
store and ask to see a material called interfacing; usually
made of polyester. Cut to size, put one sheet on bottom
then begin interleaving. Add water as needed.

Two trays allow for easy transfers. Cost, near zero.
Very little water needed. With the usual processing and
after a hold plan on three soak cycles. My last soak is
overnight. Slow but very economical. Dan

 

[Jos De]

Dan, that's a great idea, thanks a-lot for your help!! It's just silly and frustrating to lose prints this way.

Joe