Question about bleach, re-development and fix

Alex Benjamin · Tuesday at 4:36 PM

I know the advantage of having a rehalogenating bleach is that if you go too far in terms of bleaching, you can re-develop.

I also know that it's best to wait for the paper to be thoroughly washed after fixing before bleaching.

My question is, when re-developing, do you have to go through the stop and fix process, and, if so — as I presume —, how long after the fix can you go back to re-bleaching your print?

Rudeofus · Tuesday at 5:36 PM

Alex Benjamin said:
My question is, when re-developing, do you have to go through the stop and fix process, and, if so — as I presume —, how long after the fix can you go back to re-bleaching your print?

If you bleach to reduce density of your print, then you certainly want to remove the silver halide created by your bleach. Whether you have a print directly after a short bleach, or whether you fully bleach and then partially redevelop, you will be left with silver halides in your print, which have to be fully removed to make that print stable in the long tern.

So "yes" to your first question "do I have to stop and fix after redevelop?".

To answer question 2: you can bleach your print any time (hours, days, weeks, years, ...) after the fixer as long as the print is properly washed. If there is fixer left in your print, some of the bleaching will be irreversible, i.e. the image can no longer be redeveloped.

Alex Benjamin · Tuesday at 5:39 PM

Rudeofus said:
If you bleach to reduce density of your print, then you certainly want to remove the silver halide created by your bleach. Whether you have a print directly after a short bleach, or whether you fully bleach and then partially redevelop, you will be left with silver halides in your print, which have to be fully removed to make that print stable in the long tern.

So "yes" to your first question "do I have to stop and fix after redevelop?".

To answer question 2: you can bleach your print any time (hours, days, weeks, years, ...) after the fixer as long as the print is properly washed. If there is fixer left in your print, some of the bleaching will be irreversible, i.e. the image can no longer be redeveloped.

Thank you.

Guillaume Zuili · Tuesday at 5:52 PM

As Rudeofus said yes for fixing after redeveloping. Some people use it half strength because fix tends to bleach the print. Or you redevelop accordingly.

Question about bleach, re-development and fix

Alex Benjamin

Rudeofus

Alex Benjamin

Guillaume Zuili

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