TheToadMen
Allowing Ads
I have no experience myself yet, but I'm looking into lith printing to try it myself.
I found this info from Tim Rudman in his Lith Printing Materials Report (updated March 2013).
[And check out his report to see what "semi-lith" is about]
Slavich (Russia)
Produced by Kompania Slavich in the Yaroslavskaya region of Russia and distributed to 'theWest' through Geola Digital in Vilnius, Lithuania, who maintain English-speaking staff. Slavich papers are now available from Silverprint in London and The Photo Shop in Ireland.
UNIBROM 160 BP
Possibly the only remaining truly lith-capable paper in production. A cold-tone, fibre-basedsilver bromide emulsion, available in many sizes as single-weight (150 microns) mid-weightand double-weight (250 microns) base thickness and available in glossy, semi-gloss & mattsurfaces, Grades 2, 3 and 4.
By far the most graphic and the coldest of all lithable papers with a look all of its own. Thispaper with average strength lith processing gives high contrast images almost reminiscentof charcoal drawings. It can be the trickiest paper to control as it is prone to acceleratinginfectious development around the edges and often to random spots and patches. This ismuch less in Maco Superlith* (now Rollei Vintage Creative developer*), Arista Liquid Lith*and Clayton Lith developers, which are therefore the developers of choice (*see update footnote) with Slavich Unibrom, especially in higher dilutions.
Agitation technique can be critical for even results with this paper.
Smoother tones may be obtained with redevelopment after bleaching ('2nd pass lith')especially with copper sulphate bleach (see my books and 'the Future of Lith?' above), whichcan be particularly useful.
*Update October 09: NOTE: Arista liquid lith and Rollei Vintage Creative lith haveboth changed. See below under Developers.
BROMOPORTRAIT 80 BP ("SEMI LITH")
This is a new warm tone paper in Europe and is made in a similar range of weights andsurfaces and a wide range of sizes.
This paper can produce luscious rich brown prints in lith developer, but can also be a sourceof unsightly side effects. It appears to have some incorporated developer in it, so whilst thispaper produces prints in rich lith print colours - and I have seen many - it is not a good paperfor real lith printing. As mentioned in the preamble, there is a world of difference in seeing aprint in the hand and trying to control one in the darkroom for a pre-visualized result, andthis paper does not, of course, offer the necessary controls, even using those techniqueslisted in 'New Rules' above. A fuller description of Bromoportrait is given under 'Comingsand Goings' in the Preamble section.
Both papers require deep red safelights
I found this info from Tim Rudman in his Lith Printing Materials Report (updated March 2013).
[And check out his report to see what "semi-lith" is about]
Slavich (Russia)
Produced by Kompania Slavich in the Yaroslavskaya region of Russia and distributed to 'theWest' through Geola Digital in Vilnius, Lithuania, who maintain English-speaking staff. Slavich papers are now available from Silverprint in London and The Photo Shop in Ireland.
UNIBROM 160 BP
Possibly the only remaining truly lith-capable paper in production. A cold-tone, fibre-basedsilver bromide emulsion, available in many sizes as single-weight (150 microns) mid-weightand double-weight (250 microns) base thickness and available in glossy, semi-gloss & mattsurfaces, Grades 2, 3 and 4.
By far the most graphic and the coldest of all lithable papers with a look all of its own. Thispaper with average strength lith processing gives high contrast images almost reminiscentof charcoal drawings. It can be the trickiest paper to control as it is prone to acceleratinginfectious development around the edges and often to random spots and patches. This ismuch less in Maco Superlith* (now Rollei Vintage Creative developer*), Arista Liquid Lith*and Clayton Lith developers, which are therefore the developers of choice (*see update footnote) with Slavich Unibrom, especially in higher dilutions.
Agitation technique can be critical for even results with this paper.
Smoother tones may be obtained with redevelopment after bleaching ('2nd pass lith')especially with copper sulphate bleach (see my books and 'the Future of Lith?' above), whichcan be particularly useful.
*Update October 09: NOTE: Arista liquid lith and Rollei Vintage Creative lith haveboth changed. See below under Developers.
BROMOPORTRAIT 80 BP ("SEMI LITH")
This is a new warm tone paper in Europe and is made in a similar range of weights andsurfaces and a wide range of sizes.
This paper can produce luscious rich brown prints in lith developer, but can also be a sourceof unsightly side effects. It appears to have some incorporated developer in it, so whilst thispaper produces prints in rich lith print colours - and I have seen many - it is not a good paperfor real lith printing. As mentioned in the preamble, there is a world of difference in seeing aprint in the hand and trying to control one in the darkroom for a pre-visualized result, andthis paper does not, of course, offer the necessary controls, even using those techniqueslisted in 'New Rules' above. A fuller description of Bromoportrait is given under 'Comingsand Goings' in the Preamble section.
Both papers require deep red safelights
