Some darkroom prints turning yellow....others are fine!

[lmorris]

Hi. When I am printing in my darkroom some prints are turning yellow (I am developing, stop bathing, and fixing the correct time) but others are not. I just opened all new chemical. Any ideas as to why this is happening? Or suggestions on what I can do to fix it! Please help this is very frustrating!

 

[tkamiya]

What kind of paper are you using? How long is your "correct" time for each step in the process?

Most importantly, what method are you using to wash the prints and for how long?

How were your prints stored/displayed?

WELCOME to APUG!

 

[Jim Noel]

You are not washing adequately. Prints need to be rotated and agitated in the washer. The prints on top, and possibly bottom, are getting adequate changes of water, while those in the middle of the stack are not. Also, your washing time may be inadequate. If you are not using a washing aid you need to begin doing so.

 

[Slixtiesix]

Are you using RC or fiber? Sounds like they are not washed properly. Residual fixer usually is responsible for this and it´s not very healthy for the print!

 

[Worker 11811]

Over what period of time?

Are they turning yellow at the time of processing or after they are processed and dried?

Are they turning yellow hours, days, weeks or more after drying?

I don't know anything but severe contamination of your chemistry that would cause photos to turn yellow during processing. Since you say that you are using all new chemistry, I would say that this is ruled out unless your water is bad but, believe it or not, black and white photography is surprisingly resilient to contamination. It will either work or not with a few shades of gray in between. For your water to be so contaminated that photography wouldn't work, you'd practically have to be using sewer water. Hyperbole aside, if your water is safe enough to drink it's a 99.999% chance that water or chemistry isn't causing the problem.

I assume that you are not toning or otherwise post-processing your prints. Correct?
Again, if you are using all new chemistry, your stuff can't be contaminated with toners or other things. Right?
Have you ever even used such things? I assume not. True?

The only other thing I can think of which would cause prints to turn color after processing would be residual fixer in the paper. Thus, I agree with the others, above. You need to wash your prints better.

If you are using fiber based paper, you can use a fixer-clearing agent like Kodak Hypo Clear or Heico Perma-Wash. Mix and apply according to directions on the package. However, I would STILL wash my prints for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes in clear running water. The directions on Heico Perma Wash say that you don't have to wash that long but, for my final "good" prints, I still wash for 30 minutes.

If you are using Resin/RC paper, you don't need the fixer-clearing agent but you still need to wash them well. Again, 20 to 30 minutes in clear, running water. They say that you don't have to wash RC as long but, up to the point where the water over-soaks the paper, I say you can't wash too long.
I have accidentally left RC prints in water overnight without damage that couldn't be avoided by careful handing.

Bottom line: Wash your prints well and this problem should go away.