Unsharp masking film

[Peter Rockstroh01]

Many years ago I learned the process of unsharp masking, and with some of my photos it had astonishing results.
I haven´t done this in a long time, so I was wondering which Lith films are still available today, who produces them
and how do they perform ? Does anyone still use this approach to crisp up their prints ?

 

[dwross]

I still do on occasion. I used to as a matter of course. I just use regular film. Finer grain film works a bit cleaner.

 

[relistan]

Take a look at @Greg Davis' video on the subject

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I prefer to use regular film, but I have used lith film. I think it was APHS? I have also used one-sided x-ray film. That worked really well...and it's cheap. I made unsharp masks for 4x5 and 8x10 negatives.

 

[Steve Goldstein]

It's not lith film, but these days I use 4x5 Ilford Ortho Plus for both 4x5 and 120 masks because it nice to be able to work under a red safelight.

For 120 negatives I cut the 4x5 sheets in half so the film goes twice as far. Since one piece won't have a notch code after it's cut I clip the corner diagonally opposite the notch code before I cut the sheet. The clipped corner serves as a stand-in notch code on the piece that otherwise wouldn't have one.

 

[Louis Nargi]

Thank you vary helpful

 

[Todd Niccole]

Photo Warehouse Ultrafine lith films. I have only played around with this a couple of times for copying work.

Ultrafine High Contrast Ortho Litho Film - Ultrafine Photographic Specialty Films (ultrafineonline.com)

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Many years ago I learned the process of unsharp masking, and with some of my photos it had astonishing results.
I haven´t done this in a long time, so I was wondering which Lith films are still available today, who produces them
and how do they perform ? Does anyone still use this approach to crisp up their prints ?

I successfully made unsharp masks with regular film(Tmax100 and 400) as well.

 

[Peter Rockstroh01]

Thank you all for your comments. With current film prices large format is going to hurt the most
Lith was cheap and forgiving, and gracefully responded to almost any continuous tone developer.
I´ll do some tests with FP4 as masking film for HP5 in medium format. I suppose that the T-max
users will also try using T-grain film for masking ?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I successfully made unsharp masks with regular film(Tmax100 and 400) as well.

TMAX 100 is an excellent film for unsharp masks, but not so if one intends to print in an alt process.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Thank you all for your comments. With current film prices large format is going to hurt the most
Lith was cheap and forgiving, and gracefully responded to almost any continuous tone developer.
I´ll do some tests with FP4 as masking film for HP5 in medium format. I suppose that the T-max
users will also try using T-grain film for masking ?

FP4 is excellent. I've used it for unsharp masking HP5.

 

[Peter Rockstroh01]

The advantage of a lith or ortho film is being able to use a red safelight while working. Otherwise, any b&w film will work just fine for masking.

Yes, that was the main reason to use Lith, because it allows me to develop to any desired density by inspection.
It is also easier to handle exposure times, although I imagine that very fine detail should be better masking with FP4