Unwanted split toning -- How to stop it?

I've been printing on Ilford MG Warmtone Pearl RC, and tone the prints in selenium 1:9. I seem to get an unwanted split tone effect, where the middle and dark tones end up a warm, slightly brownish tone that I like, but the highlights look cool and slightly blue-ish. It's not the look that I want to acheive; I'd rather the highlights be a warm yellowish color. I see that look in many prints published in books and online, and I like that appearance. I don't know how to eliminate the split tone effect and get the overall warm tone that I'm after. I've tried increasing the temperature of the selenium bath to about 75 degrees F, but it didn't help. I realize that there are warm tone developers out there, but would like to stick with Dektol if at all possible.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks,
Dale

You're selenium toning for too long, Thomas Joshua Cooper and Olivia Parker actually use split toning as you describe to great effect.

You need to control highlight and overall warmth through development not Selenium toning, shorter dev times and a slight increase in exposure will increase the warmth. If your developer is too cold you'll get colder tones as well, also use a warm tone developer like Harman Warmtone.

Ian

Thanks for the suggestions, I will give that a try. My toning times during my last printing session were only 2-3 minutes, so I don't think I'm toning too long. I pulled the print after that time because I didn't want to the middle and dark tones to shift to brown any further. But I understand that Dektol may not be the best developer if I'm trying for warm tones, so will have to look at trying something else.

Dale

Also, I understand that some others like the split tone effect, but somehow it doesn't look right to me, at least in my prints. I prefer an overall warm tone, without going to far into brown.

Dale

I have toned a lot of Ilford WT in selenium, though mostly FB paper. I have always found the problem you have too. In my experience there is very little difference in what developer you use. Maybe back in the old days, like before 1990, you could impact the color of the print significantly, but now most papers don't respond much to whether you use Ansco 130 or Amidol or any of the various WT developers. If you leave the print in the toner a longer time the split will go away but it will all be that reddish brown color... that some people love. If your prime concern is print color, you might try using Neutral color paper and then tone it with Bergs brown toner. It will still go brown but it won't have the reddish cast. It is worth a try.
Dennis

It's discouraging to hear that I might not be able to get the overall warm tone that I'm after by using WT paper. I've seen it over the years in others' prints as a "creamy" look in the highlights that appeals to me, especially for portraits. Thanks for the suggestion about neutral paper with Berg brown toner, will take a look at that.

Dale

You are toning either too long or two short, depending on the effect you are seeking. Once the shadows turn eggplant, you have to let the prints continue to tone in the lighter areas so the effect is uniform. If you don't want the eggplant color, you need to pull the prints before that starts happening. You might want to save a few of your reject prints from your session to use as tests so you get the timing right.

Try a partial sepia tone prior to selenium. Use a variable thiourea and mix the ratio for warm yellow. Overprint or flash in the hilights, use a dilute bleach bath and don’t go beyond the midtones. After a short wash, selenium tone for 2-3 mins.

dpurdy said:

I have toned a lot of Ilford WT in selenium, though mostly FB paper. I have always found the problem you have too. In my experience there is very little difference in what developer you use. Maybe back in the old days, like before 1990, you could impact the color of the print significantly, but now most papers don't respond much to whether you use Ansco 130 or Amidol or any of the various WT developers. If you leave the print in the toner a longer time the split will go away but it will all be that reddish brown color... that some people love. If your prime concern is print color, you might try using Neutral color paper and then tone it with Bergs brown toner. It will still go brown but it won't have the reddish cast. It is worth a try.
Dennis

Click to expand...

Dennis, I can get quite a significant warm shift in image colour with Ilford WT papers, I use ID-78 which I mix up myself but essentially it's the same as the commercial Harman Warmtone developer, it's important not to over develop as that kill the warmth, if times are too short then use the developer more dilute. I'm typically developing for betwen 45 seconds and 75 seconds with FB paper.

While it's true that modern chloro-bromide warm tone papers aren't as versatile as the older papers with cadmium etc there's still a reasonable shift in colour, I wouldn't be using Ilford MG WT paper if there wasn't

Ian

images39 said:

It's discouraging to hear that I might not be able to get the overall warm tone that I'm after by using WT paper. I've seen it over the years in others' prints as a "creamy" look in the highlights that appeals to me, especially for portraits. Thanks for the suggestion about neutral paper with Berg brown toner, will take a look at that.

Dale

Click to expand...

I get a lovely warm tone to my MGWT prints, also with Adox MCC papers by using the Fotospeed WT 10 warm tone developer at 1/29 dilution, you can get around 10 sheets of 10/8 paper per liter, I develop for between 3 and 4 minutes for FB paper
Richard

Hi,

yes too short for a maximum uniform warm tone. I made these test stripes with KST 1:20 and Ilford MGW FB paper, so more than 20 minutes (right stripe, still split toned) are needed.




Best
Jens

Thanks to everyone for all the input and suggestions. This gives me several things to try, hopefully enabling me to achieve the creamy warm tone that I'm after with WT paper.

Dale