I understand they're are a number of exotic toners available from companies like Photographers Formulary, but I would like to experiment with some unique color (blues, greens, etc.) toners and want to avoid the danger and expense.

Like a number of others, I tried the Berg toner. I followed the directions to the letter and the fiber prints came out looking cheap and plastic.

My question is this - is there any way to vary the dilutions, time, etc. to get a decent toned print with this product?

My apologies to the company for being critical, but I am hopeful that at least a few photographers on this list have manged to get a beautiful toned print from this product and are willing to share the secrets.

There's also a product called PrintTint which I'm guessing is similar.

Thanks!

Bill Noll

-- Bill Noll (billnoll@aol.com), July 27, 2000

Answers

The Green from Berg looks nice. Blue first, then yellow -- or is it yellow then green. Just like it says. The blue or yellow by themselves are hideous, but the green is wonderful. I've tried to pull miracles with Selenium (the elusive Purple) never got it, tried everything -- gave up. If the Berg 2 step green wasn't so difficult I'd use it more. I even tried this rumored "Olive Green" effect by using stale developer with slow juice in it -- didn't work. But Ilford Warmtone with Selenium is nice. Matting is nice too. Don't want to be discouraging, but it isn't easy. Dean

-- Dean Lastoria (dvlastor@sfu.ca), July 28, 2000.

What is slow juice, please?

-- shawn (shawngibson_prophoto@yahoo.com), July 31, 2000.

Well, that is "Bromide" I think. I got a great big old amber jar of Kodak Bromide but I'm at work and I can't be 100% positve so I figured someone else would fill in the blank... Potasium B____ " as opposed to the other wich speeds it up (carbona..) I failed Chemistry. Dean

-- Dean Lastoria (dvlastor@sfu.ca), July 31, 2000.

Potassium Bromide retards development. Sodium Carbonate is typically used to accelerate development.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), August 01, 2000.

Thanks guys. The name makes sense with the action...

-- shawn (shawngibson_prophoto@yahoo.com), August 01, 2000.

Potassium Bromide is a restrainer, that it is retards development, but tends to make prints go warmer; it is also used to reduce fogging if your paper is out of date, stored at high temperatures, etc.

Benzatriazole is another restrainer, but makes prints go cooler, towards blue. Edwal, I think, sells it as Liquid Orthozite (or something close to that). I got it at my local photo store.

Kodak used to, and might still make, pre-packaged Sepia toner. I like the results on fiber based prints, but haven't tried it on RC. Kodak also has Selenium toner, but it's very toxic. Varing dilutions is supposed to give different colors. I've only used it to cool down or increase D-max, never to give a strong coloring.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), August 01, 2000.

It sounds dumb but try it.... My high school kids love to use diluted RIT dye that is usually used for fabric... the effects are awesome Also consider masking areas and using rubber cement to layer the tones Nothing goes through the rubber cement...then it rolls off clean

-- LSuttonSchmitz (LSuttonSchmitz@hotmail.com), August 03, 2000.

Sorry, not familiar with RIT, but intrigued -- is it the stuff in the Laundry section that building managers hate? Or something more exotic. Also, what kind of dilutions and time? Thanks, Dean

-- Dean Lastoria (dvlastor@sfu.ca), August 04, 2000.

RIT is indeed the dye in your local supermarket that the commercial laundries hate. I've never tried it, but since I think it is a vegetable dye, it is very unlikely to be permanent.

Most of the photographic toners are very permanent. Various metals/metal salts bond to the silver atoms which is why they are permanent and why they are toxic. All metals are toxic. It just takes more of some to do us in. And we need minute quantities of almost all metals to live. Very strange, indeed. This is not an endoresment to drink your photo chemicals, so don't do it.

-- Charlie Strack (char;lie_strack@sti.com), August 08, 2000.

A spin off of the "layering" effect by the use of rubber cement, I have found the use of a SHARPIE permanent marker to be fun. I wrote on the print paper--glossy--with the marker before exposure, exposed the image, and the development process stripped the ink off the paper leaving a white silhouette of what I had written.

-- Mike Chappelear (mikechappy@hotmail.com), August 17, 2000.