i'm beginning to play with selenium toner and have a few prints 1 week to 2 months old that i'd like to see the effect on, is it best to just make new prints and tone while it's wet or can i expect good results if i rewet the prints and then tone? if rewetting is ok what process should i use? i'm thinking just soak in water a few minutes then tone then rinse... will that work?

thanks

joe

-- Joe Holcombe (joe1013_@excite.com), October 01, 2001

Answers

As I guess you are aware, the prints do need to be wet when placed into the toner bath. If the prints are only a few weeks to a few months old, there is probably no problem with just placing them in a water bath for 2-3 minutes. It is generally only on older prints that re-wetting causes the emulsion to come loose from the paper. As far as I know, you will not see any noticable difference in the look of a re-wetted print vs a wet, fully washed print. There may be a slight difference if you use toner in the process without washing it first.

David Carper ILFORD Technical Service

-- David Carper (david.carper@ilford.com), October 01, 2001.

You can tone prints which have dried... For RC prints, I wet them for half a minute (just hold them under the shower). For FB prints, I let them soak in slow running water for a while (2-3 minutes). Whatever you do, make sure the print is UNIFORMLY wet, otherwise you are going to have problems with uneven toning.

-- Sriram (r_sriram@ziplip.com), October 01, 2001.

I have used both methods. toning in line with the other processes; or waiting and toning a large group at one time. As has been stated the prints need to be wet. I have never had any experience with the emulsion splitting from the base of the paper, however, there has been some debate that it might be better to tone after allowing the prints to dry. The theory is that they are not as stable right after the inital processing run. Regardless of when you tone it is very critical that the prints are fixed and washed properly or staining will show up with the toning.

-- Ann C lancy (clancya@mediaone.net), October 02, 2001.