Toning developer

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Elia Freddi - 12 Mar 2004 09:29 GMT

Hi people!

In these days I'm looking at the different recepies for home made
developer and their effect on the paper. I found that generally
speaking the restrainer can induce a tone in the print - high
percentage of KBr will give a warm toning, benzotriazole a cold one.
Do you have any idea about the mechanism of this toning? In a page (I
forgot the address) I found that the restrainer affect the growth of
the silver grain and for this reason the scattered light can have
different tone, but it sounds a little bit strange to me.
Thanks and bye

Elia Freddi
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Dan Quinn - 14 Mar 2004 06:08 GMT

> Hi people!
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> different tone, but it sounds a little bit strange to me.
> Thanks and bye

Very fine silver in an emulsion is black. Silver plate is, silver.
Very fine gold is purple. I don't think the two "toners" you've
mentioned combine with the silver.
More information on the subject would be interesting but I
would'nt know where to look. Dan

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Elia Freddi - 15 Mar 2004 17:11 GMT

> I don't think the two "toners" you've mentioned combine with the silver.

I agree with you, they should have effect only on the action of the
reducer, not on the color of the silver - they are just restrainer.
Just wondering how they can affect the tone.

Elia Freddi
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"Sii tecnico spietato con il mezzo e poeta con la mente" - il ratto

MypagE at http://efreddi.altervista.org/

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John - 16 Mar 2004 09:16 GMT

>> I don't think the two "toners" you've mentioned combine with the silver.
>
>I agree with you, they should have effect only on the action of the
>reducer, not on the color of the silver - they are just restrainer.
>Just wondering how they can affect the tone.

Finer grained developers produce slightly warmer tones.

Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.darkroompro.com
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

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coldlake - 18 Mar 2004 03:50 GMT

> Do you have any idea about the mechanism of this toning? In a page (I
> forgot the address) I found that the restrainer affect the growth of
> the silver grain and for this reason the scattered light can have
> different tone, but it sounds a little bit strange to me.

That's right. The difference is in the size of the silver crystals at
a microscopic level produced by different developers. Small, finely
divided crystals reflect brown. Larger ones tend toward black and
blue.

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