CHEMICAL TONING OF BLACK AND WHITE PRINTS

Toning is a chemical process that alters the silver compounds in a print. Most colours can be produced, they are available in kits- this may be expensive for one or two prints. However, most are not truly permanent. Sepia, Gold and Selenium are permanent.
They may be used to ensure photographic permanence . Some toners can be combined to give different colours. Use fibre based papers for the best tones, resin coated papers may not work or will give poor colours. Type of paper, the temperature of developer as well as type of developer alters the tones. Keep test strips for tests. It takes time, patience and a lot of experimentation. Remember the tone should suit the subject. Adjustments to contrast and density may be needed during printing. Toning is carried out in daylight.   Although most can be brought as kits it is much cheaper to buy the raw chemicals if you intend to do a reasonable number of prints.

Bear these points in mind:- 1. Prints must be fixed and washed correctly (may still be wet).
2. Contamination of prints and trays must be avoided at all costs.
3. Sudden temperature changes must also be avoided.
4. Prints must be fully washed after toning.

PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO ANY HEALTH AND SAFETY WARNING. MANY TONING SOLUTIONS ARE VERY TOXIC AND MAY PRODUCE FUMES. PREPARE IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA AND NOT NEAR FOOD PREPARATION.

BLUE TONER may be a one or two bath solution. The tone increases in strength and increases the contrast of the print.

	Blue toner-gaf 241 Distilled Water (warm) then dissolve Ferric ammonium citrate 8.0 g Potassium Ferricyanide 8.0 g Acetic Acid (Ethanoic acid) 28% 265.0 g make up to 1000 ml
This Solution is strong and may be best to dilute it. immerse the print and gently agitate it until it reaches the desired tone. Then wash in water acidified with Acetic acid (stop bath) until the yellow stain disappears. This can also be used to reduced the tone. then wash for 10- 20 minutes. Do not over wash. Softer tones can achieved with the use of a 0.5%  solution of borax.

SEPIA
1). SULPHIDE- This consists of a bleach bath (potassium ferricyanide). A short rinse in water (i.e. 1 min.) and a sodium sulphide bath (smells of rotten eggs!). Gives a rich brown colour. Rinse in an acid stop bath after toning and wash.

Untoned FB B/W	Sulphide toned
Solution 1-Bleach (also used as a reducer for films and prints) Potassium Ferricyanide (potassium hexocyanoferrate (III) )  15.0 g Potassium Bromide  15.0 g water to 1000 ml	Solution 2-Toner sodium Sulphide 15.0 g water to make 1000 ml Store in brown bottles
Bleach prints until they turn yellow then rinse for a few minutes. Then tone in solution two until the print is brown. Wash in Acidified water, use dilute Hydrochloric or acetic acid(ethanoic acid) ie. stop bath. Wash for 20 minutes. You can also put the print into the toner first then bleach and tone. This gives a more chocolate colour.

2). VARIABLE SEPIA TONER- Consists of a bleach bath (potassium ferricyanide). A short rinse in water (i.e. 1 min.). Then a toner (sodium thiocarbamide) with a variable amount of sodium hydroxide. This will give tones from Yellow to chocolate brown depending on the amount of sodium hydroxide used.

Untoned	Yellow-brown	Brown
Solution A -Bleach Potassium ferricyanide  100.0g potassium Bromide  100 g water to 1000 ml	Solution B -Toner Thiocarbamide  100 g water to make 1000 g	Solution C -Activator Sodium Hydroxide 100 g Water to make 1000 ml
B      C      water    Image tone 1       5      50         Purple brown 1       3      50         cold brown 1       1      50         brown 3       1      50         warm brown 5       1      50         yellow brown	1. Bleach  in A to yellow, rinse in water for 1-2 minutes 2.Then use the mixed toner /activator. 3. Rinse in a slightly acidic wash then wash for 20 minutes.

SELENIUM TONING  Single bath solution (Diluted). Most papers give a slight increase in contrast and density. Some are slightly bluish. Agfa papers go red brown to chestnut as does kodak portriga. The solution is reused many times until it does not work. VERY POISONOUS read the instructions. Not worth making up from basic chemicals for most people.

GOLD TONER Single bath solution. Acts as a slight blue toner, giving a slight increase in contrast. Gives a red tone in highlight areas when used after sepia. The solution is reused until it does not work. Not worth making up from basic chemicals.

Gold toned print -often less obvious than this.


BLEACH Photographic bleach(potassium ferricyanide/pot.bromide) alone may also give a warm brown/copper. To do this use a very dilute bleach in a dish over a long period of time ( 5-20 minutes). The best results are achieved using chloro-bomide FB papers with warm toned developers. Can also be used to bleach back small areas that are too dense (use  a very dilute solution mixed with fixer and swab on with cotton wool. Wash off with cold water). Photographic bleach can also be used with or without a little fixer to reduce paper or negatives that are over exposed (this is permanent when used with fixer). The highlight areas are bleached back first, dark areas may take much longer. Be careful not to bleach the highlights out completely. Printing contrast may be lowered to adjust for this. Wash well afterwards then dry as normal.

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