Kallitype Printing, Part 2

[@JackMaine1]

Thank you Tom. This is terrific.

[@tristanlope93]

That is a very beautiful print, and a very beautiful subject. Great job.

[@robinwinters]

Thank you Tom for this great video. I have subscribed!

[@cowboyyoga]

Thanks Tom! Two super videos!

[@jimcochrane6455]

Good work. You get it done, so many videos need editing, this one doesn't.

[@brandondaniels9471]

Amazing Tutorial!! More please 😂

[@tnp651]

Mantas DK, 6.7 ml of Bostick & Sullivan palladium solution #3 and 5 grams of sodium sulfite in distilled water to make 1 liter. Shake the bottle before use, as the heavy palladium tends to settle. I use 100 ml of this solution for a 9x12” (22x30 cm) print. Palladium has gotten expensive and it seems I can dilute the mixed solution 1:1 with water and get the same effect.

[@tnp651]

See my video onb toners to learn a better way.

[@sethmartin4308]

Hi Tom, your presentation is very well done, clear and straight forward..thanks for posting the video. Tom, I'm curious have you ever used Selenium Toner with this process?

[@tnp651]

I haven't tried selenium. Sandy King and Ed Buffaloe caution that selenium will cause staining if used before fixing: www.sandykingphotography.com/resources/technical-writing/the-kallitype-process unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Ferric/ferric.html There's a lot of controversy about it. Some say it stains, some that it has to be used in too dilute a solution to be useful, and others say that it's fine. Here's more: www.photrio.com/forum/threads/toning-kallitypes-some-questions.21313/

[@rolft.7697]

Thanks for sharing your Kallitype process here on youtube. May I ask you about your developer recipe ?

[@tnp651]

I'm using sodium citrate (200 grams/ liter of distilled water). In my experience, the toner, not the developer, determines the color so you might as well use something cheap. I heat the water to help the citrate dissolve. For a 9x12" print, I add 130 ml of fresh developer each print. and discard the same amount The rest of the developer gets used again and again.

[@terryglass5664]

Your videos are excellent… hope you do more. A Van Dyke Brown would be good and an easier process than the Kallitype.

[@leo_stan]

Dear Mr. Nelson, Thanks so much for the detailed video. I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind: a) First, could you give me a few details about the UV lamp/light you're using? It looks like something I've never seen (I live in Canada) and I cannot guess what it is. I'm currently experimenting with a self-made UV box, however, the expose times are excruciatingly long (almost 3 hrs for a cyanotype negative...). b) What kind of developer & fixer are you using? Are they just the regular ones used in traditional analogue paper development? Thanks again and I look forward to future videos, hopefully related to alternative processes. My absolute best, Leo

[@tnp651]

Hi Leo, a) The light I'm using is a Quans 110v 20 watt UV light I bought on Amazon. Here's a link: www.amazon.com/QUANS-Violet-Blacklight-fishing-Aquarium/dp/B018C71QHI In my setup, I get a maximum black at 18 minutes with the light 30" from the contact frame. But do your own tests. b) Kallitypes use a totally different developer than silver prints. There are plenty of suggested formulations but the most common one is sodium citrate (200 grams/liter). I use a slightly more complicated one proposed by Russell Young as his brown-black developer: 50 grams borax (20 Mule Team from the grocery store) 40 grams Rochelle salt (find on eBay) Distilled water to make 1 liter (heat before dissolving the solids) To be honest, I wish I'd started on sodium citrate before making my tests since I find the results are very similar. The fixer is sodium thiosulfate (known as hypo to traditional darkroom workers). It's a little more complicated formula: 50 g sodium thiosulfate 10 g sodium carbonate (washing soda from the grocery store) 2 g sodium sulfite Hot distilled water to make 1 liter Best of luck with your kallitypes! Let me know if I can give more help. Tom

[@tidley45]

This is very informative and the details you get from your prints are amazing. How much citric acid solution and fixer solution are you using in the tray?

[@tnp651]

I make a liter of acidified tap water with just a pinch of citric and use half of it for each rinse. In my 11x14" tray, I use 200 ml of 3% citric and fixer.

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

A superb presentation. I'll stick with salt and albumen prints though. Too many sees for me-I;d get frustrated making mistakes. :-)

[@questor62]

Very clear and informative. Obviously the result of much effort and time spent understanding this process. I liked your use of of a mask around the border. Can I ask what material it is made of as i would like to try it too. I assume it will need to be quite thin so as not to reduce the contact pressure between negative and paper.

[@tnp651]

Iain M the mask is simple construction paper. It doesn’t seem to affect sharpness. BTW I’ve lately embraced the look of the brush-stroked margin and no longer use the mask.

[@JustinJett]

Hi Tom...my question has to do with washing...I live in the country so I have well water. Will washing 20 mins with distilled jug water work or is it crucial to have running water? Great video btw

[@tnp651]

Short answer: I don’t know. You definitely don’t need distilled water for washing. Well water should be fine even if it has a high iron content because by that time all the iron compounds should be neutralized. I’ve washed in still water with a few changes of water but I don’t know how archival it will be. You could also rig a recirculating pump to keep water moving and at least get even results. I hope this helps.

[@tnp651]

OK, I thought about this some more and this is what I came up with. If your well water has iron, sulfur or other minerals, the emulsion is stable but the paper may show staining or spotting. Better to use deionized water you find at fill stations in some grocery stores (mine charges 38¢ a gallon if I bring my own containers). Cover the print with it and give constant agitation for 5 minutes, then dump and refill 3 times for a total of 20 minutes. That should be equivalent to a 20 minute wash in running city water.

[@JustinJett]

@@tnp651 thanks for the feedback...ill give it a shot. Thanks

[@pierluigisecatore5175]

Hello , very interesting. What is time of exposure for this print?

[@tnp651]

Pierluigi Secatore with my light 75 cm above the contact frame, my exposure is 16 minutes for citrate development or 18 minutes for the Rochelle salt formula I formerly used.

[@roberoto100]

Hi Tom! I am new to callitype and watched all your videos. Love the way you inform about the technique. I still have some questions that I hope to get answered. Making digital nbegatives went well, especially with further adjustment of the curve as you describe in your video. My tap water hra too high pH value. Use a little citric acid as you show. But for some reason after washing and before 3% citric acid bleach, the image turns golden brown. Gold tones don't help much to cool down the tone. When I use distilled water from the store, I get perfect results as you describe. Image does not turn yellow after washing. Gold tones cool down the tone and that's how I like it. My question is, what should be done with the tap water so that the images do not turn yellow when rinsed in tap water before toner and fix. Tap water pH =8.32

[@tnp651]

Hi Robert, I don’t want to pretend to more expertise than I have, but you might try a short soak in distilled water (just enough to cover) before toning. You can also try inexpensive de-ionized water you can find at fill stations in some grocery stores. Try those and let me know; I may be able to help further.

[@roberoto100]

@@tnp651 Hello Tom. Thanks for the answer. I bought a machine that makes distilled water, but with the electricity prices in Western Europe it will be cheaper to make platinum prints. I'm joking :) I bought the de-ionized water at the store and it works fine, but the prices are high. The color change occurs after the second water rinse. I do as you describe, dividing a liter of water with a little citric acid into two rinses. So I don't think it will help with a short soak before toning since the color change will be a fact. Wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem?

[@tnp651]

@@roberoto100 1. Try adding more citric acid to the rinse water. Your water may be particularly alkaline. 2. You may be able to get by with re-using acidified distilled water for the two-part rinse. Add a bit more citric acid to make up for what was used. These are just guesses, since I don't have the problem you do. Good luck!

[@roberoto100]

@@tnp651 Hello again! You had some very interesting thoughts about using the same water multiple times. I will try both of your suggestions and share with you what was the result. Have I mentioned that the tap water measures approx. pH=8.4

[@tnp651]

@@roberoto100 you'll definitely need to use more citric to overcome your alkaline water. I happened upon the following exchange on some bulletin board (I don't remember where): Dennis Moser Admin Two things to be very careful about with the iron-silver salt prints (especially kallitypes and argyrotypes): 1. Mix fresh baths of the expendables such as EDTA and citric acid. Always. Never try to economize and reuse from session to session. 2. Water quality. Unless you're using distilled water. Not just the pH (you should be checking that anyway), but the chlorine content. And not just for chlorine content but chloramine content. If you have to use tapwater, try boiling up a couple of liters and let them cool down, then test them. Distilled always works but isn't always easily available and can eliminate some of the staining. Paul Alexis I had this problem with the kallitype, . To eliminate the yellow haze, I used to do 3 baths, the first one with a pinch of citric acid and demineralized water, the 2 following ones with edta (4/100) and the final rinse (after the fix), a 1/100 sodium sulfite bath (hypoclear). The recipe is not mine but it is effective

[@jason_goh]

The video is great.Really helpful. I'm trying to make some kallitypes, but I always not sure my fixer is still working or not . Is there any way to test the fixer for kallitype?

[@tnp651]

Sorry I missed this question. Photographers Formulary sells a hypo test kit (for $23!) but I just use a small amount of fresh hypo (100ml) per print and discard it.

[@jason_goh]

Thanks a lot .

[@tannerg440]

Hey Tom, looking to get a list of the developer, stock developer, fixer and all of the other chemicals that you use in this video. Could you reply to this comment so I know which ones I'm going to need to buy? I am also planning on using Gold toner to get a more neutral black. Do you have any tips for me to make sure I get it right? Thanks again

[@tannerg440]

also, how much water are you putting in to your fixer solution, developer, etc. Thanks so much!

[@tnp651]

Hi Tanner, here's what you need: Sensitizer is 10% silver nitrate and 20% ferric oxalate, with a drop of ammonium dichromate and a wetting solution called TWEEN-20. None of these is expensive and you can find them on eBay. There are dozens of suggested developers but the most popular is the simplest and cheapest: sodium citrate. Citric acid is used as a clearing bath. Fixer is hypo (sodium thiosulfate). Don't use rapid fixer for regular prints. Toner is the only expensive ingredient. You can use gold, palladium or platinum. You can also use selenium, but Sandy King recommends against it: www.sandykingphotography.com/resources/technical-writing/the-kallitype-process As I say in the video, I recommend using the minimum amount of toner and discarding it when the print is toned. The only other thing to know about heavy-metal toners is that the metallic component tends to settle. Shake the bottle before you pour the toner. Good luck!

[@tannerg440]

Thank you, Tom! You’ve saved my bacon for my class I’m taking. Thanks again!

[@roadboogie]

WOW a beautiful result. thanks for sharing i ll try it out. could you give an over all price for all the chemicals per one foto sized like yours? best whishes.

[@tnp651]

I figure $7 per print for paper and chemicals per 9x12” print. That said, palladium toner has increased in price lately. When I bought it last year at the lower price,100ml of mixed solution was about $2 of the total. I’ve been experimenting with greater dilution and it doesn’t seem to hurt.

[@roadboogie]

Tom Nelson thank you so much!

[@mantasdk]

Very informative video, thank you very much. If I may ask what is the platine toner formula?

[@billhackley3540]

I may have missed it somehow are you using a standard paper developer

[@tnp651]

No, Bill, traditional paper developers (like Dektol) don’t work on kallitypes. You can buy developer from Bostick & Sullivan but it’s easy & cheap to mix your own.