because the fluctuation in intensity of the latter is very
misleading and liable to lead to failures through over or under
development.
The actual colour of the light, also, is of far more importance than
one would suppose: ruby light tends to give one the impression that
development is complete long before that is the actual case; it is
also somewhat more difficult to handle the paper satisfactorily by
this light than by a good yellow.
For these and other reasons I strongly recommend the use of yellow
light, a thoroughly safe one being given by gas or lamplight passing
through one sheet of yellow glass and one thickness of "canary
medium."
This light, while being absolutely safe, gives such perfect
illumination that it is as easy to control and estimate results as
it would be by ordinary unfiltered gaslight.
If a ruby glazed lantern is already in use for negative work, it can
readily be prepared for bromide printing by merely removing the ruby
glass and substituting the yellow and canary medium. With these
brief hints as to illumination, let us consider the entire process
in its various stages.
_Unpacking the Paper._--The sensitive paper is generally packed in
envelopes sufficiently opaque to protect it from the admission of
light. The packet must be opened in the dark-room from which _all_
light (even stray streaks beneath the door) is excluded, excepting
only that given by the yellow glazed lantern. The outer envelope
being carefully undone, an inner cover will be found and these
wrappers should be placed on a dry table while a sheet of the paper
is removed.
It is a good plan to have a "light-tight" box (obtainable from any
dealer) in which to put the paper after unpacking it; this prevents
loss of time and awkwardness of handling in having to replace the
paper in its wrappers each time a piece is withdrawn for use.
When several prints from one or more negatives are required, it is
an excellent thing to have two of these boxes, one for the unexposed
paper and one in which to put the prints as made until all are ready
for development.
_The Class of Negative._--Bromide paper gives us a great command
over results; in fact, so vast is the control we may exercise that
it is possible to secure good results from almost all classes of
negatives, from mere ghosts to those with density almost equal to
that of a brick wall. But there is, of course, a class of negative
that gives a good result with the least expenditure of skill, such a
one is generally known as of average density, having a full scale of
gradation with high-lights dense, yet not so opaque as to prevent
you seeing a window clearly defined when looking towards it
_through_ the densest parts of the film, such as the sky, for
instance. Another way to test the density is to put the negative,
film side down, on some large print on white paper, the large
letters should be just visible through the sky, but the smaller
print should not be readable.
That is the class of negative usually considered in Instructions for
Use, as an "average" negative.
_The Sensitive Side of the Paper._--A difficulty sometimes occurs in
telling which is the sensitive side of the paper: this may be easily
ascertained by the appearance of the edge, which turns slightly
inwards _towards_ the sensitive side. This is quite apparent to the
sense of touch as well as sight. Some people moisten their finger
and thumb and squeeze the paper and see which sticks (the sensitive
side), but that is a dirty method and quite unnecessary.
_Printing from the Negative._--Having unpacked the paper, after
making sure that all but the yellow (or ruby) light has been
excluded from the room, we are ready to print.
For this purpose, different workers favour different classes of
light: one prefers gaslight, another swears by magnesium ribbon, and
some even prefer the light of day.
Personally, I favour ordinary gaslight passed through a No. 5 Bray's
burner, because it is quite rapid enough for all practical purposes
and is perfectly under control and free from serious variation.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
The burner should be within easy reach of the worktable and should
be fitted with a byepass to obviate the necessity of continually
striking matches. Several years ago I had my bromide printing rooms
fitted with an excellent lantern of this class in which the byepass
was connected to two jets (one inside and the other outside the
lantern) in such a way as to turn down the white light with the same
movement that raised the coloured light, and _vice versa_. By this
means no gas was wasted and the simple action of pulling or pushing
a lever operated either light at will. By placing the same lever
"amidships," both jets were lowered to the point of invisibility and
could so remain for days at a time, yet always ready at a moment's
notice. The accompanying sketch (fig. 1) will give some idea of its
construction.
If the dark-room is small, and space is an object, the sink may be
fitted with a wooden cover and this may be used as a table for
printing the paper, but care must be observed to avoid the slightest
moisture upon it or satisfactory work is impossible and the
negatives may be ruined. In a large room, it is much better to have
an ordinary kitchen table removed some distance from the sink; with
this and a comfortable chair bromide printing is a very pleasant
occupation. The following sketch (fig. 2) will explain the
arrangement of the table, and it applies equally well to the movable
top of the sink.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
Supposing that some arrangement of this sort is devised, we must
unpack some bromide paper and put it in its box and then put a
negative of "average" density in an ordinary printing frame. On the
film side of the negative we must now place a sheet of bromide paper
with its sensitive side in contact, replace the back of the frame
and it is ready for exposure. Before exposing it, _make sure that
both boxes are shut_ or their contents will be ruined the moment the
white light is turned up.
Upon reference to the instructions that accompany each packet of
bromide paper, you will observe a certain number of seconds'
exposure is advised at a certain distance from the light; in the
case of the Barnet extra rapid paper the time is given as about
four seconds at a distance of eighteen inches.
When all is ready for exposure, place the printing frame upright
opposite the lantern at the mark indicating eighteen inches (see
fig. 2), note the time on the seconds hand of the clock and throw
the lever over for white light for four seconds and then reverse it.
Remove the paper and if many are likely to be required from that
negative, it would be well to develop the first print in order to
judge as to the accuracy of the exposure. If over or under-exposed,
the time must be reduced or lengthened as required. When the best
time and distance has been ascertained for a certain negative, mark
it with a narrow strip of paper bearing full particulars for future
guidance, such as: "4 sec., 18 in., No. 5 Bray;" in this way
absolute correctness of future exposures is assured. Of course, if
gas is not obtainable, magnesium ribbon may be used instead. In this
case the negative would be marked "1 inch (or more) ribbon, 3 ft.
distant," as the case may be.
_Using Masks and Discs._--Prints are sometimes required with an oval
(or square) centre and white margins: this is effected by
interposing a black mask of the desired size and shape (obtainable
from all dealers) between the negative and the sensitive paper. The
black paper prevents the passage of light and leaves white margins
to the print. If grey margins are required, a disc (to fit the mask)
is attached to a sheet of glass the same size as the negative and
arranged so that registration is easily effected; the print is first
made with a mask and is then placed in contact with the disc and
plain glass (the negative being removed from the frame), and again
exposed for a second to the light. If a black border is required the
exposure of the margin must be extended three or four seconds.
_Vignetting._--To vignette bromide prints, the printing frame must
be covered with a piece of cardboard in which a small hole (about
1-1/2 inches by 1 inch for a cabinet head and bust) is pierced. The
hole _must_ be covered with a sheet of white tissue paper which will
diffuse the light and cause it to travel without harsh lines beneath
the opening, and make the print with perfectly gradated edges. It is
sometimes an advantage to move the negative while printing
vignettes; but it is not absolutely essential if the hole in the
cardboard is not too large and if the card is removed some little
distance from the negative. If the card is too close to the
negative, the gradation will be abrupt and the vignette will not
look well.
_Cloud Printing._--This requires some care in order to avoid
harshness and sharply defined lines. If the sky of the negative
prints white, the addition of clouds from another negative is not
difficult; but if it is at all thin, the entire sky must be
carefully painted out with a deeply opaque pigment in order to make
it quite dense and unprintable.
As a bromide print cannot be examined while in progress: that is,
cannot be seen at all before development, careful registration is
desirable in order to prevent printing the clouds across the
landscape instead of above it. To do this an opaque mask should be
made thus: Make a print from the negative on P.O.P. and, without
fixing or toning it, cut it carefully in two parts following the
horizon line as nearly as possible, then expose to light, until
quite black, that part representing the landscape. Attach this to
the glass side of the cloud negative (with the paper side of the
P.O.P. in contact) and see that the bottom edge and the right corner
of the paper and glass (viewed from the glass side of the negative)
exactly coincide. To make use of this arrangement, you first make a
print from the landscape negative, making sure that the negative and
paper are firmly pressed against the bottom and left-hand side of
the printing frame when looking towards the film side of the
negative; mark the registered corner with lead pencil thus =L= in
order to prevent mistakes in the second printing.
To print the clouds, you put the negative in the frame and press it
well home to the left-hand corner and the base of frame (looking at
the film side, of course), and then put the print in contact with
the same precaution and replace the back. Now take a piece of brown
paper with one edge roughly torn in shape of the horizon line of the
mask and cover the entire negative on the glass side. Hold the
covered frame in your hands at a distance of (say) four feet from
the gas and turn on the white light. Directly the light is up, draw
the paper slowly downwards until the horizon line is just passed,
and then _immediately_ begin to slowly push it upwards towards the
top of the sky. Do this steadily and slowly for (say) four to six
seconds, according to the density of the cloud negative. With a good
thin cloud, four seconds should be quite enough, but you can easily
settle this point on developing the first print.
_Printing from Dense Negatives._--Dense negatives require much
longer exposures than those of "average" (or ideal) density. This
may often be prolonged to twice or three times the normal exposure
at the same distance. A yellow coloured negative increases the
exposure greatly, as much as ten to thirty times the normal
frequently being requisite to get a decent print. An over dense
negative that gives very harsh prints by other printing processes
can be made to yield prints of exquisite softness on bromide paper
by giving a full exposure at a _short_ distance from the gas.
[Illustration: CUPBOARD LOVE. T. LEE SYMS.]
_Printing from Thin Negatives._--Thin negatives on the other hand,
require quite different treatment. In order to get plucky prints
from very thin negatives, useless in other processes, we must give a
very brief exposure at some distance from the gas; and here it may
be well to note that removing the negative to a greater distance
from the light is equal to decreasing the actual time of exposure
and has other advantages in connection with thin negatives with
which theory does not seem to agree. To print from a very thin
negative, then, instead of four seconds at eighteen inches, let us
cover it with a sheet of tissue paper and give it four seconds at a
distance of three or four feet and note the result on development.
If it appears to be over-exposed, we may reduce the time of exposure
to three seconds at the same distance and modify the developer, as
will be explained later on.
_Development of Prints._--All my remarks in this article apply
equally to most commercial brands of bromide paper; but it is only
fair to state that they are particularly intended for that made by
the firm of manufacturers publishing this book. Development, and so
on, is very similar with all makes of paper, but most of my recent
experiments have been made on the "Barnet" matt surface bromide.
I shall presently describe the use of several well-known developers,
but it must be well understood that, whatever formula is adopted, a
preliminary soaking of the print before development must be done.
When we are about to develop a number of prints we must first soak
them in plain cold water until quite flaccid, otherwise the
application of the developer would cause the dry print to cockle and
curl, and the development would not be regular. This rule applies
equally in the case of one print only as when a hundred are ready
for development; a prolonged soaking in plain water having no ill
effect.
_The Iron Developer._--This is one of the developers most frequently
recommended for bromide work, but personally I never advise its use
(especially by a novice) because the use of the acid clearing bath,
which is an essential part of the process, is so frequent a cause of
disaster and yellow prints. The Barnet formula is as follows:--
A.
Potassium oxalate 1 lb.
Potassium bromide 5 grains
Hot water 48 ozs.
B.
Iron sulphate 1 lb.
Citric acid 4 drams.
Hot water 32 ozs.
To six ounces of A, add one ounce of B; this order of mixing must be
observed or a dense precipitate of ferrous oxalate will be formed.
Place one of the soaked prints face (which may be distinguished by
its "slippery" surface) upwards in a clean porcelain dish and pour
the developer over it as evenly as possible. With this developer,
the image comes up very rapidly, so that it is not advisable to try
and develop more than one at a time. If the first print of a batch
appears to be over-exposed, that is, if it flashes out instantly and
the high-lights become rapidly clouded, add to each ounce of mixed
developer from 10 to 30 drops of a ten per cent. solution of
potassium bromide which will act as a restrainer, retard
development, and keep the high-lights clear while the shadows
acquire density. Under-exposed prints can rarely be made to give
passable results with ferrous oxalate. The addition of a trace of
hypo to the developer has been recommended for bringing up their
detail, but the result is far from good.
As soon as development is complete the prints must _not_ be put in
clean water, but must be transferred direct from the developer to
the following acid bath:--
Acetic acid 1 dram
Water 32 ounces
After an immersion of one minute, the operation must be twice
repeated in similar baths that have not been previously used; this
is to remove the iron from the print. A thorough washing must next
be given to remove the acid and the print may then be fixed for at
least fifteen minutes in
Hypo 2 ounces
Water 20 ounces
After fixing (no matter what developer has been used) the prints
must be thoroughly washed in several changes of water for at least
two hours.
The chief reasons against the use of ferrous oxalate are lack of
control over development and the necessary use of an acid bath.
Unless the acid bath is used, the prints will be yellow because of
the iron in them, and if the acid is not entirely removed before
fixing the prints will be yellow owing to the decomposition of the
hypo by the acid in the print which causes deposition of sulphur.
_Metol Developer._--With this, and the other developers I shall
mention, an acid bath is not necessary and so one cause of failure
(and extra work) is obviated. I have somewhat amended the Barnet
formula to meet the needs of workers on a small scale and have also
arranged A and B to balance each other without disturbing the
relative proportions of the ingredients.
A.
Metol 120 grains
Water (cold) 24 ounces
Dissolve _completely_ and then add
Sodium sulphite 2-1/2 ounces
Potassium bromide 15 grains
Shake until completely dissolved but do not apply heat.
B.
Potassium carbonate 350 grains
Water 8 ounces
For use, mix three parts by measure of A and one part of B.
With this developer and a normal exposure, the image should appear
in a few seconds and development should be complete in about two
minutes. As fast as the prints are developed they should be immersed
in
Salt 2 ounces
Water 20 ounces
to stop development. When all are developed, they must be rinsed for
a minute or two in clean water and then fixed. Over-exposure is
remedied by the addition of potassium bromide solution (as in the
case of ferrous oxalate); under-exposed prints should be developed
in a weak solution such as
A 3 parts
B 1 part
Water 4 parts
Development will take longer, but the weaker solution will help to
bring up the detail without the harshness of the shadows that would
be the case if the normal developer was used.
_Hydroquinone and Eikonogen._--The advantage of combining eikonogen
with quinol lies in the fact that one provides what the other lacks,
the eikonogen tending to give detail without density and the quinol
(in inexperienced hands) giving density without detail. The
following formula will be found very satisfactory:--
A.
Quinol 40 grains
Eikonogen 120 "
Sodium sulphite 480 "
Citric acid 20 "
Water to 20 ounces
Dissolve the sodium sulphite and citric acid in 15 ounces of water,
then add the other ingredients and enough water to make a total bulk
of 20 ounces.
B.
Sodium carbonate 60 grains
Sodium hydrate 30 "
Potassium bromide 5 "
Water to 20 ounces
For use, mix one part of A, one part of B and two parts of water.
The same remarks as to over and under-exposure apply as in the case
of metol.
_Toning Bromide Prints._--The "tone" or colour of the deposit
depends largely upon the accuracy of exposure and the developer
employed. Ferrous oxalate gives a rich black deposit, but to my mind
metol and the combined eiko-quinol give tones at least as beautiful
with pretty gray half-tones.
But some people prefer warmer colours, brown and red for instance,
and some get brownish blacks (through over-exposure and the use of
bromide) which they would like to change.
The colour of the deposit may be changed in various ways by treating
the print in baths of different metals. I will give a brief outline
of the methods employed, leaving readers to modify them to suit each
particular case.
_Black and Blue-black Tone._--Brownish black prints can be much
improved after fixing by immersion in a strong bath of gold
chloride; the following is the strength used by me:--
A.
Ammonium sulphocyanide 20 grains
Water 1 ounce
B.
Gold chloride 2 grains
Water 1 ounce
When quite dissolved add B very gradually to A, shaking almost
continuously. The fixed print should be washed for at least fifteen
minutes before toning and should then be placed in a clean tray
while the toning bath is poured over it. The solution must be kept
moving and the print must be removed and washed directly the desired
tone is reached. Prolonged immersion will cause the print to acquire
a deep blue tone.
_Brown and Red Tones with Uranium._--Prints immersed in the uranium
toning bath gradually become warmer in tone, changing from black to
brown and brownish red until they assume a deep red nearly
approaching the well-known Bartollozzi chalk.
Prints to be toned by this process must be _thoroughly_ free from
hypo or stains will be the inevitable result. The toning bath should
be made up as follows, and it must be used at once as it will not
keep after mixing A and B:--
A.
Potassium ferricyanide 20 grains
Water 20 ounces
Glacial acetic acid 1 ounce
When quite dissolved add
B.
Uranium nitrate 20 grains
Water 1 ounce
Immerse the print and keep the solution in motion until the desired
colour is produced, then wash the print for half an hour in several
changes of water acidulated (1 dram in 30 ounces) with acetic acid.
Weak, under-developed prints are much improved by this method of
toning.
At the end of half an hour, if the whites are at all yellow they may
be cleared by immersing the print for a minute or two in the
following bath:--
Ammonium sulphocyanide 20 grains
Water 10 ounces
After immersion, rinse the print for five minutes and dry.
_Intensification._--It sometimes happens (especially when too little
light has been used to properly judge development) that one acquires
a collection of prints that, owing to under or over-development, are
useless; let us see how they may be rendered serviceable.
An under-developed print, though weakly looking and "washed out,"
simply needs intensification to give it the requisite pluck. The
foregoing uranium bath acts as an intensifier while conferring a
ruddy tone on the deposit. A black deposit can be obtained by
intensifying the well-washed print with mercury. The print must
first be immersed in a saturated solution of mercuric chloride until
the image disappears; it must then be again thoroughly washed to
remove all traces of free mercury and may then be redeveloped by
flowing over it an old ferrous-oxalate developer. If ferrous oxalate
is not at hand, an old metol developer may be substituted, but the
former is the more reliable.
When the image is sufficiently intense, the print must once more be
thoroughly washed. All the toning and intensifying operations may be
conducted by daylight.
_Reduction of Density._--Over dense prints can be made fit for many
purposes by means of a "reducer" capable of dissolving part of the
deposit. The best for the purpose and the one least liable to cause
stains is know as the Belitzski's; it is prepared thus:--
Water 60 ounces
Potassium ferric oxalate 3 "
Sodium sulphite 3 "
Dissolve and add to the red solution so obtained.
Oxalic acid 1 ounce
Shake until the solution turns green and then immediately pour off
the solution from any crystals remaining undissolved. To this
solution add
Hyposulphite of soda 15 ounces
and shake until dissolved, when it is ready for use.
The print to be reduced need not be free from hypo, but should be
rinsed for a few minutes after fixing (or soaked until limp, if
previously dried) and may then be placed in a tray and flooded with
the reducer. The tray must be well rocked and the print, when
sufficiently reduced, must be removed without delay and rapidly
washed in running water.
_Some Cheap and Useful Trays._--If large-sized prints are made, the
cost of suitable trays becomes a very serious item. The expense of
these may be reduced to a mere nothing, without loss of
effectiveness, by the substitution of home-made ones. All that is
required to make a tray of any size is a thin wooden confectionery
box (or the bottom part of a larger case) lined with the shiny white
marbled oilcloth known as "American moleskin." This is fitted inside
the box (the corners being turned under) and secured by a row of
tacks around the top edge. No further lining or preparation is
required and the tray will stand all sorts of ill-treatment. As for
durability: I had three such trays made out of old herring-boxes
picked up at Calgary and lined with moleskin that had already seen
service as cover to a wash-handstand and chest of drawers in a
Canadian boardinghouse. For upwards of a year those trays were used
daily and travelled many hundreds of miles by mule and dog train, and
were not worn out when I returned home. My porcelain trays were
smashed by a fall from a refractory mule, but the rough and ready
makeshifts were a priceless boon.