Selenium toning.. shelf life?

[ToddB]

Hey guys,

I'm a big user of Selenium toning for anything of value in printing. Does anyone know the shelf life after you make a batch. it's 3 to 1 on mixing so I do 10 of Sel and 30 of water. I have it contained in opaque plastic bottle. The mixure is going for about 3 months. still using it and it is still working.

ToddB

[Mike Wilde]

If you wash thoroughly and then tone, I beleve the working solution will not degrade at all.

I have a 1+9 stock that all fine quality FB prints get stabilized toned with. It lives in a dark glass bottle, typically in my dark cool basement darkroom .

I ocassionally 'replenish' it. I somewhere found the rated capacity of the 1:9. Likely an old Kodak darkroom datagude.
So after about 5 or 6 8x10's I add some full strength KRST, x ml per print processed. .
I don't recall the quantity - I have it written on the bottle, which is not close at hand.

This same solution has been on the go for over 7 years now.

[StoneNYC]

Can you selenium tone the film itself? I ask because I love film but I don't do any printing at all, and so I scan everything, I can certainly do it as a post process in Lightroom / Photoshop but I was thinking it would be more "organic" if I could tone the film and then scan it as a color negative to get the selenium tone in the image file.


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

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[tkamiya]

Yes, you CAN tone film. It's one of the archival techniques. I have NEVER heard of toning film for color and I do not know if it will actually change color. I know the density will increase a little.

[Ian Grant]

If you selenium tone a negative it will shift in colour if you leave a long time you need to use the toner much less dilute but it gives good intesification, but scanning as a negative will reverse any colour shift in the opposite direction

Ian

[ToddB]

Thanks for the info guys.. I believe I saw a demo on youtube of a guy sel film. search for it. Thought it was an interesting concept.

ToddB

[Roger Cole]

Humm, I had a half gallon bottle (brown plastic, stored in dark, mostly full) if 1+19 and it no longer tones at all, and had all manner of crud floating it in it. Dumped and about to remix.

Well when I say "dumped" I mean into my "selenium bucket." I dump used toner into a bucket reserved for that purpose and let it evaporate. The selenium will be left. Eventually the bucket can be taken to a hazmat disposal. In the meantime, it avoids putting it into the environment.

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

Can you selenium tone the film itself?

Selenium toning of negatives is another way to increase its contrast, a bit like N+1, as the intensification is more pronounced in highlights. The added benefit is that you don't increase grain, like longer dev time would. You can even do it selectively, here is a picture of John Sexton doing it to a portion of one of his negs.

However, if you scan, I suspect this won't be much use to you at all, you can just do Cmd-K in Lr.

As others said, this stuff lasts until exhausted, if mixed normally.

[StoneNYC]

Thanks everyone, I'll just use Lightroom, I just wanted to be more "authentic" lol ah well...


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

If you ever get into darkroom printing, give Se another chance. It is quite magical in its effect, on most papers, adding a glow to a print.