Whats happening to my prints?

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I am currently undertaking a City & Guilds photo course in the UK. To help my progress, i've set up my own darkroom. In recent weeks however many of the prints i have produced here have, after rinsing started to turn a purple/brown colour. I use Ilford Multigrade 4 paper and Multigrade developer, Ilfostop, and Hypam, mixed at the suggested ratios @ 20C. Are the chemicals warming up, or am i not rinsing the prints correctly (they remain immersed in cold water for c20mins)? Any and all advise would be greatly received! Many thanks in advance Andrew

-- Andrew Buckley (da_buckley@yahoo.com), April 03, 2001

Answers

You're not fixing for long enough, or the fixer is exhausted. Ignore the stupid instructions that say you should only fix for 20 microseconds (or something equally daft anyway). Fix your prints for at least 3 minutes in rapid fixer, and then wash them for half-an-hour.
There's practically no such thing as overfixing or overwashing.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), April 03, 2001.

Ditto all that Pete said. I might add that one of the best things I have in the darkroom is a little bottle of "hypo test". There's no way I can know how many times its saved me.

-- chuck k (kleesattel@msn.com), April 03, 2001.

There IS such a thing as overfixing and overwashing. You don't say at what temperature you process and rinse the prints. You don't say whether you are using fibre or RC paper. You don't say whether your rinse is with clean, running water or a water bath with agitation. You don't say whether you have taken the effected prints to your instructor and asked for her/his opinion.

Try your instructor first and take in a written summary of the process you are using. It is most likely a simple case of either poor fixing or poor rinsing, RC or Fibre paper. But, check it out with the class. If this doesn't get you some good answers that will improve your results, post again but put in a bit more information so we can help.

-- Dan Smith (shooter@brigham.net), April 03, 2001.


Well, if it is happening right after or during 'rinsing', got to be poor fixing. You sure you're using a real fix? I don't think even an exhausted one, unless it was REALLY exhausted would give you instant problems. I have on one occasion gotten a package of fix that did not fix, image turned right before my eyes during the wash, so it can happen.

-- Richard C. Trochlil (trochlilbb@neumedia.net), April 03, 2001.

Dan: Andrew clearly says he's processing at 20 deg C, and I still say there's practically no such thing as overfixing or overwashing. I've left prints in the fixer while answering the phone, and half-an-hour later they've been perfectly OK, with no discernible difference to the image density or tone. I've also left prints soaking in water overnight after a late night/early morning printing session. Again the prints don't seem to have suffered at all.
I know that very extended fixing is supposed to create insoluble complexes and erode the image slightly, but the effect on archival permanence of slightly extended fixing is tiny compared to, say, the difference in RC and fibre based paper, or to storage conditions.
After 30+ years of B&W printing, the only prints of mine that show any sign of aging are prints on early RC type paper, where the base has yelllowed badly. The image colour remains unchanged. Oh, and one RC print that was hung directly over a gas fire for 10 years has a slight brown patch. Not a bad track record for someone that rarely pulls his prints from the fixer in less than 10 minutes, and *never* washes prints for less than half-an-hour.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), April 04, 2001.


You can over wash prints. RC prints will start to separate at the corners if left in wash water too long. Also I've had the emulsion slide off of fiber prints when left in water for periods of close to 24 hours. FWIW.

-- Gene Crumpler (nikonguy@att.net), April 04, 2001.

Andrew

Try this

Make up two baths of Hypam at 1:9. Following the stop bath fix in bath 1 for 1min 30 and the same time for bath 2. Wash in running water (the temperature is not that critical except if you use hot water) for no more than 10 minutes. RC papers will lose their brilliance and can suffer from emulsion separation if overwashed. 60 minutes is certainly too long. I have used this method for a long time and have never experienced colour shift no matter what paper I have used. Also it pays to throw out the fixer at regular intervals. Call me extravagant by I fix a maximum of 20 A4 prints in the first bath and 40 in the second. Ilford recommend a max of 30 10x8 prints per litre.

Good luck

Adrian

-- Adrian Twiss (avtwiss@ukonline.co.uk), April 04, 2001.


Thanks very much for all the responses. I shall try each suggestion individually and get back to you to let you know how i get on. Again Many Thanks Andrew

-- Andrew Buckley (da_buckley@yahoo.com), April 05, 2001.

I use a simple and cheap trick to check whether the fixer is working at all and what is the correct fixing time, that you can even do in full light: Take a piece of film (you can use the tail that you cut off when loading the film in the tank) and put half of it in the fixer, holding the other half out of it. Then watch the emulsion fade away. Calculate the time that it takes for the milky emulsion to disappear completely. The fresher the fixer the quicker it will work. Then double the time and you will have the correct fixing time. I then tend to increase this time by at least 50% to be on the safe side. Usually, if it takes more than 1 minute for a rapid fixer to be effective I replace it with a fresh one.

-- Marcello della Corte (mdellacorte@talk21.com), April 10, 2001.

This also happens to me when using RC paper. Generally it is when I allow direct sunlight to strike the print. I never have this issue when using FB paper. I ALWAYS use fresh Fix at 20C. I believe that it is due to under fixing.

-- rac (racjrrac@aol.com), April 12, 2001.


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