I usually only tone my negatives if it's something really really good I used as subject matter. You can use SELENIUM toner to tone negatives, it also increases your D-MAX slightly as well. Selenium is a good antioxidant. On 3/27/08, Richard Knoppow <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > At 08:39 AM 3/27/2008, you wrote: > >Does anyone on the list tone their processed film? > > > >I've never toned my film, depending on the wash to bring it to a > >stable-enough state. Looking at negs from 25+ years ago, I see no > >discoloration... > > > > > > > >> To be reasonably permanent any paper or film must be > >> completely fixed so that all of the unused halides are converted > >> to a soluble form, and must be adequately washed so as to remove > >> these materials and the bulk of the hypo. > > > > > For the most part pictorial film is quite coarse grained > compared to microfilm or printing paper emulsions. The vulnerability > of the image to peroxides is to some degree dependant on the grains > size being greater as the grains become smaller. Also a small amount > of oxidation may not be noticable on a large pictorial negative where > it may destroy some of the data recorded on microfilm. > However, toning provides the same protection to pictorial film. > The best toners are polysulfide, like KBT or gold toner. Where the > greatest permanence is desired negatives should be toned. The degree > of toning is tested by bleaching the silver image from a toned sample > and measuring the density. The comparitive densities should indicate > about 60% conversion of the silver to silver sulfide. This is the > criteria for microfilm. I don't know its applicability to pictorial > films because, AFAIK, no research has been done on them. > Gold toning can be done with a couple of formulas. The one most > often used for microfilm is Kodak GP-2. I don't know the relative > merits of polysulfide vs: gold toners for protection. AFAIK, gold has > been the standard for decades but is quite expensive compared to the > sulfide toner. > According to Doug Nishimura, of IPI, Kodak Brown Toner or > formula T-8 is suitable for microfilm or prints. IPI came up with a > formula for a polysulfide toner to insure that no one would have to > rely on a commercial product that might change as had KRST. IPI's > formula is relatively oder free where KBT has a strong hydrogen > sulfide (rotten egg) odor. I think also that the IPI formula works at > room temperature where KBT works very slowly unless heated to about 100F. > In any case there is probably no reason to routinely tone > pictorial negatives unless one knows they might be stored in an > uncontrolled environment or wants to insure maximum life. Note that > there are plenty of negatives older than a century that received no > special treatment. > > > > > > -- > Richard Knoppow > Los Angeles, CA, USA > dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > ============================================================================================================= > > To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your > account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you > subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there. > -- I am a leaf on the wind! Watch how I soar. -Hoban "Wash" Washburn (serenity movie) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- http://mcpeak.jason.googlepages.com/home