Below is a link to some scans of some gold toned kallitypes. These are my first decent prints after about 3 months of initiation into producing had coated prints from inkjet negatives.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lockhart1969/sets/72157623942490265/

Please comment on any aspect of the prints. I think I am at the "where to go next" stage. I am looking to step up my work, but I need some feedback.

Thanks,

- John

Nice work! I notice posterization in midtones and highlights in some images, they're nice otherwise... Probably something related to your digital negative method and/or curve.

Regards,
Loris.

Thanks. I am glad we noticed the same thing. The posterization has been a problem. So, I will look at dealing with that next. I think I just get to aggressive when editing the image and then the application of the curve makes it worse.

You are maybe using a too strong density/color in the negatives, necessitating a drastic curve = loosing tones. Can you please describe your workflow / method? Maybe we can help... Sometimes small changes make big difference.

They look like fine images to me. Nicely composed and look great as kallitypes. I did not even notice any posterization. Is it in the lighter tones of Correio on the wall? I thought those were just stains on the blocks.

I like the color your getting with the gold toner. Which developer are you using? My gold toned kallis with sodium citrate developer are very plum in color. Too purple for my tastes. Like yours better.

"Where to go next" Start printing lots of kallitypes. You can try palladium toner for warmer brown images. Adding a drop of gold chloride solution to the sensitizer. Different papers, developers, sizing all effect the color

The possibilities are endless :)

Below is a link to some scans of some gold toned kallitypes. These are my first decent prints after about 3 months of initiation into producing had coated prints from inkjet negatives.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lockhart1969/sets/72157623942490265/

Please comment on any aspect of the prints. I think I am at the "where to go next" stage. I am looking to step up my work, but I need some feedback.

Thanks,

- John
The Correio image shows banding in the digital negative. What printer are you using? I don't see this problem in the "Schwinn Twinn" image so maybe
just running a head alignment will fix this.

The Correio image shows banding in the digital negative. What printer are you using? I don't see this problem in the "Schwinn Twinn" image so maybe
just running a head alignment will fix this.
I just read that you are using an R1800 which is what I use for most of my digital negatives. Mine doesn't band often, but when it does, running a manual head alignment has always fixed the problem. Make sure you use a loupe when checking the alignment targets to make sure you pick the right number.

Ok, excellent, you see banding there as well. It's so slight on the print that it was hard for me to tell if my eyes were fooling me. I have had this printer band on me a couple of times for reasons unknown. It just seems random. I will try the manual head alignment.

Thanks,

- John

Thanks of the feedback. The shot of the post office, Correrio, seems to definitely have some posterization, but I think that was just bad judgment in editing - not my process. I wanted to get a bit more texture in the stone and got too aggressive with a curve before I applied my printing curve. I didn’t look so apparent on screen – except now when I look back on it. We shall see when I reprint that one.

To answer R Scheffer's question about the toner and developer, I also use sodium citrate as the developer and I use the gold toner you can buy from Bostick and Sullivan. Sometimes the prints look like they are going to go too purple on me, but so far it hasn't been too bad. However, I have noticed a lot of variation in the tone of different prints. Some prints have more of a brown or silver tone while some tend to go toward a darker purple black. The only lead I have on that is the concentration of the toner, how exhausted is it, and the overall density of the image.

That said, let me describe my process and maybe some areas for improvement will stick out. I scan negatives on a v500. I hope to get a better scanner like a v700 if I keep shooting film. Based on what I have read here and there, I scan in color at the maximum resolution and bit depth. I think the idea is to have the scanner capture as much information as possible and do as little processing of the image. Once in Photoshop I apply a Black and White adjustment layer, a levels adjustment layer to pull in the white and black points, typically a curve layer to get the contrast the way I want it, and then finally a printing curve for the process.

I made the curve using Chart Throb. CT is so easy to use, but I suppose there are downsides to it since it just leads to further editing and degradation of the image of the image. I wouldn’t mind trying QTR, but I would need to get a good tutorial on it. I have no concept of where to start with QTR.

Then I just print my negative on my r1800 using Pictorico and print the image. I use sodium citrate developer and four 20 watt black light tubes as my light source. I have been toning with gold, but will soon start trying out platinum. One adjustment in processing that seems to make a big difference is putting a few grams of baking soda in each liter of fixer. That buffer seems to really help keep the fixer from bleaching the image. I have also read that you can use ammonia for the same purpose. Has anyone tried that?

Other than that I use Arches Aquarelle as my paper. It seems to work well and I can but it from any art store. When I coat the paper I have been trying a drop of tween in the sensitizer. I am not sure how much it helps. It seems to make some difference, but also seems to lover the contrast of the print a little.

Can you please share your CT curve?

CT is an automated process and I'm not sure if the script is taking emulsion application inconsistencies into consideration. (The way of doing is to base the curve on the trend line, not to actual readings...) I'm thinking that way because almost every CT curve I saw was somehow jaggy, and that's pretty abnormal. You have to smoothen the curve if it's jaggy.

Also, do you use black ink(s) or color for printing negatives?

BTW, see this (http://www.ronreeder.com/page8117.html)for QTR info (and making digital negatives with QTR)...

Thanks of the feedback. The shot of the post office, Correrio, seems to definitely have some posterization, but I think that was just bad judgment in editing - not my process. I wanted to get a bit more texture in the stone and got too aggressive with a curve before I applied my printing curve. I didn’t look so apparent on screen – except now when I look back on it. We shall see when I reprint that one.

To answer R Scheffer's question about the toner and developer, I also use sodium citrate as the developer and I use the gold toner you can buy from Bostick and Sullivan. Sometimes the prints look like they are going to go too purple on me, but so far it hasn't been too bad. However, I have noticed a lot of variation in the tone of different prints. Some prints have more of a brown or silver tone while some tend to go toward a darker purple black. The only lead I have on that is the concentration of the toner, how exhausted is it, and the overall density of the image.

That said, let me describe my process and maybe some areas for improvement will stick out. I scan negatives on a v500. I hope to get a better scanner like a v700 if I keep shooting film. Based on what I have read here and there, I scan in color at the maximum resolution and bit depth. I think the idea is to have the scanner capture as much information as possible and do as little processing of the image. Once in Photoshop I apply a Black and White adjustment layer, a levels adjustment layer to pull in the white and black points, typically a curve layer to get the contrast the way I want it, and then finally a printing curve for the process.

I made the curve using Chart Throb. CT is so easy to use, but I suppose there are downsides to it since it just leads to further editing and degradation of the image of the image. I wouldn’t mind trying QTR, but I would need to get a good tutorial on it. I have no concept of where to start with QTR.

Then I just print my negative on my r1800 using Pictorico and print the image. I use sodium citrate developer and four 20 watt black light tubes as my light source. I have been toning with gold, but will soon start trying out platinum. One adjustment in processing that seems to make a big difference is putting a few grams of baking soda in each liter of fixer. That buffer seems to really help keep the fixer from bleaching the image. I have also read that you can use ammonia for the same purpose. Has anyone tried that?

Other than that I use Arches Aquarelle as my paper. It seems to work well and I can but it from any art store. When I coat the paper I have been trying a drop of tween in the sensitizer. I am not sure how much it helps. It seems to make some difference, but also seems to lover the contrast of the print a little.

Interesting. I have been mixing my own gold-thiourea toner per Sandy's article and mostly printed on Arches plantine. Very purple. Partial toning in a dilute pd and then a quick dunk in gold makes for a nice tone, although not quite a split.

Here is a link to Ron Reeders website & excellent QTR tutorials.
http://www.ronreeder.com/page8117.html
Learning curve is steep at first, but you have vastly more control of your negatives. He used to have various curves posted you could download, but I can't find them on his new site. The palladium curve is a good place to start for kallitype.

Learning curve is steep at first, but you have vastly more control of your negatives.
I am going to respectfully disagree (and I am a QTR user). I find that I am able to achieve equivalent or better negatives using other methods with the Epson R1800 and 3800. QTR has lots of controls, but it is *very* fiddly. Even after you have a working profile, it is often easier to linearize by referencing a curve created outside of QTR.
- The colorized negs I am making on the 3800 are far less grainy and simpler
to profile that what I was able to achieve with QTR, in large part because
QTR required MK to achieve sufficient density.
- The R1800 delivers log 3.0 density using the native driver to print composite
b&w, so why even bother with QTR? I print with PK and the negs are
extremely smooth. Create an acv to linearize your step tablet and you are
done.
Note these comment apply to digital negatives. I do find QTR to be a superior tool for monochrome prints -- which is, after all, what it was designed for. :D

Loris,

Attached is a screen capture of my curve and the associated curve file. I had the rename the extension of the curve file to a .txt to get it to upload. Let me know what you think.

Yes, CT curves are really jaggy when they are created. So, I do use the Smooth button in the curves dialog to pull the kinks out of the spline. I also think the Smooth button is a good way to adjust the effect of the curve. Clicking it successive times makes the curve more linear, but in a way that is even across the entire curve.

- John

Loris,

Attached is a screen capture of my curve and the associated curve file. I had the rename the extension of the curve file to a .txt to get it to upload. Let me know what you think.

Yes, CT curves are really jaggy when they are created. So, I do use the Smooth button in the curves dialog to pull the kinks out of the spline. I also think the Smooth button is a good way to adjust the effect of the curve. Clicking it successive times makes the curve more linear, but in a way that is even across the entire curve.

- John
That is a pretty typical-looking curve. To know how effective it is we need to see a step tablet. :) Little changes can have a hugh impact on print tones.

I concur, (seemingly) there's nothing wrong with the curve's shape... (I was suspecting presence of jaggies.) OTOH, FWIW, my curves aren't that much contrasty in the highlights and the trend switching occur at much much higher values. (> 240 usually. That's not kallitypes though; cyanotypes, vandykes/argyrotypes, pop palladium...)

Interesting. I have been mixing my own gold-thiourea toner per Sandy's article and mostly printed on Arches plantine. Very purple. Partial toning in a dilute pd and then a quick dunk in gold makes for a nice tone, although not quite a split.



Do you mean your final image is purple? If so, that could mean that you are not toning to completion. In my experience you will get a blue/black image when toning with the gold thiourea toner if you tone to completion. If you don't tone to completion the print will be purplish/black. When using 50 ml of the toner solution on an 8X10 it takes about ten minutes to tone to completion if there are deep shadows. If you look at the print carefully as you tone you will see that it first turns to purple/brown, and then slowly it turns blue. You don't want to fix it until everything has a blue tone, even the deepest shadows.

Sandy