Working with Warm Toned Papers

Black-and-white portraits can often be enhanced by printing on a warm-toned paper. Most manufacturers produce a paper that yields significantly warmer tones than those of their

Figure 40. This photograph is sharp, but it's rather boring. It doesn't show any of my son's energetic personality.

other papers. Agfa's Portriga is one that comes immediately to mind. For years I printed exhibition portraits of my son on Oriental Portrait paper. It stopped being sold in this country and I tried a few other papers, including Ilford's Multigrade FB Warmtone, a fiber-based paper. While similar to Ilford's regular Multigrade FB paper, Warmtone has some important distinctions. The paper is indeed warmer in tone than regular Multigrade paper, and Ilford's other papers, too. The warmth of the tone depends on several factors, however, which I'll discuss below. In addition, Warmtone has a warm white paper base, which enhances the image tones. Multigrade Warmtone has the advantage of being a multiple-contrast paper, so it works with a wide range of negatives.

There are a number of characteristics of photographic papers that influence our perception of the image. Perhaps one of the most important characteristics is the image color, or image tone, of the paper. Image tone (not to be confused with tonality) is the color of the developed silver, which forms the image in the paper's emulsion. You may not even be aware how your perceptions change unless you see the same image in different tones. The variations can be enlightening.

Although the image color of a photographic paper will generally fall into three ranges—cool, warm, or neutral—several factors can change it. Sometimes the change in image color can be almost imperceptible, such as the slight image cooling with many papers toned for short durations in a dilute selenium toner. Other times the effects can be dramatic. Sepia toner often produces major changes in image color.

The image color of a photographic paper is largely a result of the manufacturing process. That is, the image tone depends significantly on the constituents of the emulsion. The most important factor seems to be the silver halide used to sensitize the paper, which is usually silver chloride and/or silver bromide.

Chloride papers, so-called because silver chloride is the main sensitizing material, are usually very slow speed and often warm in tone. Chloride papers are sometimes called contact papers, since they were often used for contact printing. Bromide papers are usually much more sensitive to light and yield prints with neutral to cool tones. Chlorobromide papers have significant amounts of both silver chloride and silver bromide, and image color can vary widely, although they are typically warmer in tone than bromide papers. The image color of chlorobromide papers is often described as neutral to slightly warm, occasionally somewhat olive colored. Ilford's papers, when processed in recommended developers, have generally been described as neutral to slightly warm in image color.

The image color is mainly a result of the size of the silver grain that forms the image in the print's emulsion. The finer the grains, the warmer the image appears. In fact, if you've ever pulled a print from the developer early, you might have noticed the tone was significantly warmer than a fully developed print from the same paper. As mentioned above, by varying the silver halides, a manufacturer can control the image tone. You're probably aware that different developers can also affect the image color. Because of their diverse chemical components, print developers can modify the inherent image tone. Some developers are described as cold toned, others as warm toned. Most, however, are neutral in their effects, producing results due to the paper's integral characteristics.

One developer that can enhance the warm image tones with some papers is Edwal 106 paper developer. Edwal 106 was originally formulated to reproduce varying tones, according to the dilution of the stock developer. Although the formula is less effective for that purpose today, it is still capable of yielding an improved warm tone. Edwal has not manufactured the developer commercially for quite some time—mainly due to the short shelf life of glycln, one of Its principal components. With a small investment in chemicals and scales, you can mix it yourself. The formula is as follows:

Edwal 106 Autotoning Paper Developer

Figure 41. Although this photo is blurred because of my son's motion, it's the one I prefer. It isn't always the technically perfect photo that's the best.

Stock solution:

Water at 125°F

750.0

ml

Sodium sulfite

85.0

gm

Sodium carbonate

174.0

gm

Glycin

28.0

gm

Hydroquinone

9.0

gm

Potassium bromide

4.0

gm

Add water to make

1.0

liter

Figure 41. Although this photo is blurred because of my son's motion, it's the one I prefer. It isn't always the technically perfect photo that's the best.

The stock solution is stable for three to four months. The working solution is said to have good capacity.

For bromide papers, dilute the stock solution 1:3 with water. For chloride and chloro-bromide papers, dilute 1:7 and develop 4 to 6 minutes for brown-black tones. At 1:15 dilution, enlarging papers are said to produce gravure-brown tones when given no more than one-and-a-half times normal exposure.

At 1:3 dilution, give the paper three times normal exposure and develop 60 to 90 seconds. At eight times normal exposure, the tones are supposed to be brighter and tend toward brick red. I haven't found that wide a variation in tones in working with Edwal 106, which may be due to inherent characteristics of modern paper emulsions.

You can try decreasing sodium carbonate to 138.0 grams for warmer tones. Substituting potassium carbonate—between 155.0 to 195.0 grams—for the sodium carbonate can yield warmer tones and increased contrast. You should always test a new developer with a paper before deciding if it's suited for the images you have in mind. It helps if you have prints made with your normal developer to see the differences.

However, no matter what type of paper you use, modifying the image tone after processing is possible by using toners. Toners work primarily in two ways—by chemically changing the silver image or by dyeing the image. Chemical toners often work by converting the silver to other compounds. For example, in sepia toning, the silver image of the original photograph is changed to silver bromide in the bleach, then to silver sulfide in the toner (often called a redeveloper), producing the warm tone. Dye toners sometimes affect the color of the paper base as well as the image color, although this can often be controlled by special clearing baths. Chemical toners often provide protection to the image; dye toners do not.

The results of even a relatively simple and straightforward toner like sepia toner can vary due to the paper's integral characteristics, the original print developer used, original printing time, bleaching time, redeveloping time, and so forth. For the most consistent results, try to control all aspects of the process. Keeping notes will help you to repeat successful methods.

Results with Ilford Multigrade FB Warmtone, developed in Edwal 106 (diluted 1:3), and selenium toned for 15 minutes, have been promising. I use 75 ml (milliliters) of Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner Concentrate and 75 ml of Heico Perma Wash in 3 liters of water. The dilution of the toner and length of toning are adjustable depending on your desired results. For warmer tones, Ilford recommends extending the wash time. This warms the tint of the paper base as a result of the optical brighteners washing out. This is not a change in image tone. In other words, the paper base looks warmer with extended wash times. It's a nice additional control to have, since a warm tint of the paper base will enhance our perception of the image tones.

Our feelings about a photograph will largely determine decisions about the image color. Although most photographs look good with a neutral to slightly cool image tone, certain types of photographs lend themselves to other image colors. For example, portraits often have a more pleasing effect when printed on a warm-toned paper or sepia toned. Warm tones are also a good choice if you're planning on handcoloring a photograph.

A photographer's choice of, and a viewer's reaction to, image tone are highly subjective. Since the choice is subjective, photographers will have different opinions of what is most appropriate for certain types of images. As a general guide, most photographers choose warm tones for pictures that are more emotional, such as portraits, nostalgic images, certain landscapes, and other intimate images. Cool-toned images, on the other hand, are often effective for mechanical, intricate, complex, modern, and even alienating photographs. Of course, sometimes doing the opposite of what might be expected can increase the visual impact of the photograph. By printing a photograph on papers with different image tone characteristics and utilizing different postprocessing toning methods, you should be able to find a combination that works for you.

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Readers' Questions

  • bradley
    Is ilford warmtone fb photo paper worth trying on analog photo forums?
    11 months ago
  • , you'll find a wealth of information from other photographers who have already tried it. The ilford warmtone fb paper is a glossy finish baryta paper, designed for making prints from digital files and also prints from film. It offers a warm tone finish and creates high quality images with rich blacks and subtle highlights. The paper is best used for images that require a warm, nostalgic look and feel. In addition, it is compatible with both pigment and dye based inkjet printers and is suitable for both color and black and white images. While the price of this paper is higher than most other paper choices, it is worth it and will be beneficial if you want to achieve the best possible print quality.
    • tiia leminen
      Is warmtone paper more sensitive to light than multigrade paper?
      1 year ago
    • No, warmtone paper is not more sensitive to light than multigrade paper. Both types of paper have the same level of sensitivity to light.