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Technical Application TA No. 183/3
Instructions for lith development of photographic papers by applying the MLD-Technique with the new ORIENTAL New Seagull G or MACO Lithpaper RC-F baryta papers + LP-SUPERLITH Developer.
Materials for "MLD"
A. MACO Lithpaper RC-F, or ORIENTAL New Seagull G
B. LABOR PARTNER LP-SUPERLITH 2-Part-Lith-Developer
C. Stopbath, Fixer, standard Black & White darkroom equipment
What is different with the application of "MLD"-Lith-technique
?
With ORIENTAL New Seagull G and Lithpaper RC-F, HANS O. MAHN
& CO KG, Hamburg, has offered Fine Print photographic papers wich are
suited for:
Included are the Lith application informations being popular in e.g. Great Britain and Sweden.
Next to the great variety of pictorial results being possible with MACO Lithpaper RC-F or ORIENTAL New Seagull G in combination with LP-SUPERLITH, the main advantage lies in the fact that no "peppergrain" will occur.
Excellent informations can also be found in "The Master Photographer’s Lith Printing Course", author Tim Rudman.
What kind of position has the „MLD" technique within the standard
black & white procedures ?
Looking at a Lithprint, you will immidiately recognize that it is not a
„normal" black & white print!
By applying the „MLD"-technique you will get prints which will differ
vastly from all other "standards" .
The image can have a brown tone with a nostalgic touch.
Prints will leave a characteristic impression at any viewer, they will have
an impact on anybody, who knows standard black & white prints.
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Requirements for "MLD":
The photographic paper has to be specially prepared for the successful application of the „MLD"-Lith technique. The ORIENTAL New Seagull G and MACO Lithpaper RC-F papers have special additives being incorporated into the chloro-bromide emulsion. In order to optimize the result, the contents of silvernitrate has been increased.
For your information: There are b&w photographic papers on the market
with approx. 1,2 grams/m² being called HSC (high silver content). Depending
on the grade, MACO expo R contains between 1,7 up to 2,2 g/m².
The formula of the Lith developer LABOR PARTNER LP-SUPERLITH has been
fine tuned for use with the „MLD"-technique.
Moreover, LABOR PARTNER LP-SUPERLITH will not emitt any "smelly" or hazardous
fumes at a working temperature of 20°C.
MLD"-application:
Dilution:
The standard dilution of LABOR PARTNER LP-SUPERLITH is 1 Part LP-SUPERLITH
+ 6 parts water. Due to the special formula, you may dilute concentrates
further (1 + 8, 1 + 16), in order to use less chemistry for testing
purposes.
Dilution chart:
| Part A concentrate | Water |
Part B concentrate | working solution |
50 cc |
600 cc |
50 cc |
700 cc |
(For setting up other volumes of working solutions, the chart shows that you add calculationwise Part A + Part B which makes 1 Part, thus you have the calculation base to find out what volume of water are 6 parts. Add this and you have the final volume.)
Working temperature:
At 20°C, highlights will almost stay clear of tonal changes (brown or
yellowish tones). Further variations can be achieved by increasing the working
temperature:
| *Note:
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From 25°C and higher, the developer
possibly emitts vapours which could irritate eyes and respiratory tracts.
Therefore, it is advisable, if working in darkrooms without good ventilation, to keep working temperatures below a.m. temperatures. |
Exposure:
Expose the photographic papers ORIENTAL New Seagull G resp. Lithpaper RC-F
and place them in the developing tray.
Exposure time should be increased by factor 5- 10 compared with standard
working procedures. Exposure time is a variable dependent on individual
expectations/working techniques of the user.
Image appearance:
With standard development, first traces of the picture (using for example
LP-BROM 4 or a high class standard developer) approximately appear after
about 30 sec., after 2 to 5 minutes development is finished.
On the contrary, in the beginning "nothing" happens by applying "MLD" . This will be the case for 1-3 minutes. A faint image will appear and stay so for some time. Then, your full concentration is needed, some small areas of the picture will first start blackening and soon afterwards this "spreads" very fast over the entire image.
The development by using a lith-developer is being called an „infectuos" development. Dissolved silver will concentrate around exposed and latent silverhalogenide-crystals. This cannot be noticed at first because it happens at a molecular level. Only after enough partially developed silver crystals are available and the degree of concentration of dissolved silver is high enough to be visible, the user is able to recognize the changes taking place.
Due to the dynamic and fast speed of this procedure, within a very short time, dissolved silver will concentrate at all other latent silvercrystals, these will be „infected".
Stopping:
Especially important is a fresh and powerful stop bath. It has the task to
stop this fast development immidiately. The quality/condition of the stop
bath is absolutely important in order to be able to have some control of
image density. We recommend to use LABOR PARTNER LP-CITRIN odourless Stopbath,
dilute it 1+16 with water and apply it for one minute.
First Fixing:
Use pH-neutral fixing bath, e.g. LP-FIX NEUTRAL. Dilution 1+7, application
time 2 minutes.
Second Fixing:
Use LP-FIX NEUTRAL in the second tray. Dilution 1+7, application time 2 minutes.
Washing/Drying:
As usual with baryta papers.
| Problem | possible reason | solution |
| Too little contrast | overexposed, or too soft grade used | decrease exposure or use a higher grade, e.g. grade 3 instead of 2 |
| Too high contrast |
|
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| No maximum density |
|
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| Spread blacks |
|
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| "chalky" light tones | underexposed | increase exposure |
| Many small black dots over entire image | so called "pepper grain" | use paper which is suited better, e.g. Oriantal New Seagall G |
| A few black dots | exhausted developer/agitation too little | bleach with LPH51A |
| Little to no lith effect |
|
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Note:
If a Lithprint became too dark, do not throw it away but try to save it by following procedure: Get yourself the LABOR PARTNER Bleach, Art.No. LPH51A and dilute it 1 + 50 with water.
Fill a tray with this working solution and dunk your print(s) in this solution for as long as it is needed to lighten the print as much as you want to have it. This should take place in a well lit area, so you are able to stop bleaching at the right moment.
After bleaching fix the print for 1-2 minutes in fresh fixer and wash it thoroughly.
Toning:
In order to achieve interesting changes of the image tone in addition to the unique effect of the Lith-Processing tone the prints with a selenium toner, LP- SELENIA. For applying the selenium toning ask for our technical application sheet, TA LP-SELENIA, No. 220/1.
Additional advantage: Prints toned with LP-SELENIA will have an excellent Life expectancy.
Shelf life:
LP-SUPERLITH has a shelf life of one year in original unopened bottles and several months after partial withdrawal.
Depending on the selected dilution, the working solution will have a shelf life of a few hours up to one day.
Note: Do only set up as much working solution as you are able to use within a few hours.
Literature:
The excellent book on Lith-printing, "The Master Photographer's Lith Printing
Course", author Tim Rudman, Art.No. BÜ3131.(Out of print)
Errors, or omissions regarding technical progress remain exempted.