Ta, da!

Ok, you’ve made your best print(s). Now you want to provide the finishing touch. Selenium toning provides a nice shift in tone away from the olive appearance characteristic of most papers.  It also supports archival permanence and can help set the blacks.  Some people will develop their prints and go all the way through toning in one session. I generally do not do that and prefer to accumulate enough prints that need to be toned and do them at one time.  After my prints have been developed, washed and dried as previously described, I store them in an archival box that has a sticker on it that reads, “To Be Toned”.

My toning process is as follows:

1. Soak prints in water for 10 minutes.
2. Fix prints in plain Hypo solution for 3 minutes
3. Tone prints in Selenium Toner. I use a ratio of 1 part toner to 20 parts water. This ensures that the tonal shift will happen more gradually, giving you a greater amount of control.With Foma Variant III toning times tend to be four to seven minutes, but each paper is different and some do not tone at all. Pay close attention so you don’t go to far!  Also, make sure your room is well ventilated. Breathing in Selenium is not good for you!  I always have my fan running and the door wide open!
4. Remove your prints when you are happy with how they look and put them into a tray of Hypo Clear. I use Permawash mixed 1 gallon of water to 3 ounces of chemical for 2 minutes.
5. Rinse for 5 minutes

Then proceed with Step 14 to wash and dry your prints on print drying screens as was described previously in My Step 12.

Congratulations, you have come a long way and accomplished a lot!

Stay safe,

Michael