Toning Procedures
Two-Tray Brown-Black Toner for Cyanotype Using NH4OH
| 1) Soak the print in a solution of 30 ml NH4OH in 250 ml of distilled H2O until the print in almost lost |  |
| 2) Rinse print thoroughly | |
| 3) Soak the print in a solution of 1 tablespoon of tannic acid dissolved in 1000 ml of distilled H2O until the desired color appears, then rinse. |  |
Note: These are VERY flexible measurements. Many formulas say stronger.
Coffee or tea can replace the tannic acid.
Two-Tray Brown-Black Toner for Cyanotype using Sodium Bicarbonate: slower
but easier to handle
Solution A: 1 teaspoon tannic acid in1000 ml of H2O.
Solution B.: 2 teaspoons sodium bicarbonate in 1000 ml H2O.
Note: These are VERY flexible measurements. Many formulas say stronger. Coffee
or tea can replace the tannic acid.
1) Start by immersing the print (pre-soaked or dry, but not right out of wash water from being made
- has to dry/harden first) in solution A, tannic acid. Take two minutes as your base time if you want to be quantitatively authoritative; but this is one of the ones we do by feel.
2) Now rinse in clear water to preserve your solution B
3) Bathe print briefly (less than minute) in B and rinse again. Now BACK into A, which is where the color happens. Watch carefully and if you want a split tone, snatch the print out BEFORE it gets to the color you want because, just as in ferricyanide bleaching, chemical remains in the paper and action continues after it's in the rinse bath.
4) Strictly speaking, to save lots of changing of water, you need 3 rinse trays -- one for after the first tannic bath; one for after the first carbonate bath, and one for the finished print.