CHAPTER XV 



TONING 



By Donald Burchan and Ira Current 



One of the fundamental, and ofttimes little understood, characteristics of a photo- 

 graphic print is the color or tone which makes up its image. In the ordinary black- 

 and-white print this tone is very subtle, and the presence of color is often unnoticed. 

 This tone or color is fundamentally determined by the emulsion characteristics of the 

 paper and is controlled, within limits, by the nature of the developer used and the 

 amount of its dilution. The usual color range is from a cold blue-black to a warm 

 brown, although it is also possible to obtain tones up to red by direct development. 



While this method is rather involved and requires careful attention to details of 

 exposure and development, it has, we believe, a definite place in a discussion of toning 

 methods. The careful technique that is required is such that probably only the 

 advanced worker may be sufficiently recompensed to reward his patience and per- 

 severance; however, by toning processes in which the silver image is actually changed 

 to another compound having the color desired, it is possible to produce, easily and 

 uniformly, brown, red, blue, and green tones, as well as many of their intermediate 

 shades. 



By the use of toning processes the photographer can produce pictures which are 

 more effective because of their tone or color. For instance, some snowscapes are 

 much enhanced when the photographic image has been rendered in a brilliant blue or 

 a fireside picture more appealing in a reddish brown. The possibilities are unlimited 

 as one becomes familiar with the colors that the different methods are capable of 

 producing. 



As different kinds of paper react differently to most toning processes, a short- 

 explanation of these papers and their behavior will be given before proceeding with 

 the various toning processes. Bromide papers as a class do not produce a wide 

 variety of good tones. They tend to the cold browns and purples. It is better when- 

 ever possible to choose papers of the chlorobromide or chloride group. The chloro- 

 bromides are the so-called slow enlarging papers, while the chloride papers are used 

 only for contact printing becavise of their slow speed. As all leading manufacturers 

 have papers of these two groups in a variety of surfaces, it is possible for the most 

 exacting worker to find the surface which will satisfy his particular demands. After 

 he has made his choice of paper, it would be well for the beginner to experiment in its 

 manipulation, following suggestions of the manufacturer. It is only by mastering 

 the art of making good black-and-white prints that success can be obtained in toning. 

 This point cannot be stressed too much for many of the troubles experienced in 

 toning can usually be traced directly to a faulty original print. 



Toning, as it is generally spoken of, involves a chemical conversion of the silver 

 image of the "developed print" into one or more insoluble substances having various 

 colors, for example, brown silver sulphide, or colored compounds of such metals as 

 copper, uranium, iron, etc. But it is also possible to obtain colored metallic siher 

 images, as we have suggested, by modification of development. 



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