Traditional Kallitype Printing: Your Kit Contains

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Traditional Kallitype Printing

Dick Stevens’ Formulas1
Your Kit contains:

25 ml - Silver Nitrate 10% Solution
25 ml - Ferric Oxalate 20% Solution
25 ml - Ammonium Dichromate 5% contrast booster
250 g - EDTA Clearing Agent
250 g - Sodium Thiosulfate fixer
1 Quart - Black tone developer
3 droppers
The Emulsion
Take equal parts solution of:
 Solution “A” (10% Silver nitrate solution)
 Solution “B” (20% ferric oxalate solution)
* If you have Tween 20, 1 drop of 10% Tween 20 per emulsion for an 8x10 print may be used as a
spreading agent.
A good starting point is about 20 drops each of the 10% silver nitrate & the 20% ferric oxalate per 8x10,
12 drops each per 5x7. The amount may vary according to the paper used.
Contrast
You may adjust the contrast with small additions of 5% ammonium dichromate. If one drop is too
strong, dilute the solution.
Coating
In a dimly lit room, coat paper with either a brush or coating rod. The paper should be liberally coated
but not running wet2.
1From Dick Stevens’ book, “Making Kallitypes, a definitive guide, Focal Press, Boston, 1993
2A Japanese Hake brush works fine but you will need to buy a good one as the cheap ones shed hairs.
1
Resting
After coating, allow the paper to sit for about 1-2 minutes. The Tween 20 will help even the coating out
and pull it into the paper.
Drying
Dry under gentle heat. A hairdryer works fine or you may just let it air dry naturally if you are not in an
extremely moist climate.
Printing
Contact print under sunlight or a UV light source. Print times are about 1-2 stops faster than traditional
palladium. There will be little print out image so timing will have to be done by trial and error or test
strip. Kallitype prints will bleach in the fix, so either tone before fixing or overprint by a stop or two.
These are the only effective solutions to the bleaching problem.
Developing
Place in the developer for at least 5 minutes. Standard develop times range between 8-10 minutes.
Image will appear immediately so this must be done quickly, or else watermarks may appear. Different
developers will change the color tone of the print.
Clearing (optional)
This depends on the develop you are using. Some developers clear instantly in the developing tray. The
Black Kallitype developer that comes with the kit does require clearing. Clear for 3-5 minutes in a bath
of EDTA Tetrasodium of 2 tablespoons to 1 liter of water. The EDTA may be reused until approximately
20 8x10’s have been cleared.
Fixing
Fix in a 5% solution of sodium thiosulfate. 50 grams to 1 liter of water. Water should be around the 68°
F range because if the water is too warm, it'll accelerate the bleaching. Fix for about 2 minutes, and
then quickly place in a tray of fresh water3. This amount of fix will be sufficient for fixing 10 8x10 prints.
It should be discarded after each printing session.
Final Washing
Wash for 15-20 minutes and dry on archival blotters or screens.
Toning
Kallitype prints may be toned with any of the noble metals. Toning is one way to keep Kallitype prints
from bleaching during the fixing process, however, there will be color shifts and you will lose the prints
original color. Toning will also increase the permanence of the Kallitype print. If you intend to tone your
image, tone between your clearing bath and your fixing bath.
3Unlike silver bromide prints, the Kallitype’s silver is not enmeshed in a gelatin colloid and fixes much faster. I
believe that even more dilute fix and shorter times may be equally as effective.
2
Toning Formulas
To 1 liter of water add 5 grams of citric acid.
Add to this mixture either4:
-5ml gold chloride 5%,
or
-5ml standard palladium solution No. 3,
or
-5ml standard platinum solution No. 3.
After development and a thorough wash, place print in toning bath. Tone until desired color is reached.
The noble metal salt in the toning bath will become depleted. A black deposit will appear in the bottom
of the tray, which is silver that has been replaced by the noble metal. You may now fix and do the final
wash. If sufficient toning has been done, the print will not bleach back.
4Those of an experimental bent can try mixing a portion of 2 or more of the solutions for intermediate colors.

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Traditional Kallitype Printing

Your Kit contains:

 Solution “B” (20% ferric oxalate solution)

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