ModernLithEZ (previously known as ModernLithC3) is a new formulation incorporating a number of discoveries over the past several months to finally formulate an easy to mix and easy to use lith printing developer that is comparable to commercial lith developers, but also works on all modern RC papers which were tested as well as a few modern FB papers. It is split into 3 primary parts and 1 optional part for easy yet highly controllable usage. Note that this developer is only formulated for the specialized process known as lith printing. It is NOT designed for half-tone lith film development.
Characteristics
ModernLithEZ is formulated for good results on modern RC papers especially, though can work with some FB papers as well. Because of how fragile it is to get results at all on some papers, it is designed conservatively to “work” but with potential problems which can be solved by addition of C or D parts depending on the exact paper used. These parts also enable very precise contrast and tonal control, though they introduce their own problems if not used with restraint. I’ll go into all of this in their usage.
The overall characteristics of ModernLithEZ at recommended dilution is the following:
Fairly subdued color on most papers with deep cold blacks
Extremely fast development. Most papers develop within 5 minutes at room temperature. Some tendency to have uneven development
Good amount of contrast control by varying exposure on compatible papers, with good black separation from shadows and highlights
Works well on most modern RC papers and a small number of modern FB papers
Typical tray life of 2 to 3 hours, or at least 15 8x10 prints per liter
Consistent results and speed across the life of the developer, until results suddenly begin to change and development noticeably slows
Untested shelf life, but expected to be at least several months
The characteristics when using ModernLithEZ at “color dilution”:
Some color on most papers with sometimes slightly subdued blacks. Highly depends on the paper though, some give very colorful highlights with very deep blacks
Somewhat fast development. Most papers develop within 10 minutes at room temperature
Very good amount of contrast control by varying exposure on compatible papers, with good black separation from shadows and highlights
Works well on most modern RC papers and a small number of modern FB papers
Typical tray life of 1 hour, or at least 6 8x10 prints per liter
Results and speed of development will begin quite consistent, but will change much more than the recommended dilution
Arista.EDU Graded RC #3, 40+40+7+2, printed from a normal/low contrast negative
Formula
The formula is fairly easy to mix, but does require a number of different ingredients. All of these have a purpose which will be explained in an updated “in the margins” blog post. Unlike the previously published ModernLithC3 prototype, there is no danger in the mixing of this other than handling hydroxide. Specifically there is no dangerous sulfur dioxide release which would necessitate a fume hood.
Part A:
Start with 80ml of hot distilled water (distilled water is absolutely necessary here!)
1ml triethanolamine 99% grade (either pure 99% grade or “low freeze 99% grade” is acceptable. I use the low freeze grade type)
0.1g salicylic acid (it’s ok if this amount is not precise due to scale limitations. This may dissolve very slowly. It’s ok to continue on with the rest of the recipe before this dissolves completely)
5g sodium sulfite
1g boric acid
10g ascorbic acid (note a very small amount of sulfur dioxide may be released when adding this. Make sure not to have your head above the mixing vessel when adding)
11g hydroquinone (not all will dissolve)
Top to 200ml with hot propylene glycol
This may require some heating to dissolve all of the hydroquinone. The temperatures needed can be reached using a simple hot water bath. It’s ok if it seems there are a few tiny crystals in the solution, these will dissolve as the developer sits and cools. The majority should be dissolved though. Appearance of the final solution should be very slightly yellow and completely transparent.
Part B:
Start with 140ml of cold or room temperature distilled water
10ml triethanolamine 99% (again, I use the low freeze grade. It might be wise to only add 9ml if you have the pure 99% grade)
8g sodium hydroxide — DANGER use extreme care with sodium hydroxide. The solution will heat up significantly. Always add the hydroxide to water and not the other way around. Add about half of the hydroxide and stir until dissolved. If the solution is extremely hot afterwards, then wait before adding the rest.
1.2g potassium bromide
100g potassium carbonate, anhydrous — DANGER if the solution is still extremely hot from the hydroxide addition, then wait before adding the carbonate. Add half or less at a time and wait until fully dissolved. If the solution becomes scalding hot then wait before adding more. You can put the mixing vessel in an ice water bath to cool it quicker. — note: at this point the solution will be very cloudy. As long as you don’t see any powder piled up on the bottom, then it’s mixed well enough.
Top to 200ml with cold distilled water. The solution should clear up significantly. In my tests I sometimes get a few tiny weird black flecks floating on top of the solution. These don’t affect the results though and can be ignored. The solution will be slightly viscous.
WARNING: Store the part B solution in a proper sturdy chemical container, preferably plastic. Do NOT use recycled bottles for this. It is extremely alkaline and should be labeled to express this danger. The solution will cause chemical burns in its non-diluted form! For extra safety, I recommend keeping the bottle in a sturdy plastic darkroom tray so that if the bottle does become compromised it leaks into the darkroom tray rather than into your cabinet etc.
Part C — A simple 1% solution of polyethylene glycol 3350
200ml of water
2g of PEG-3350
Part D (optional) — A simple 5% potassium bromide solution
100ml water
5g potassium bromide
Final results of a doubled recipe (to make 400ml of each part). Left side part A, right side part B (ignore the “EZA”, that was a draft way of formulating this that I abandoned). Note that I really should’ve removed the drink label or at least covered it with more tape on the part A solution.
PEG-3350 can be sourced in most countries as a common over the counter laxative medication. In the US this is sold under the brand name MiraLAX. Make sure that no other inactive nor active ingredients are included in the product you buy. MiraLAX and other generics I’ve seen available in the US are 100% pure. If PEG-3350 can not be sourced, it can likely be substituted with PEG-4000 or PEG-1500, but different amounts may be needed for ideal results. I have not tested other molecular weights, but according to patents and research papers, any weight between 1500 and 8000 should give similar improvements in results, though likely have different potencies.
If using ModernLithEZ without any part C, many papers will give substantially lower amounts of contrast control and will be significantly more prone to uneven development.
Triethanolamine (TEA) 99% should be completely clear. If it is yellow or orange it is likely tech grade which includes a significant amount of diethanolamine. It may be usable but is very likely to give a difference in results. You can test if your TEA 99% is pure or low freeze grade by simply putting a small amount (or the entire bottle) in the refrigerator. If it solidifies then it is pure. If it does not then it is low freeze grade. The difference in low freeze grade is that it has 15% water added. Most sources I’ve purchased TEA 99% from do not actually say it is low freeze grade, but is.
Arista.EDU Graded RC #3, 40+30+1.5, printed from a very low contrast C-41 negative
Usage (normal dilution)
Always rinse all papers before development. This is to remove incorporated developers. Add 40ml of part A to 900ml of water. Then add 40ml of part B and top to 1L with water. This can vary, but add to the final solution 2ml of part C as a standard starting point. Distilled water likely would give longer tray life, but I always use tap water. Note that the solution may give off some chlorine smell from tap water. This is from ascorbic acid neutralizing the chlorine in tap water. This is normal and should subside after a few minutes. Room temperature water is recommended, preferably between 68F-72F. If hot water is used you may get uneven development and poor tray life (~1 hour or less in testing). The pH of the working solution is typically between 11.5 to 12.
If varying dilution, part A and part B should usually be varied in matched amounts though it is possible to use them in unmatched accounts (but be ready for some papers to not develop properly). Part C can vary, but typically 2ml per 40ml of part B is a good starting point. More part A in relation to part B will slow down overall development, lower contrast by giving more highlight development, and increase tray life. More part B in relation to part B will decrease the amount of color, shorten tray life, and increase black depth and intensity.
The appearance of the working solution developer is a good indication of tray life and so using a white tray is recommended. The solution should begin as clear or very slightly yellow. It’ll then proceed to a more distinct yellow after 1-2 prints. It may at some point begin to have an orange film that floats on top of the developer. This is normal and shouldn’t cause problems. When the solution turns a distinct orange it has entered the marginal phase. You’ll likely still get good results for a while, but some problems may begin to appear on certain papers and development speed may decrease. When the solution becomes red or brown it is very likely to give problems and significantly slowed developing speed… however, prints will also tend to give more colorful highlights at this phase, so it can be useful in itself.
Old brown usage is not recommended. Because of how careful the amounts of bromide and PEG-3350 must be, old brown usage is regarded as ill-advised. I plan on later figuring out a “Vintage Brown” solution which will give the benefits I’ve observed of aged developers in this formulation (such as increased highlight color, and slightly smoother contrast in highlights) but without significantly modifying the bromide or PEG-3350 content, and can be mixed and used in a more consistent way to give these results. The expected method for this will likely be something like 200ml of water/glycol, 3g sulfite, 10g hydroquinone, 0.5g hydroxide, 25g carbonate, and let sit in open air (or maybe use peroxide?) for 24 hours to ensure complete oxidation/conversion to whatever it is that makes old brown work. In tests, the differences given by using old brown can not be replicated by simply adding more alkali or bromide, there is some kind of unique chemical reaction which causes the change in results.
Part C can be added in amounts between 1ml-10ml/L for ModernLithEZ. It will increase the induction period of development and cause infectious development to proceed more linearly with more black-shadow separation. It also tends to introduce more color into the print when used carefully. On some papers adding part C will reduce the tendency to have uneven development. Too little part C will result in flat muddy prints with too dark of highlights and uneven development that happens too quickly. Too much will result in complete failure to enter proper infectious development, giving extremely flat prints without proper black tones. Alternatively “slightly” too much will give poor black tones that do not respond to extended development times. The ideal amount highly depends on the paper being used, but the default amount should be assumed to be 3ml of part C per 40ml of part B.
Part D can be added in amounts between 0.5-4ml/L for modern papers, up to 10ml or even more for traditionally lithable papers, if used at all. Part D will slow down overall development and tends to introduce more color in highlights and sometimes will give warmer blacks such as brown blacks. Part D can be used to reduce the tendency to have uneven development, but with many papers it is very easy to add too much.
Shelf Life Update
(updated September 9th, 2020) Unfortunately shelf life of this developer is worse than expected, however, the developer doesn’t die but rather changes, giving slightly warmer tones and worse tray life. The developer I’ve tried is 2 months old. Each time I open the bottle after a week or two, the bottle is pressurized. No exact smell can be picked up from whatever is released, but I assume it is a combination of CO2 from the decay of ascorbic acid (it will decay to oxalic acid, and then to CO2+water) and sulfur dioxide from the sulfite being in an acid solution. Replenishing ascorbic acid is pretty difficult, especially since it is only moderately soluble in a water free solvent (glycol). However, the sulfite will help to restore the developer to a more stable state. Make up a 10% solution of sodium sulfite (10g of sulfite in 100ml of water) and add 1-2ml of sulfite per 20ml of part A per month since mixing the developer when making the working solution. At the rate the sulfite is decaying, I expect that more serious changes to the developer would likely take place within 1 year, but this restores some of the tray life stability of the solution. The important thing is that if utmost consistent results are required, then the shelf life should be considered to be just one month. But since the inconsistency of lith printing is part of the fun, the sulfite workaround should extend the shelf life to a more reasonable 6 months to 1 year.
Note that the most obvious problem appearing from this decay is that sensitive papers such as Ilford MGV may have pepper fogging even when the working solution developer is just freshly mixed. Careful addition of sulfite will cause this problem to be resolved without otherwise affecting tonality and depth of blacks. Too much sulfite though can cause blacks to be less deep and for there to be less color overall and for the solution to give slower development speeds. Without a better preservative, this can’t really be avoided in this formulation.
Ilford MGV RC, 40+30+1.5, printed from a slightly increased contrast negative
Alternative Usage (other dilutions)
The likely most diluted form that can be used with good results is half dilution, which is 20+20+1 to make 1L of working solution developer. I’ll dub this the “color dilution”. This dilution is preferable for maximum color while maintaining a reasonable amount of stability. In some ways it is easier to use due to a tendency to have much more even development on certain papers. I highly recommend it for Ilford MGV RC, Ilford Warmtone FB, Arista.EDU Ultra FB, and Arista.EDU Ultra VC RC. Shelf life will be at least twice as bad, development will be at least twice as slow, and can sometimes give more problems such as pepper fog.
If using alternative dlutions and you get yellow borders or other indications of fog, then carefully add some part D (bromide). Sometimes with further addition of part C, you’ll also need more part D added to prevent fog.
Pepper Balling
Pepper balling is a peculiar problem that occurs on some FB papers. There is no good cure for them and why they appear is fairly difficult to figure out. The exact process by which they appear is that the low contrast induction period image will seem to fully develop, then, instead of black tones coming in as a smooth linear darkening, they come in as weird grainy spots. Sometimes with a busy subject if the spots are subtle you’ll get a workable print, but with many papers the effect is so strong that the image itself will be difficult to discern, and very ugly. There are only 2 known remedies I’ve figured out, but each with their own problems:
Add sodium chloride (ie, non-iodized table salt) to the developer. Add between 2-15g/L, maybe even more. This seems to significantly reduce the pepper balling effect but typically will not completely eliminate it. For a busy subject though you can usually get a good result. The problem with using chloride is that it somewhat has a fixing effect, removing highlight detail and overall giving a more yellow tone to highlights. It can work for some subjects, but when you need really soft highlights chloride tends to clip it to white instead
Heat the developer. Using a heated developer from around 90F-110F, especially when combining with a small amount of chloride, is probably the best way to eliminate the effect. Many FB papers affected by pepper balling though will become rather low contrast when using this technique and tray life of course will be quite short (I recommend a slightly mismatched dilution like 40+30 to compensate) and uneven development can be a huge problem.
Ilford Warmtone FB, 20+20+1, printed from a normal contrast negative (note very subtle pepper balling in the bottom right water and top left sky)
Bromide Solarization
Some papers, especially Ilford ones, exhibit a strange effect when adding too much PEG or bromide. Specifically the image will appear to develop, sometimes even barely entering infectious development, then it’ll suddenly stop and it seems like minimal further development happens even with greatly extended development times. Adding hydroxide will cause development, but not image development, it’ll instead resemble fog. If you turn on the lights with the paper still in the developer, the unexposed border will develop to black while the rest of the image will only barely darken and will still not get a proper black tone, even with several minutes of development under room lights. I call this effect bromide solarization, as some chemical reaction seems to happen which desensitizes the exposed silver halides and prevents development.
This has been documented in some research papers, but only typically as happening at the fairly low pH of 8.4. I believe that the ascorbic acid used in this lith developer causes a localized brief decrease in pH which could potentially allow for this bleaching effect to occur. Either way, PEG or bromide causes this effect to occur on some papers. Foma papers tend to be much more resistant to this effect. It is something to be aware of if testing a new paper or different dilution etc and you see this effect.
Ilford MGV RC, 40+40+5, printed from a slightly increased contrast negative
Paper Mottle
Another problem with PEG addition, especially on Foma and Oriental papers is that it will introduce a strange paper mottle effect. This is a strange bumpy looking texture on the print. The effect can be used for good and unique results with some subjects, but can ruin others. More PEG on a paper subject to this effect will make the mottle spots bigger and more obvious while increasing contrast and shadow separation
Fomaspeed VC RC (seems the same as Arista.EDU VC RC), 40+40+9, Printed from a slightly increased contrast negative (note paper mottle effect)
Tested Papers
All tests unless noted are with ModernLithEZ 40+40+1000 and with 2ml of part C added. All recommendations are based on 1L of working solution.
Overall recommended papers: Ilford MGV RC, Arista/Fomaspeed graded RC, Arista/Fomaspeed VC RC (with color dilution), Ilford Warmtone FB (with color dilution), Arista.EDU Ultra FB
Ilford MGV RC:
Contrast control: Excellent
Color: Gives pink to yellow highlights with mild brown grey midtones and very dark blacks. Can give very warm highlights with increased dilution
Problems: very PEG and bromide sensitive, add with care. Tends to give pepper fog when the developer is near expiration
Development Speed: Fast
Recommendation: Add additional 1-2ml part C or use increased dilution.
Grain: Fine to moderate (can be made more coarse with careful PEG addition and overexposure)
Arista.EDU Ultra Graded RC #3 (Likely a Foma RC emulsion)
Contrast control: Excellent
Color: Neutral to cold tones with very dark and cold blacks
Problems: Strong tendency to have uneven development
Development Speed: Very fast
Recommendation: Add additional 2-4ml of part C, and 1ml of part D.
Grain: Moderate
Ilford MGIV RC:
Contrast control: Good
Color: Gives pink to yellow highlights with mild brown grey midtones and dark brown blacks
Problems: extremely PEG and bromide sensitive, add with care. Tends to give pepper fog when the developer is near expiration
Development Speed: Moderate to slow
Recommendation: Reduce the amount of part C used to 1ml if black tones are not as desired or if development is too slow.
Grain: Fine
Ilford Warmtone RC:
Contrast control: Moderate (wants to be lower contrast)
Color: Gives yellow and orange highlights with brown midtones and moderately dark blacks
Problems: extremely PEG and bromide sensitive, add with care.
Development Speed: Moderate to slow
Recommendation: Reduce the amount of part C used to 1ml if black tones are not as desired or if development is too slow.
Grain: fine
Fomaspeed RC: (note: seems to be the same paper as Arista.EDU Ultra RC)
Contrast control: Good
Color: Tends to be rather neutral but can be moderately warm with subtle brown highlights and cold shadows
Problems: Gives paper mottle. Tendency to have uneven development
Development Speed: Fast
Recommendation: Reduce the amount of part C used to 1ml and add 1-3ml part D if paper mottle effect is too strong. Note that contrast control will be reduced, but will still have a fair amount. If the paper mottle effect is not too bad, significantly better contrast control can be given by adding 3-6ml more part C. Alternatively, using more dilution seems to give equivalent contrast control while reducing the mottle effect as well as reducing uneven development
Grain: Fine to moderate (hard to tell with paper mottle)
Oriental RC:
Contrast control: Good
Color: Neutral or cold in tone, with lilac highlights and cold shadows
Problems: Gives paper mottle. Tendency to have uneven development
Development Speed: Fast
Recommendation: Same as for Fomaspeed RC, except additional dilution does not help the mottle problem nor tendency for uneven devleopment.
Grain: Fine (hard to tell with paper mottle)
Fomatone Warmtone RC: (note: seems to be recently discontinued)
Contrast control: Excellent
Color: Gives very warm yellow and orange highlights and brown shadows with deep blacks
Problems: None
Development Speed: Very fast
Recommendations: Add 3-5ml extra part C and 1-2ml part D to tame development speed and reduce uneven development
Grain: Moderate
Fomatone Warmtone Classic FB:
Contrast control: Excellent
Color: Gives very warm yellow and orange highlights, brown shadows, and deep blacks
Problems: Slight tendency to develop unevenly, can be cured with bromide addition
Development Speed: Moderate
Grain: Moderate to coarse
Arista.EDU Ultra FB: (note: is likely a Fomatone FB emulsion)
Contrast control: Moderate (tends to give more highlight development resulting in lower contrast)
Color: Tends to be more neutral tone and sometimes with brown or pink highlights
Problems: Outer centimeter of the paper will enter infectious development before the rest. Can be cured by using a larger border. This effect can be beneficial to some subjects for a unique vignetted look.
Development Speed: Moderate
Recommendation: Add 1-3ml part C to increase contrast control and lighten highlights. Note more part C seems to increase the outer development effect
Grain: Extremely coarse
Arista.EDU VC FB, 20+25+1, printed from a long scale high contrast negative
Ilford ART300 FB:
Contrast control: Low (wants to be lower contrast, unknown if it can be solved)
Color: Gives neutral tones with moderately dark blacks
Problems: Mottled appearance that obscures image detail, though can work for some images. Highlights will lighten and contrast will increase when fixing
Development Speed: Moderate
Recommendations: unknown, not well tested
Grain: Coarse
Ilford Warmtone FB:
Contrast control: Low (wants to be lower contrast, no attempts made to solve yet)
Color: Gives colder brown tones with moderately dark grainy black tones.
Problems: Black tones are not very dark. Highlights will lighten and shadows will significantly darken when transferring to fixer.
Development Speed: Moderate
Recommendations: Use increased dilution, this will give darker black tones with less grain and increased contrast.
Grain: Coarse (moderate with more dilution)
Kentmere VC RC:
Contrast control: Moderate
Color: Neutral tones with cold blacks
Problems: High tendency to have uneven development. Extremely sensitive to PEG and bromide
Development Speed: Very Fast
Recommendations: Carefully add at most 1-2ml of part C
Grain: Fine
Ilford MG FB:
Incompatible. Can give some results with no part C added, but tends to be very low contrast with proper blacks but far too much highlight development. Can still be used for printing very high contrast negatives, such as from ortho litho or other technical films. Also has a tendency to have “pepper balls” with increased dilution. With very much part C fails to give a proper black tone and has a strange effect where the image develops but then lightens up significantly and almost disappears behind a blotchy mess of light grey
Ilford Cooltone FB
Incompatible, same as Ilford MG FB
Adox MC110 FB:
Incompatible. Same as Ilford MG FB but with more tendency for pepper balling
Ilford MGV RC, 20+20+1, printed from a normal contrast negative (don’t mind the apprentice marks)