simulating effect of pyro stain

Is it possible to simulate the effect of the pyro stain by coating or

painting a negative developed with ordinary developers such as D76?

In reading about the benefit of using pyro as a staining developer,

it seems that the stain is what contributes to the overall look and

density of the negative. If that is so, can some other means be used,

such as a paint or dye, to duplicate the effect?

Thanks

Nope. The stain is in direct proportion to the the density of the silver image, creating a hardened stained non-grainy gelatin image that masks the areas between silver particles. That is why you have smooth highlights and high accutance in Pyro negs. Pyro processing is easy and very simple. Throw away your d76 and see how good your negs can be by using Pyro!

It is possible to bleach and redevelop the negative in a Pyro developer. There is an excellent article in Photo Techniques Mar/Apr 2000 by Patrick Gainer on the process using PMK. I have done this with good results. I don't see why it would not work with any Pyro developer. I am going to try the process with Pyrocat-HD in place of PMK. If you cannot find the article, e-mail me and I will give you the basics.

I can't understand why anyone would want to potentially mess up a perfectly good negative by bleaching it and then redeveloping it in pyro. I suppose it can be done, but the potential for a mess up is to great IMHO. The advantages of pyro are real in some cases but like any tool it has to be used appropriately. Under some conditions regular developers such as HC110 are better suited than pyro. I would suggest you give PyroCat HD a try for subjects you normally shoot and then compare the prints to what you have been getting with non-pyro development. Your printing techniques may have to be changed somewhat to gain the full potential from the pyro negs. Also don't let anyone tell you pyro negs are normally thinner than say HC110 negs. This is rubbish. If the density isn't there, there is nothing to print. Give it a whirl with some new images, but leave the ones you already have alone.

 

A further question is what are you missing in your current negatives you think you might get with the use of pyro? Maybe you just have to refine your D76 development technique or go to a different non-pyro developer.

If you think it is not worthwhile, that means you have never tried it. The bleach that is used with sepia toner is the kind you want, not the bleach of Farmer's Reducer. If you have Farmer's solution A, you can add potassium bromide to it in the amount of a teaspoon or so per liter. The amount is not critical. DO NOT FIX BETWEEN BLEACHING AND REDEVELOPING. Redevelop to completion. The redevelopment in PMK or Pyrocat-HD will not increase graininess. It can only restore the original silver image while adding to it the proportional stain.

 

The bleach-redevelopment does not decrease the contrast of a negative, even when printing with VC paper. The increase in contrast is greater with graded paper than with VC.

I forgot to mention that the bleached negative must be exposed to light. The easiest way to do it is to do the whole bleach-redevelopment in room light.