Toners

Toning has been around almost as long as photography itself. In 1840 Frenchman Hippolyte Fizeau created a gold chloride toning bath to increase the stability of Daguerreotype images. Since then, many toners have been developed. Sepia, selenium, copper, and blue are the most common.

Toners actually bind with the silver of a print. In most cases, this gives the photograph added stability which adds to the image's permanence. With toners, you will generally see the most marked color changes in the shadow areas of your image. (If you get color in the highlight areas you may not have fixed the print completely.)

Dyes are also often referred to as "toners" but the difference is substantial. Dyes do not bond with the silver grain in the same way as toners and thus will not stabilize your print. Dyes color the highlight areas of your print. Any of the Berg Color Toning Kits and any Edwal "toners" are considered dyes. There are more colors available in dyes than in toners. (Try a coffee dilution for an inexpensive dye!)

Some toners will make your print very resistant to environmental contaminants and ultraviolet radiation. But you can also use toners to add depth, imply mood and create striking contrast to your photographs.

You can use RC or fiber based papers, but fiber based papers work best because emulsion is softer and they don't have the resin coating to contend with. When you plan to tone a print, do not use a hardening fixer. You can use either a warm tone or cold tone paper but we recommend you try both! You get a very different result from each.

Four of the most common toners: Sepia, selenium, copper, and blue (iron):