Expired paper - how to use

[bence8810]

Hello,

I am still a rookie at Darkroom printing so I wanted to ask what's best to do to test / use old paper? Are there any tricks?

Being Hungarian, I was very excited to have found some old Forte paper on an auction site. They went bankrupt at 2007 so the paper should be at least 7 years past its expiration but there's no way to tell - nothing indicated on the package.

I have 10 sheets only (8x10) and would like to waste as little as possible on the tests and hopefully use the majority on printing photos of my son.

It's silly I know but I still want to give it a shot!
Paper is ready and so is my make shift darkroom. Any pointers?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[jschrader]

typically, old paper gets softer, and it will be difficult to get a reasonable contrast if it is that old.

If you want to make good prints, you would probably want to have reproducible properties.

I would probably use it for contact prints only (as a "pre-view").

 

[Larry H-L]

Seven-year old paper, if stored in a cool, dry area, should be fine. I bet your results will be as expected.

Just try a sheet.

If it fogs easily, with gray on the white border, you can add some Benzotriazole (Anti-Fog) in the developer, to use the paper. It will be slightly blue in tone, cooler, but usable.

 

[bence8810]

Seven-year old paper, if stored in a cool, dry area, should be fine. I bet your results will be as expected. Just try a sheet. If it fogs easily, with gray on the white border, you can add some Benzotriazole (Anti-Fog) in the developer, to use the paper. It will be slightly blue in tone, cooler, but usable.

Looks good - first print through...

 

[Pherdinand]

loox good indeed. I had some much older fiber based expired paper and some of it was perfectly fine, some had pinhole-like dots scattered all over it.

ps i thought bence would be hungarian 😀
u livin in Tokyo?
the boy doesnt look hungarian or not 100% at least, neither🙂

sok sikert

 

[bence8810]

loox good indeed. I had some much older fiber based expired paper and some of it was perfectly fine, some had pinhole-like dots scattered all over it. ps i thought bence would be hungarian 😀 u livin in Tokyo? the boy doesnt look hungarian or not 100% at least, neither🙂 sok sikert

Köszönöm.

The boy is half Japanese and looks more like his mom (thank god!) 🙂
Yes we live in Tokyo for a few years now, have been living a Gypsy life up until then hoping around the world.

I used one sheet for test strips and then developed another 4 papers. 2 were successful.
Somehow it needed twice the time when compared to the same size from Fujifilm. I wanted to test with Fuji not to waste the limited Forte but I soon discovered it wasn't possible.

The prints otherwise look good, drying now.
I have another 5 left, will do another session soon.
The paper has a brownish hue to it, sort of Sephia like. There was some Hungarian instruction paper attached so I read it and it is meant to be brownish. I could do some pre-developing (whatever that means) and with that adjust the level of brown (warmth) that comes out at the end.

Anyways thanks for all the tips and I guess we can call this a success.

Ben

 

[mbisc]

Around 2004 or 2005, I purchased a couple of boxes of then-shortdated/outdated Kodak RC paper (Kodak had just announced the stop of production, and it was dirt-cheap at one of my local stores - expiration 12/2004), and put it into my fridge. Over the years, I have mostly used it for contact sheets and other non-critical things.

Fast forward to September 2014 -- I enrolled into a Photo I class at a local college just to have access to a darkroom again. Since I needed RC paper for it, I opened my last box of the Kodak paper and used it up in the course of the semester. Here is just one of the prints from it:


Isa Khan Masjid (8x10 RC Print) by nbg90455, on Flickr

What I meant to say is that -- assuming reasonable storage -- your paper is probably just fine. It might have slightly lower contrast from a bit of fogging (didn't notice anything on my Kodak paper, though), so maybe chose it for negatives where that might be helpful 🙂

Enjoy!

 

[Fotohuis]

I have still one package Forte PW 14 left. But in 50x60cm size / 10 sheets.

It was one of their best warmtone papers and a real loss in the paper assortment worldwide.

Fortunately I am working with a Split Grade system so dealing with the right exposure time and filter grade won't be any problem. I am going to use it for my 25x60cm panorama photos.

In this size I am drying it with aquarel paper on a large piece of (frame) glass.

Best regards,

Robert

 

[bence8810]

Just reporting back - am through the 10 sheets and all developed looking perfectly fine. Some mistakes and one paper sacrificed for test strips, I ended up with 6 good prints. Will have them hang on the walls and hope they'll outlive me!

Thanks for all the help.
Ben

 

[bjmc]

You may want to try some Benzotriazole in the developer - here's a helpful excerpt:

"The antifogging effects of Benzotriazole (BZT) are greater than bromide, especially in developers of high pH. As a result, BZT is especially useful for salvaging outdated papers or when blue-black tones in prints are desired. For salvaging outdated papers, mix a 0.2% solution (2.0 grams in water at 125F/52C to make 1.0 liter). Add 15.0 ml of this solution to every liter of developer. If 15.0 ml does not do the trick, keep adding 15.0 ml at a time and make tests until you get a clear paper without fog.

To test, develop a small piece of unexposed paper for the full time; after fixing, when the paper is held up to a white surface, such as the back of another piece of paper, it should show no signs of gray. It is advisable with all old paper, even those not exhibiting fog, to keep development times between 45 seconds and 1.5 minutes (the longer paper develops, the more likely it will exhibit fog). While BZT is often used in PQ formulas, especially those of medium to high alkalinity, bromide is a superior restrainer in PQ formulas of low alkalinity. As a substitute for bromide, BZT is generally used at 1/10th the solution concentration of the bromide." - darkroom cookbook, p26.