When I first came across the lith process I was intrigued. All the pictures I found on the internet looked different (in a good way) from the usual black and white prints. The colors and sense of unpredictability inherent to the process appealed to me. But in the Czech Republic, where I live, no commercial lith developer was (or is) easily available. If I wanted to try the process I had to mix my own developer. After some research I settled on the Ansco 70.
The formula calls for common and inexpensive chemicals and does not contain formaldehyde. It is capable of deep blacks, rich midtones, and when used with the Foma Fomatone paper also of warm tones for which the lith process is justly famous.
At first I tried the developer in recommended dilution 1 part A + 1 part B + 17 parts water. After some practice I found the warm colors of slow development easier to obtain when using a more diluted developer.
Now I use a nearly homeopathic dilution of 1 part A and B to some 50 or 60 parts warm water. When printing on size 18×24 cm paper this means 15 ml A + 15 ml B + 800 ml water and 50 ml of Old Brown. Such heavily diluted developer needs to be replenished often – after processing two prints or so I add 10 ml of A and B.
Ansco 70 recipe:
The published formula of Ansco 70 is usually calculated to mix 1 liter of the solutions A and B. The solutions have working life of several months, but considering the high dilution I work with one liter of stock solution is too much for me to use up before it goes bad. The chemicals are not expensive, but I don’t like the idea of throwing away good developer. I found it better policy to prepare only 500 ml at a time.
Solution A:
- Water 375 ml
- Hydroquinone 12,5 g
- Potassium Metabisulfite 12,5 g
- Potassium Bromide 12,5 g
- Cold water to make 500 ml
Solution B:
- Cold Water 375 ml
- Sodium Hydroxide 18 g
- Cold water to make 500 ml
Dissolving Sodium Hydroxide is strongly exothermic reaction, best performed with caution and wearing protective glasses.
A selection of my lithprints made with the Ansco 70 developer can be found in my lithprint gallery.