8x8 Print awaits a dunk in the coffee toner
On a whim this morning I decided to run water through used coffee grounds and attempt to tone a print. I have heard of this before but wasn’t sure how well it would work. I’ve read about using tea (black or red) and instant coffee as toner but have never tried it myself. First you need a print. Your print should be processed normally. Something slightly under exposed or lacking contrast would make a good candidate since toner will make the end print darker. Next: Fill a processing tray if you have one, if not just use whatever container you have handy. Make sure it’s full enough to completely cover the print. You may need to weigh it down to keep it from floating to the top.
8x8 Print before toning
Now all you have to do is wait. If RC paper soaks too long the toner can seep into the paper, the easy fix is to leave enough paper outside of your image to trim off the saoked paper when the print has dried. I let mine soak for 3 hours and checked it periodically until I got a deep brownish color. I also used hot coffee and let it cool on it’s own, the heat didn’t damage the emulsion, but you may want to test with a scrap first, some coffee pots and tea kettles may get hotter then others.
Strange Brew
Comments
hey, I just stumbled on this place looking for more info on the holga stereo camera. I have stained photos with coffee, tea, wine, and grass. Just to be clear, toning is actually the change of the color of the already black and grey silver. Sepia tone is the most common. I’ve never stained RC paper. I tend to play with fiber paper more. I like the way it feels better. But yeah, there are a lot of recipes for dying on the internet. Pretty much anything with pigment can be used to stain, and if it stains your clothes it will stain the paper.