ABSTRACT
Older photographs that are described as sepia are often gold-toned prints, which do use an archival process – and an expensive one. Split toning is applying a different toning technique to the shadows and highlights. The classic split toning darkroom technique is selenium and sepia. Sepia and selenium toners can be used together as long as the sepia is used first. Sepia followed by blue toner or blue toner followed by selenium are other possible combinations. Each toner makes some alteration to the fundamental silver chemistry of the image to achieve its effect. Most toners are quite poisonous and must be handled with care and according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When toning, do not sacrifice a fine print but use a spare test strip from the same image. Green toning can be had with some copper toners but the finished prints are far from archival.
