By mix­ing vary­ing parts of a low con­trast metol for­mu­la­tion with an ener­getic hydro­quinone solu­tion, a work­ing devel­oper of flex­i­ble con­trast and sur­pris­ing util­ity can be crafted. When used in com­bi­na­tion with multi-contrast paper a fine degree of con­trast con­trol is pos­si­ble. Refer to the table below for mix­ing ratios. Typ­i­cal devel­op­ment time is about 3 minutes.

Dr Beer’s is also agree­able in a two bath work flow by mix­ing one tray of low con­trast work­ing strength devel­oper and a sec­ond tray of high con­trast; the effect of whichever bath is used first will pre­dom­i­nate and the amount of time the print remains in either bath will by course impact the final print. Exper­i­men­ta­tion is the watchword.

Mix chem­i­cals in order given; begin Part A with a pinch of the sodium sul­fite to min­i­mize oxi­da­tion of the metol.

Devel­oper Stock Solu­tion : Part A
750 ml water (125 degrees F)
8 gr metol
23 gr sodium sul­fite (anhy­drous)
20 gr potas­sium car­bon­ate (anhy­drous)
1.1 potas­sium bro­mide
+ water to make 1000 ml

Devel­oper Stock Solu­tion : Part B
750 ml water (125 degrees F)
23 gr sodium sul­fite (anhy­drous)
27 gr potas­sium car­bon­ate (anhy­drous)
8 gr hyr­dro­qui­nine
2.2 gr potas­sium bro­mide
+ water to make 1000 ml

 

	← lower con­trast     higher contrast →
Beer’s No.*	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	#7
solu­tion A	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
solu­tion B	0	1	2	3	4	5	14
water	8	8	8	8	8	8	0

 

* There’s no con­nec­tion between Beer’s num­ber and paper con­trast num­ber; the dif­fer­ence between the low­est con­trast for­mu­la­tion and the high­est is about 3/4 to 1 grade. First select the grade of paper or con­trast fil­ter that best matches your desired result and then uti­lize Dr Beer’s to zero in the quality.