Split grade printing
is a powerful tool in the printers skill set and when used correctly it can yield
fantastic results. For some people it
works all the time, every time; for others it’s a bit hit and miss; and some
just can’t get seem to get the hang of it at all.
Hopefully this tutorial will help you get to grips with the process and
give you the impetus to give it a try yourself.
What is Split Grade Printing?
Basically speaking
split grade printing involves making two exposures of two different grades onto
the one sheet of paper. This will result
in good overall contrast across the print, deep shadows and crisp white highlights. It also opens up more avenues for dodging and burning (but we'll go into that in greater detail on Part IV).
The Process
You will need all
the equipment we have already discussed in parts one and two of my black and
white printing tutorial. Setup your
enlarger and chemicals as previously and choose your paper (for this example i
will once again be using Ilford MGIV RC VC).
Now, instead of dialling in grade 2 or 3 we will be using the softest (or
lowest) grade our paper can manage (usually 00).
If you look at the filtration table on the datasheet that
comes with your paper you will see different filtration settings ranging from
00 to 5 (dual filtration settings may only got up to 4.5).
As you can see from the table below, grade 00
on my Kodak style enlarger requires a setting of 162Y/0M.
Dial that setting in, put your paper on your
easel and make a test strip in the same way we did in part two of the
tutorial.
Once you have developed your
print let it dry.
Here is an example of
a test strip at grade 00 from 26s - 0s:
As you can see it is very low contrast indeed and shadow
areas are very grey, not black. Examine your test
strip and look for the time that gives you the highlight tones you want. Ignore
shadow areas for now and ignore the lack of contrast – your focus should be
entirely upon the highlights. Once you
have selected your time make a note of it and, if you want to, make a full
print at that time to see how the highlights across the whole print look. From my test strip i decided to go for 11
seconds.
Now its time to create your second exposure. Put a new sheet of paper onto your easel and
make your grade 00 exposure on it (11s in
my case). Once your exposure is done don’t
move the paper because you’re going to do another test strip on it. This is where having multigrade filters
trumps using a colour head because you need to change the filtration. If youre using multigrade filters just swap
your 00 for a 5, if youre using a colour head you will have to cover your lens,
run your enlarger, change the settings and then shut your enlarger off.
Looking back at your paper datasheet youll see that when using
dual filtration on this paper grade 5 is not possible but grade 4.5 is. That’s fine, just use as high a grade as you
can. So, for grade 4.5 on Ilford MGIV RC
VC we need to dial in a setting of 0Y/150M.
Dial that in and then make a test strip on your paper. Develop it as usual and let it dry.
What you will have is a print with a base exposure at grade
00 and a test strip of grade 4.5/5 over the top. Note that the grade 4.5/5 exposure doesn’t
really effect the highlights much, just the shadows. This is the key to split grade printing –
your soft exposure (grade 00) effects the highlights, the hard exposure (grade
5/4.5) effects the shadows.
Pick the hard exposure that gives you the shadows you
want.
Here’s my test print (again 26s - 0s):
After much consideration i ended up choosing the 16 second
exposure.
Once you have chosen the your
exposure time your ready to make your print.
Go through the steps above – make your soft exposure followed by your
hard and you should be left with a print showing good overall contrast, strong
shadows and crisp highlights.
Here’s my
final print:
There are a few
problems though, if your soft exposure is too long then your highlights will be
muddy and overall print contrast will be reduced. If your hard exposure is too short then your
shadows wont be deep enough and again, overall contrast will be reduced. It may take you a few prints to get to grips
with the process but once you get the hang of it it becomes a really versatile
and useful technique.
When you are first
starting out with split grade printing i find it is best to make a few prints
with one negative. Make a print with a
long, medium and short soft exposure combined with a long, medium and short
hard exposure. This will show you how
the two exposures work together to change the print contrast. In the end though it boils down to one simple
rule: soft exposure for the highlights, hard exposure for the shadows. Remember that and you shouldn't go too far wrong.
As i mentioned at the end of Part II I will be discussing
dodging and burning in Part IV of this tutorial, but until then keep printing!
