Every so often I re-profile my kallitype negative profile whether it needs it or not. Its good to test printer drift as carts change and things wear on. There are always new things to learn…relearn, too. I’m writing a few notes to help walk myself through the next time I do it.
QTR curve tool and main GUI screens. Curve creation tool is showing blank slate for new profile. It is accessed though the tool menu > curve creation
Ink and curve setup (file here-Ktype_Pdtoner_ArchesHP_C ). The ink levels represent a practical limit between density and printer artifacts. I can’t get enough density to print without a minor contrast agent in kallitype and palladium. For k-types I have to use at least a drop / liter of 1% Ammonium dichromate in the sodium citrate developer. This isn’t a big deal- I know many printers who try to get the highest DR possible for their process- but I haven’t noticed a difference in print tonality. I try to get the inks so the adjustment curve is as modest as possible, without any steep transitions that stack tones on top of each other. I keep a utility file of all my alt process adjustment curves so I can load them in PS and look at the shape in a glance, and track adjustments over time.
Kallitypes are a process I always return to- they have an atmospheric richness and glowing quality that suits a lot of my work, along with a certain staidness that looks proper clinging to a woven sheet, like a great aunt in Harris tweed. No gloss, no twee surface enhancements. Fundamental and ageless cahoot of flesh and fabric, paper and medium.