Toned Cyanotypes – Dec 2025

I have spent much time in my dim room over the past couple of weeks making and toning cyanotypes. These images are all older exposures, some going back about a decade. They were chosen because I thought they would look good as toned cyanotypes.

All of these prints are larger that I usually make (6×7.5 inches on 8×10 inch paper or smaller). The square images are 9.5 inches on 12 inch square paper. The rectangular images are about 8×10 inches on 10×12 inch paper except for ‘Well Worn” which is 11×14 inches on 15×19 inch paper. This is about as large as I can go as my largest trays are for 16×10 inch paper.

**** Warning!!! Detailed photo speak below. Skip to the images if you aren’t interested! ****

I have also been experimenting with a number of different papers to see how they work with toning especially with regard to staining of the paper. My standard paper for toning cyanotypes has been Hahnemühle Bamboo Mixed Media which is know for minimal staining. I have also regularly used Fabriano Unica for cyanotypes. It is a nice, inexpensive paper. For these prints, I tried Hahnemühle Biblio, Arches Text Wove, Fabriano Studio (hot press) and Legion Lenox 100. The first two of these are fairly light weight papers at 150 gsm and 120 gsm respectively. As their names imply, these are often used in making books. The Fabriano Studio is an inexpensive (student-grade) watercolor paper. The Lenox 100 is a 250 gsm rag, all purpose paper. All gave nice results herein.

I have pretty much settled on two ‘go to’ toners: sumac and wattle. Both of these materials are traditional dye stuffs for cloth and give slightly different results depending on whether you add calcium carbonate to the toning bath or not. Wattle is slightly easier to work with as it is completely soluble in boiling water. With sumac one needs to filter out the insoluble material before using the toning solution.