Developing photographic silver halide materials - in automatic processing machines with continuous developer regeneration by two regenerating solns

Photographic silver halide materials are developed by (a) developing latent grating images in silver halide matls. of the litho-type with a litho-developer (D) in an automatic processing machine (b) adding to D two different regenerating solns. (RD and RA), and (c) controlling the addition in (b) as a result of one or more tests of the performance of the actual developer towards a silver halide emulsion matl. of the litho-type, this being exposed through one or more sensitometric wedges, and developed in the actual developer to produce a grating wedge print. The distance between regions having different point values is determined and compared with a reference value. The deviation from the reference distance is used as diuretic for defining a partial replacement of the developer D by RA; and the place of a sensitivity point on the grating wedge print relative to a reference sensitivity point is used as diuretic for defining a partial replacement of D by RD. Developer D contains the following components: (1) a p-dihydroxybenzene developer, (2) free sulphite ions, (3) an alkali metal bromide, and (4) not more than 0.05g/l. awaiting developer showing a super-additive developing effect relative to (1). Regenerating solns. RD and RA are different in the following characteristics: (1) the pH of RD is higher than the pH of RA, (2) the concn. of halide ions in RD is lower than the halide concn. of RA, (3) RD/RA have different concns. of p-dihydroxybenzene developer, and (4) the concn. of free sulphite ions in RD is lower than the concn. of these ions in RA. The differences (3) and (4) are such that the wt. ratio of p-dihydroxybenzene developer to free sulphite ions in RD is different from the corresponding ratio in RA. Enables the developing properties of the developer to be held extremely constant by the controlled regeneration with the two regenerating solutions. The developer provides the photographic matl. from the start with the photographic properties obtained during continuous operation.