The 1956 BJPA contains a Review (p223) of the Raycolor Universal Processing Kit.

The Raycolor Universal Processing Kit is designed for use with all currently available colour negative films, and also for use with Raycolor and other papers for printing from complementary colour negatives. The chemicals are packed in polythene bags with the exception of developer part C which is a solution. Five stock solutions which will keep well are prepared, three for the colour developer; one for the hardener/stop bath, and the bleach-fix. The mixed developer should not be kept for more than a few hours, and the hardener-stop should be discarded after one batch of films or prints. The bleach-fix has a long life and can be used until the bleaching time becomes excessive. Occasional filtration of this bath is advisable to remove sludge.

Developer Part A appears to contain the colour developer and probably the preservative, Part B the alkali, and Part C the restrainer. They are mixed in different proportions for negative and print development. For negatives, 15 parts A, 160 parts B, 15 parts C and 100 parts of water are used; for prints, the proportions are 10 parts A; 160 parts B; 20 parts C and 210 parts of water. The different negative materials require different developing times, but papers all need 6 minutes at 20°C (68°F).

The stop bath stock solution is diluted with two parts of water for use, and the time recommended is 3 minutes for negative and 5 minutes for paper. A wash of 2 minutes for films and 10 minutes for paper follows the stop bath, and after treatment for 20 minutes for negatives and for prints in the bleach-fix, processing is completed with a 20 minute wash. All the chemicals dissolve readily when the recommended procedure is followed.

Raycolor paper is intended for printing from unmasked colour negatives of the types generally available at present. It is a double weight paper and in layer arrangement it differs from the accepted order: the green-sensitive magenta image layer is at the bottom of the pack with the red-sensitive cyan image layer in the middle. The blue-sensitive yellow image layer is on the outside and is separated from the other two with the customary colloidal silver yellow filter layer.

A set of eighteen filters for balancing is provided. These filters are relatively robust and need not necessarily be mounted in glass. The material is somewhat slower than bromide paper, and without filters and using a 150-watt enlarger lamp has a pronounced cyan bias. A cold-cathode type light source would probably give an almost neutral scale without filters. Processing is quite straightforward and takes 50 minutes to the drying stage.

Price of the processing kit is 17s.6d.; correction filters in cyan, magenta, and yellow sets, 4s. 9d. plus 1s. 11d, purchase tax per set of each colour. Raycolor printing paper is available in a range of sizes from 3½ x 2½ to 10 x 8 inches; 21 sheets of the smaller size cost 7s. 6d. plus 2s. 11d.purchase tax; 11 sheets of the larger size, £l. 9s. 3d.plus 11s.5d. purchase tax.

In mid-1961, Raycolor Ltd, having moved to Lime St, Aldershot, are still advertising their home colour printing materials, "for making prints from negatives or transparencies of any make."

Dating from around 1956, the following is a sequence for Raycolor paper processing in open dishes.

Step	Solution	Time (mins)	Temp (°F)
1.	Colour Developer	6	68 (=20°C)
2.	Wash	1	60 - 68
3.	Stop-Hardener	5	60 - 68
4.	Wash	10	60 - 68
5.	Bleach-Fix	10	60 - 68
After 5 minutes in the Bleach-Fix, white artificial light can be used for the remainder of the process.
6.	Wash	20	60 - 68
7.	Dry

Total time excluding drying: 52 minutes.

Notes:

1. The print could be glazed, without heat, after treating in a 'Stabilizer' made up to the following formula: Formaldhyde 40% solution - 20 ccs; Sodium Carbonate, anhydrous - 5 grams; Water to make 1 litre. The print is rinsed for 1 minute after the Bleach Fix (step 5) treated in the “Stabilizer” for 5 minutes and then washed for 20 minutes before glazing.
2. The text, from which the above processing sequence is taken, gives a blank space for the Wash Temperature in the processing table, so it has been assumed the paper could be washed at “room temperature”, possibly anything between 57°F and 72°F.
3. The agitation rate was: “Every few seconds” in the developer, “Agitage thoroughly” in the Bleach-Fix and Stop-Hardener, and “Running Water” for the Wash steps.
4. The same solutions were used for processing Raycolor negative film plus other negative films, such as Agfacolor, Gevacolor, and Pakolor at different solution times.
5. The safelights for use with Raycolor paper seem a bit odd! The Safelight filters could be, Kodak Wratten Series 6B (brown for x ray films), or Wratten 9 (green, used for infra red plates), or Ilford 906 (dark red, used for orthochromatic films and plates), or Ilford 907 (green, used for slow panchromatic films and plates). The 907 would have been the darkest, and presumably the paper could have been handled the longest under this light.

Michael Talbert reports that by 1968 Raycolor “Universal” paper was no longer manufactured, possibly because it was unsuitable for the masked colour negative films which were by then commonly in use. But the 'Universal' processing chemistry was still available and its use, and processing sequence, was suitable for Agfacolor and similar papers such as Gevacolor, Ferraniacolor, and possibly Pavelle paper (of the type included in the Paterson Colour Print kits - the earlier Pakolor type FC paper no longer being obtainable).

Raycolor Processing Sequence, dating from about 1960, with the Stop-Hardener now replaced by a Stop-Fix solution.

Total darkness, or Olive-Green safelight such as Agfacolor 166M or 08.

Step	Solution	Time (mins)	Temp (°F)
1.	Colour Developer	6	65
2.	Wash	1	60 - 68
3.	Stop-Fix	5	60 - 68
White artificial light could be used for the remainder of the process.
4.	Wash	10	60 - 68
5.	Bleach-Fix	10	60 - 68
6.	Wash	5	60 - 68
7.	Dry, without heat. Do not exceed 120°F

Total time: 37 minutes.

Notes:

1. Ensure that the print is well covered with the developer. Agitate every 30 seconds. The developer will keep several hours but should not be stored for re-use on another day.
2. Agitate thoroughly in the Stop-Fix. The solution can be used until discoloured.
3. Agitate every 30 seconds in the Bleach-Fix. Make sure prints do not stick together.
4. Step 2 Wash. Use running water if possible, or rinse in a large dish of water with constant agitation.
5. Steps 4 and 6. Wash in running water. Make sure prints do not stick together.
6. Michael Talbert coimments that the last wash seems too short. The colour print paper in those days was not Resin Coated (RC), and this may be a printing mistake for 15 minutes.
7. It is likely the development temperature had to be kept within +/-½ or +/-1 degree either way of 65°F for consistent results.
8. It was possible that the ”Stabilizer” used in the earlier Raycolor print process could be used for cold glazing the prints.

The time/temperature graph (below) seems to reasonably confirm 6 minutes colour deevelopment at 65°F (= 18.3°C), and suggests higher temperatures, with shorter processing times, were equally acceptable for those with means to maintain a consistent high temperature.