Darkroom paper developing How to process exposed photo paper in Photographic Chemistry

Processing photo paper   For resin-coated paper printing, the darkroom must be prepared using the following steps: 1. Turn on the ventilating fan. 2. Set out 4  8x10 trays in the long sink.

The trays should go in the following order from left to right in the sink: Darkroom chemistry

Darkroom processing cont’d 3. Make sure you have separate tongs for each of the chemical trays. 4. Wear an apron if you wish to avoid getting chemistry on you. 5. Use the stored, pre-mixed chemistry on the shelf below the sink. If there is none, have the Darkroom Managers mix the chemistry.

DEVELOPER 6. DEVELOPER:  We use Ilford Multigrade Developer for Black + White paper. To mix:  1 part developer + 9 parts water, you can mix 100ml Dev with 900ml of water   Water should be approximately room temperature: 20° Celcius (68° Fahrenheit) Developer expires as it gets used.  It can also expire while sitting on the shelf waiting to get used.  The developer chemical is a clear liquid.  Developer turns brownish when it gets old and expires. Some expired developers can be poured down the drain.  We pour our expired developer into the ‘Dead Chemistry’ containers below the enlargers.

Stop bath 7. STOP BATH:  We use water as a stop bath, instead of acetic acid, simply to reduce the amount of chemicals being used.  The stop bath should also be approximately room temperature: 18° to 24° C (65° to 75° F) If you are using the acetic acid mix of stop bath, it will turn from orange to purple when it is expired.

fixer 8. FIXER:  We use Ilford Rapid Fixer for Black + White paper and film. To mix:  1 part fixer chemical + 4 parts water, you can mix 200ml of Fix with 800ml of water (water should be approximately room temperature: 20° Celcius (68° Fahrenheit) Fixer has a very strong odour and should be handled carefully. It is not evident when fix has expired, but it is one of the most crucial steps in creating a permanent print (since it ‘fixes’ the image).   To test if the fixer has expired put one or two drops of ‘Hypo-Chek’ into the fixer bath.  If the drops turn milky, the fix is expired. If there is a good deal of darkroom activity, fixer should be tested about every ½ hour to an hour.  Since it is toxic to the environment, used fixer cannot be poured down the drain and must be poured into the ‘Dead Chemistry’ containers on the shelves under the enlargers.

Water wash 9. WATER WASH:  We use running water as our final step to set our image and rinse away any unwanted chemistry from our prints. It is important to rinse prints for a good length of time to avoid stains or chemical spots that might appear on insufficiently washed prints.

Developing your exposed paper Timing your chemical baths properly

Timing for development of photographic prints is important Timing for development of photographic prints is important. If you pull a print from the developer before its time is up because it looks ready to you, you are not learning to accurately expose your print with the enlarger.   The stop bath is the shortest step because you are simply stopping the development process and rinsing the developer off of the print in order to place it in your fixer.  Obviously, you want your chemistry to remain effective for as long as possible, so you want the least amount of developer going into your fix as possible. If you pull a print from the fix solution before it’s ready, you risk damage to your print later.  When a print is not fixed properly, it become light-sensitive again and will ‘stain’ with exposure to light, and will be ruined.

Times for each darkroom tray Times for developing prints are as follows: DEVELOPER:              2 minutes STOP BATH:                30 seconds FIXER:                         2 minutes WATER WASH:            10 minutes

Darkroom processing times review 2 min 30 seconds 2 min 10 min