Printing: Part One
When your negatives are dry you can print them.
With a bit of luck you should have some well exposed frames that you can print. We currently have four types of enlarger. They all work in a similar way - see here for variations.
DO NOT TURN ON THE WHITE LIGHT WHEN PEOPLE ARE PRINTING AS THIS WILL RUIN ANY PAPER THAT IS NOT SEALED UP OR FULLY FIXED.
Step One.
Book an enlarger and collect the filters from your teacher. You are responsible for the enlarger and the filters.
Step Two.
Place your negative in the negative carrier. Ensure the shiny side is up.
Step Three.
Select a filter. See here for the way filters work. As a rough guide the lower the number the less contrast you will get - the higher the number the more contrast you will get. You should not need to use 4, 4 1/2 and 5 filters, but if you do remember to double your times.
If you are using one of the LPL colour enlargers dial in filter using the magenta and yellow knobs on the right side of the enlager. There is a chart in the enlager booth. Note these enlargers don't do filter number 5. Put the filter in the filter holder.
Step Four.
Adjust the hight of the enlarger to suit the paper of your final print.
Step Five.
Focus the enlarger. (If the focus of the film grain isn't even across the frame speak to your teacher.)
Step Six.
Set your timer to 5 seconds as a starting point. (15 seconds for 8x10 paper.)
Step Seven.
Get a test strip of photographic paper and place it across an important area of the photograph. Make sure you have the slightly shiny side (emulsion) up! Cover four fifths of the stip and expose. Move the cover and expose again repeat until you have exposed all of the stip. Using 5 seconds as you starting point. Your first exposure will be 25 seconds the last 5 seconds.
Step Eight.
Slide the exposed paper into the developer emulsion side down - make sure it is fully covered and not floating on the surface. After a few seconds turn it over. Gently rock the tray slightly so that the developer 'waves' over the paper. The image should be fully developed after 1 minute.
Step Nine.
Remove from the developer and place in Stop Bath or running water for a minute or so.
Step Ten.
Place into Fixer for at least 2 minutes. After this stage you can look at the print in white light. MAKE SURE ALL THE PAPER IS AWAY BEFORE TURNING ON THE LIGHT.
Step Eleven.
Wash in running water for at least five minutes.
Step Twelve.
Evaluate your print, WRITE DOWN YOUR SETTINGS AND YOUR TIMES.
Try to book the same enlarger each time as each enlager has a slightly different brightness.
If necessary do another test stip adjusting times and filters. Developer is changed each day, but if the darkroom is really busy the deleveloper may need replacing. See your teacher about this.v1.0 Jan08 AMR.