Black & White Photographic Printing

 

The Chemicals: There are three basic chemicals in the printing process. These are Developer, Stop and  Fix. Developer brings out the latent image, the magic part of the process. Stop does what it says, stops the image from coming out any further. Fix prevents any white light from darkening, fogging, fading or otherwise affecting the finished print i.e. fixing it.

Printing Equipment and materials you’ll need

Making a Contact Print Step by Step

Processing a Print Step by Step Development

…see full text

PDF: Black  & White Photographic Printing

 

Photographic Paper

Most black and white paper is coated on a base consisting of paper fibre sealed front and back in clear plastic. Chemicals cannot sink into the base,  so that processing, washing and drying times are shortened. The plastic coated paper has a layer of silver halide emulsion and a gelatine supercoat at the top to protect the emulsion surface from normal handling damage. Plastic paper may also have an antistatic backing.  …see full text

PDF: Photographic Paper

 

Making a Black and White Print

1. Your darkroom (kitchen or bathroom) needs to be well blacked out to stop light from entering. For windows use thick card cut to shape and held in place with black canvas tape. …see full text

PDF: Making  a  Black and White  Print

 

Solving Printing Problems

Uneven, mottled, or mealy appearance, Fingerprints, Prints fade, Yellowish or brownish stains, Fogging, Entire print out of focus, negative is sharp, White specks  …see full text

PDF: Solving Printing Problems

 

Burning in and dodging

Once the overall density (the  lightness  or darkness) of a print is right, you will often find smaller areas that could be a little lighter or darker. For example, a face might be too dark or the sky too light, even though most of the scene looks good. Burning in (shown below and opposite) adds light after the basic expo­sure is made in order to darken an area. Dodging (shown on page 114) holds back light during the basic exposure to lighten an area. …see full text

PDF: Burning in and dodging


Archival Processing

Archival processing of  fibre-base paper is simply a matter of  fixing, washing and toning, to certain standards, to ensure the longevity of  the photographic material. …see full text

PDF: Archival Processing

 

Printing  Record  Sheet

PDF: Printing  Record  Sheet

 

Health and Safety in the Darkroom and Processing Room

PDF: Health and Safety in the Darkroom and Processing Room