Enlarger & Print Tutorial

[Carlsson]

Maybe it's just me, but I've spend several hours yesterday in the darkroom, without getting pleasing results on printing.

Would someone like to share his experience with others about working with enlargers and printing? Perhaps another sticky?

Essential steps, chemicals, tools, setting up the enlarger, treatment...

[marty]

Materials:

Wet side:
-4 trays with matched tongs. The dimensions vary depending which format one use to print, my advice would be 24x30/11x14" to begin with.
This way you'll be able to make proof sheets and reasonably large display prints.
-Four bottles to store the chemicals, the one dedicated to the developer should be dark. TIP: (Household ones 1lt./1quart, like mineral water or whatever, are fine.-Just remember to label them clearly and store them away from new ones - ).
-1 squegee to remove excess of water after washing.
-a line or a rack to dry the prints.

Dry side:
-enlarger
-set of contrast filters (if not built in and if using
multicontrast paper)
-Enlarging timer with electric switch or foot pedal switch and
stopwatch (better if provided with beeper).
-enlarging easel (not strictly necessary but helps a lot).
-focus magnifier (like above).
-a piece of glass just a bit bigger than a 24x30 sheet.
-safelight (for the color read the paper fact sheet)
-a notebook: carefully take note of filter #, exposure time,
f/number ,head height and every other operation you do during the
exposure time. Do this for every good print RIGHT AWAY. This will
help you in case you need another copy, or just as reference for
other prints.

Paper:
A good stock: in the beginning will be more the prints in the trashbin (according to Mr. Adams this is the "most useful" item in a darkroom) than the ones on display.

Chemicals:
-Developer
-Stop bath
-Fixer
-Sistan or wetting agent. (To prevent dry marks and fading over
the time (sistan)).
If you are using fiber based paper you'll better to use hypo-
clearing bath to neutralize the fixer and shorten washing time
that would otherwise be way longer.

Procedure:

Proof sheet:
Put in the filter drawer the #2 or dial it if built in.
Switch off main light.
Switch on safelight.
Put a 24x30 sheet of paper on the baseboard emulsion up.
Swing the red filter under the lens and turn on the enlarger.
Raise the head until the light beam covers the whole sheet.
Place the negatives on the paper emulsion on emulsion.
Place the the glass plate over the negatives to make a sandwich.
Turn off the enlarger and swing away the red filter.
Expose the paper for 5".
Remove glass and negatives.
Develop, stop and fix under safelight.
Switch off safelight.
Switch on main light.
Wash 5' under running water.
Evaluate:
if too dark or too light redo.

Developing process detail:

To be done under safelight:
1. Put the exposed paper in the developer tray holding it by two corners (always avoid touching in the middle, due to several factors your fingerprints can remain imprinted) and gently slide it under the chemical. Develop for 1' (RC papers). Gently rock the tray during the whole time. Using the dedicated tongs remove carefully the sheet and drain it well from the developer hovering it above the tray.
2. Put the sheet in the stop bath holding it with the tongs sliding it under the chemical. Stop for 30" rocking gently. Remove
the sheet with the dedicated tongs and drain.
4. With the usual procedure put the paper in the fixer. Let it 4'
with usual agitation.Remove the sheet with the dedicated tongs and drain well.

From now on is possible to work under main light.
5. Wash in running water for 5'.
6. Holding with your fingers by two corners gently squegee the excess of water.
7. Evaluate: if it looks ok just a tad light you're done. It will darker a tiny bit while drying.
8. 1' in sistan with usual rocking,drain and squegee.
9. Hang on the line with a clothspin or lay on the rack and let it dry.
10. When dry evaluate it again and if ok enjoy it.

Making the enlargment:

1. Put the negative in the holder.
2. Chose a filter and put it in the drawer or dial if built in.
(More later on chosing the filter)
3. Turn off main light and on the safelight.
4. Put a scrape sheet of paper on the easel bottom up.
TIP: I have a regular sheet of paper taped on the easel
surface with the shapes of the enlarging paper formats I use
printed on it. This makes easier for me to position the
enlarging paper.
5. Turn on the enlarger.
6. Raise or lower the head to fit the projected image on to the paper.
7. Focus the grain looking thru the magnifier by turning the knob
on the enlarger head.
8. Remember to close down the lens to the desired aperture
(usually 5,6 or 8 but depends). Eventually recheck focus.
9. Turn off the enlarger.
10. Put a fresh sheet of paper on the easel.
TIP: I keep it from move using a paperweight.
11. Swing the red filter under the lens and turn on the enlarger.
12. Reposition the paper if needed.
13. Set the easel blades.
14. Set the timer (More later on chosing the time).
15. Turn off the enlarger and move away the red filter.
16. You're ready to expose. Start the timer and wait and wait
until the enlarger light is off. If you're using a pedal,
press it when you start the stopwatch and then press it again
when you hear the beep or you see the time is elapsed.
17. You're ready to develop.

Chosing the filter:
Use your proof sheet as an initial reference. If the frame you're
going to enlarge looks good use the same filter you used to make the proof sheet, otherwise change accordingly (increase by half or one if looks flat, decrease if looks too harsh). It'll be a time consuming task in the beginning, but the experience will make your judgement better and better after a while.

Chosing the time:
The best method in the beginning is the test stripe. As explained above set up for making a print. Get a piece of cardboard. Cover the enlarging paper all but one strip. Turn on the enlarger. Expose 5". Uncover another strip and expose further 5". You'll end
up with a sheet exposed increasingly for 5,10,15,20,25,30". Develop and dry. Evaluate and chose the time related to the strip that looks better. Redo the test with shorter or longer times if needed. Again the experience will make your judgement better and better and you'll be eventually able to get the time in the ballpark just looking at the proof sheet. You're notebook is your friend, check for a print of a scene with similar lighting, pick out the time you used and you're likely to get close enough.

Safelight check:
Under safelight put a fresh sheet on the baseboard or on the working table. Get a coin or a small object and put it over the paper. Just let it sit there for ten minutes. Develop, stop and fix. The sheet should be perfectly immaculate. If it looks gray with a white circle where the coin was then your safelight is not safe. Possible solutions:
1. Move it away as far as possible from working area.
2. Use small wattage bulb.
3. Use a cloth to shield it.
Redo the test.

Expected Life of Chemicals:
-Developer: unless you do great batches of prints it's going to
die due to oxidation way before to reach the capacity specified on the fact sheet. When it starts going you'll initially notice the you'll need to increase exposure times to raech the desired density, in the end the contrast will drop too with no way to recover. At this point trash it and mix fresh. If you keep the chemical in accordion bottles within sessions or use gas can to blow the air off the bottle you can slow down oxidation.
-Stop bath: usually contains a dye that activates when exaustion is reached. When the bath turns blue toss it and mix fresh.
-Fixer: read the fact sheet recommendations about capacity or use test strips.


The procedure is valid for black an white materials but in pricinple is valid for color work too. Just be aware that color materials MUST BE HANDLED IN TOTAL DARKNESS. If you use the Tetenal kit is possible to process the paper at room temperature just as black and white. You can develop in trays (in total darkness of course) and reuse the chemicals until the developer gets exausted (this is gonna happen way before the blix, so the expiration of blix should be of no concern). You can even use your
BW enlarger, you just need a set of CP filters to use in the drawer.

[Carlsson]

Thank you very much Marty, this is great!
My vote for sticky.

[Attila]

Many , many thanks!

[kds315*]

Super Marty, can't be topped!!

[peterqd]

Thank you marty, excellent article. I agree with Carlsson, it should be a sticky to go with the one about developing film. Attila?

[marty]

Thank you all for the appreciation.
Marty.

[Orio]

My two cents:

First step is to analyze the negative and determine the dynamic range, the distribution, and the photographic importance.
This is a long talk that should be made.
Basically you start with the white of the paper on one hand, and the purest available black on the other hand.
Your print will be contained between these two ends. Where these ends will fall, will determine the contrast of your print.
It is impossible to make a general statement here. Things depend on your negative, and on your artistic purpose as well.
Normally it is very difficult, if not impossible, to keep on print all the dynamic range that you have on the negative. Chances are you'll have to sacrifice something at the ends.
What to sacrifice, and how much, is a case-by-case matter.

A test strip is the basic move you will want to start with.
Make some experiments first to determine the average power of your system. In my case, I have found that a 8 seconds exposure with my 150W enlarger lamp at f/5.6 aperture gives an average exposure. So I consider it the pivot value, and I make a test strip print of 5 different exposures at 6,7,8,9 and 10 seconds.

Your test strip should be placed over an area that encompasses, for each section, as much information (of whites, blacks and greys) as possible

If you use a multigrade paper this is another variable that gets into play.
At the course I have been taught to use contrast 2 as starting point.
Since however my personal taste fits better with a slightly higher contrast, I usually make the first test strip at contrast 2.5

After the first test strip, I examine it - do it after having wiped the washing water away - this is something that must not be done with final prints, but you don't care about conserving the test print, you just want to evaluate it and to do so well, the print must be dry, because the water alters the perception of the blacks.

Pick the value of the strip section that looks better.
At this point, what I usually do is to try a small print using the selected value from the test strip.
If the final print is large, I place the small print paper over the most important area of the photo.
I don't print large immediately because a single test might not be enough to deermine the best settings, especially if you have no experience yet.


Based on the whole small print, I determine the final adjustments, if needed. If the test strip was selected well, this usually means altering only the contrast of paper a bit. Remember, a little contrast change does a lot of difference. Do not boost or lower contrast by units of 1. Always do it at half point (0.5) increments/decrements. If you have the filter hardware implemented in the enlarger head, you can also use values smaller than 0.5

This is the basics as far as I am concerned, as last advice I give this: don't be afraid to experiment. Darkroom is an empirical art.

[zewrak]

The first wall to fight. Learn to let the developer develope the paper. Don't remove the print when it "looks good" from the tray. If you let the developer do all its work until its finished, you can basically use water instead of a stopbath. When the developer is finished, it wont continue developing anyways, and the water will remove the traces of the developer before the fix. If the print gets too dark, it is not the fault of the developing bath, you have then overexposed the paper when enlarging. You need to fix that, not the time in development bath. This is very important, to get the real blacks in the paper.

Also agitate the papers. Dont drop it in the tray and let it be. Learn how to agitate your papers for the contrast you want. Continous agitation in the developer tray, really boost the contrast.

These two lessons, I learned the hard way, and it is really a completly new standard on the prints after I learned that. I kept "saving" my prints from the developer tray, when they got too dark. For way too long. Now I let it sit in for the full time, when there is no further development, I remove it. If the bottle says "developing time: 3-5 minutes", then it should be in it for atleast 3 minutes. Otherwise, adjust your enlargment time/aperture, so that it can stay in for atleast 3 minutes.