Introduction to Darkroom Printing
These are the info sheets I made for this lesson that I taught on producing Photographic prints.
How to load the contact printer
Carefully cut your negatives into strips of six.
Clean each side of the glass of the contact printer carefully with a paper towel.
If your contact printer has an opening catch, open it safely by pushing down on the glass and sliding the catch back.
If your contact printer is divided into strips;
insert your negatives by carefully peeling back the bit of plastic with your nail and sliding the negative strip in.
Make sure that you insert your negatives in numerical order, starting at number 1, all the same way up, with the shiny side against the glass.
Clip the contact printer shut by pushing the glass down and sliding the clip across.
If you have a plain glass contact printer you can use 2 different methods;
If you have a clear negative folder you can keep your negatives in the folder and print them like that.
Otherwise you will need to arrange your negatives (shiny side up) in this way in the darkroom on top of your photographic paper (also shiny side up.) Practise first in the light.
How to make a Contact Sheet
In the Darkroom
Place contact printer on base - board of enlarger
Move enlarger head up and down until light comfortably covers contact printer (F2.8)
Focus edges of projected light
Stop down to F8
Set timer to 5 seconds
Switch timer off.
Exposing a test - strip
Place test - strip diagonally in printer shiny side up and clip tight
Expose whole test strip at F8 (5 seconds)
Cover up 1cm of paper along edge nearest to you
Re expose for a further 5 seconds
Repeat moving up strip until you have exposed at least 5 times in total
Remove test strip to process.
Process Test Strip
Choose time best for exposure
Set timer for selected time
Place a sheet of 10 x 8 Photographic paper into the printer
Process as before.
Contact Sheets : What am I looking for?
Your negatives will all be different : some of them will be under or over exposed depending on what was happening when you took the photo. If you took the photos in a range of different settings, you might have a range of different lighting effects recorded on the negatives.
Therefore, when you make a contact sheet it might be difficult to find an exposure time that is perfect for every photo.
Look for the time that works best for most of the prints on the page.
To choose the right time for an image, the blacks need to be black and the whites need to be white.
Tip: A good way to find the right time is to look at the numbers on the contact sheet. The numbers should be white on a black background.
How to make a print
Choose a negative from your contact sheet...
Make sure enlarger light is off.
Take out negative carrier and insert negative: shiny side up and image upside down.
Replace carrier
Turn enlarger on at F2.8 (brightest light).
Set the image size using the easelon the baseboard.
Adjust the size of your projected image by raising or lowering the head of the enlarger
Stop the enlarger down to a low light level and focus the image using the focus finder.
Make a contact strip as before.
Determine a time from your contact strip in the light and make a final print.
These are the info sheets I made for this lesson that I taught on producing Photographic prints.
How to load the contact printer
Carefully cut your negatives into strips of six.
Clean each side of the glass of the contact printer carefully with a paper towel.
If your contact printer has an opening catch, open it safely by pushing down on the glass and sliding the catch back.
If your contact printer is divided into strips;
insert your negatives by carefully peeling back the bit of plastic with your nail and sliding the negative strip in.
Make sure that you insert your negatives in numerical order, starting at number 1, all the same way up, with the shiny side against the glass.
Clip the contact printer shut by pushing the glass down and sliding the clip across.
If you have a plain glass contact printer you can use 2 different methods;
If you have a clear negative folder you can keep your negatives in the folder and print them like that.
Otherwise you will need to arrange your negatives (shiny side up) in this way in the darkroom on top of your photographic paper (also shiny side up.) Practise first in the light.
How to make a Contact Sheet
In the Darkroom
Place contact printer on base - board of enlarger
Move enlarger head up and down until light comfortably covers contact printer (F2.8)
Focus edges of projected light
Stop down to F8
Set timer to 5 seconds
Switch timer off.
Exposing a test - strip
Place test - strip diagonally in printer shiny side up and clip tight
Expose whole test strip at F8 (5 seconds)
Cover up 1cm of paper along edge nearest to you
Re expose for a further 5 seconds
Repeat moving up strip until you have exposed at least 5 times in total
Remove test strip to process.
Process Test Strip
Choose time best for exposure
Set timer for selected time
Place a sheet of 10 x 8 Photographic paper into the printer
Process as before.
Contact Sheets : What am I looking for?
Your negatives will all be different : some of them will be under or over exposed depending on what was happening when you took the photo. If you took the photos in a range of different settings, you might have a range of different lighting effects recorded on the negatives.
Therefore, when you make a contact sheet it might be difficult to find an exposure time that is perfect for every photo.
Look for the time that works best for most of the prints on the page.
To choose the right time for an image, the blacks need to be black and the whites need to be white.
Tip: A good way to find the right time is to look at the numbers on the contact sheet. The numbers should be white on a black background.
How to make a print
Choose a negative from your contact sheet...
Make sure enlarger light is off.
Take out negative carrier and insert negative: shiny side up and image upside down.
Replace carrier
Turn enlarger on at F2.8 (brightest light).
Set the image size using the easelon the baseboard.
Adjust the size of your projected image by raising or lowering the head of the enlarger
Stop the enlarger down to a low light level and focus the image using the focus finder.
Make a contact strip as before.
Determine a time from your contact strip in the light and make a final print.
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