What went wrong?

My film came back completely clear

The developed strip is clear or almost clear: no images, and you can see straight through it.

My film came back completely black

The negatives are dark or totally opaque across the whole roll.

My negatives are thin and weak

Images are faint, shadows are empty and clear, and scans look grainy and muddy.

My negatives are very dark and dense

Negatives are dark and hard to see through. Highlights are blocked and scans look flat or grainy in the bright areas.

There are streaks or flares of light on my photos

Dark streaks or blotches on the negative, which show as bright orange, red or white flares on colour scans. Sometimes they cross several frames.

My negatives have uneven streaks or patches

Lighter or darker bands, often near the sprocket holes, along one edge, or across part of the roll.

There are spots on my negatives

Small round clear spots (dark on scans), or white specks and fluff (dark or white depending on side).

There are water marks on my negatives

Faint rings, tide marks or streaks, often visible when the film is held at an angle and showing in scans.

There are long scratches along my film

Straight lines running the length of the film, across several frames.

My black and white negatives have a pink or purple tint

The film base has a pink, magenta or purple tint rather than being clear or grey.

My negatives look milky or cloudy

A milky, creamy or cloudy layer over the film after it dries.

My negatives have a cracked, crazed pattern

A fine crackle or wrinkled pattern across the image, like crazed glaze.

There are small crescent-shaped marks on my film

Small dark or light half-moon shapes, like fingernail marks.

My colour photos have a strong colour cast

Scans or prints are too green, magenta, blue or yellow, and correcting one area spoils another.

The edges of my 120 frames are fogged

Light fogging along the long edges of 120 or 220 frames, sometimes worse at one end of the roll.

Part of each frame is black or blank

A dark band (on the print or scan) across part of the frame, or only part of the frame exposed.

My frames overlap

Frames run into each other or are double-exposed together.

My photos are blurry

Nothing in the frame looks sharp, or the focus is on the wrong thing.

My camera's shutter won't fire

The shutter button won't press, or nothing happens when it does.

There are rainbow rings on my scans

Irregular rainbow-coloured rings or wavy patterns, mostly in even areas like sky.

My colour negative scans come out orange or blue

Inverted colour negatives look overall blue, cyan, or still have an orange cast.

There are lines or bands across my scans

Thin straight lines or repeating bands running across or along the scan.

My darkroom prints look flat and muddy

Greyish blacks, dull highlights and low contrast, even though the negative looks fine.

My prints are turning yellow or stained

Yellow or brown stains appear on prints, sometimes weeks or months later.

My cyanotype prints wash out pale

The blue is weak or the image fades in the wash, leaving a pale print.