Free course · 6 steps · Several darkroom sessions
Darkroom printing: beyond the first print
Move from a single good print to repeatable, controlled darkroom printing, including archival processing and toning.
For anyone who has completed "Make your first darkroom print" and has regular access to a darkroom.
What you need
- Access to a darkroom with an enlarger
- Variable contrast paper and filters or a colour head
- Print developer, stop bath and non-hardening fixer
- A washing aid, for fibre paper
- Dodging tools and black card for burning
- Selenium toner, once your prints are archivally processed
Safety
Official hazard classifications for the chemicals this course uses. Read the chemicals pages for the details.
| Chemical | Hazards |
|---|---|
| HydroquinoneDanger | Suspected of causing cancer.; Suspected of causing genetic defects.; Harmful if swallowed.; Causes serious eye damage.; May cause an allergic skin reaction.; Very toxic to aquatic life. |
| Ammonium thiosulfate | Not classified as hazardous |
| Sodium seleniteDanger | Toxic if inhaled.; Fatal if swallowed.; May cause an allergic skin reaction.; Toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects.; Contact with acids liberates toxic gas. |
| Potassium ferricyanideWarning | Causes serious eye irritation.; Toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects. |
| Sodium sulfide (anhydrous)Danger | Toxic in contact with skin.; Harmful if swallowed.; Causes severe skin burns and eye damage.; Very toxic to aquatic life. |
| ThioureaWarning | Suspected of causing cancer.; Suspected of damaging the unborn child.; Harmful if swallowed.; Toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects. |
| Potassium bromideWarning | Causes serious eye irritation. |
Classifications from the European Chemicals Agency (official EU classification where one exists, otherwise the one agreed by REACH registrants or most often notified). Read the safety data sheet that comes with your chemicals, and dispose of them in line with local regulations.
Dispose of used chemistry according to the manufacturer's safety data sheet and your local council and water company rules.
Steps
1Understand your paper
Paper base, contrast system and surface each change how a print looks and handles. Resin-coated paper is the forgiving choice for learning, and fibre paper is the archival standard.
Do this now
Read the guide and compare resin-coated and fibre papers, graded and variable contrast, and the surfaces. Use the darkroom papers listing to see what is available, and pick one paper to master before you try others.
Checkpoint: You can now choose a paper by base, contrast system and surface for the print you want to make.
2Control exposure and contrast
A test strip tells you the exposure, which is density, while the contrast grade is a separate choice that you judge on a work print. Split-grade printing gives separate control of highlights and shadows, but the guide suggests mastering single-grade printing first.
Do this now
Make a contact sheet, choose a frame and plan a test strip with the printing calculator. Then make a work print, judge density and contrast separately and change one thing at a time, allowing for dry-down. Wear gloves and keep the room ventilated while you process.
Checkpoint: You can now fix the exposure with a test strip and judge density and contrast as separate problems.
3Dodge, burn and keep a recipe
Dodging holds light back from part of the print and burning adds light to another part. The tools must keep moving, and a written recipe lets you repeat the print.
Do this now
Mark what is too dark, too light or distracting on a straight work print, and sketch a simple dodge and burn map. Print again using your moves, add an edge burn if the picture needs it, and write the recipe down.
Checkpoint: You can now dodge, burn and edge-burn a print and record the recipe so you can repeat it.
4Diagnose a faulty print
Print faults fall into groups such as exposure, contrast, development, fixing, paper, the enlarger, handling and drying. Working through them in order finds most causes.
Do this now
Take a print that went wrong and work through the guide's checklist, from exposure to handling. Process a sheet of unexposed paper as a fog check, as the guide describes, then change one thing and print again. Wear gloves and keep the room ventilated while you process.
Checkpoint: You can now work through a faulty print systematically and test for paper fog.
5Process a print for permanence
Fibre paper is the archival standard only when it is developed fully, fixed in two baths, washed well and stored properly. A washing aid cuts the washing time and helps permanence.
Do this now
Process one fibre print by the guide's archival workflow: full development, two baths of non-hardening fixer, a washing aid and a long wash. Handle the wet print gently, wear gloves, ventilate the room, and dry it face down on a screen. Test a white margin for residual fixer with a ready-made test if the print matters.
Checkpoint: You have a fibre print processed, washed and dried for permanence.
6Tone a print
Toning converts the silver image into more stable compounds and shifts its colour. Prints should be archivally processed first, and the guide advises testing on spare prints because every paper responds differently.
Do this now
Read the guide's safety section first: wear gloves and eye protection, work in a well-ventilated space, never mix toners with acids, and treat used toner as hazardous waste. Then tone a spare, archivally processed print by the selenium procedure and compare it with an untoned reference. Leave sepia sulfide toning until you can work outdoors or with exhaust ventilation.
Checkpoint: You can now tone a print safely and judge the colour change against an untoned reference.