Free course · 9 steps · A darkroom session
Make your first darkroom print
Make a black and white print from your own negative in a darkroom, from test strip to dry print.
For anyone with black and white negatives. You don't need your own darkroom: community darkrooms are listed in the directory.
What you need
- Access to a darkroom with an enlarger
- Photographic paper
- Print developer, stop bath and fixer
- Three trays and tongs
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. |
| Acetic acidDanger | Flammable liquid and vapour.; Causes severe skin burns and eye damage. |
| Ammonium thiosulfate | Not classified as hazardous |
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
1Find a darkroom
Many people print in a shared darkroom rather than building their own. Community darkrooms, some of them members-only, are listed in the directory.
Do this now
Browse the directory for darkrooms near you and see what each one offers. Get in touch with one to find out how to book a session.
Checkpoint: You have found a darkroom you can use and know how to book it.
2Get to know the enlarger
An enlarger projects light through your negative onto the paper. Raising the head makes the print bigger, the lens focuses the image, and the timer and aperture control the exposure.
Do this now
Find the head, lens, negative carrier, baseboard and timer on the enlarger you will use. Practise focusing with a grain focuser rather than by eye.
Checkpoint: You can now name the parts of an enlarger and focus an image with a grain focuser.
3Choose your paper
Paper comes in resin-coated and fibre-based types, with graded or variable contrast and several surfaces. Each changes how a print looks and how it handles.
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Read the guide and pick a paper for your first session. If you are unsure, follow its advice for learning, and check you have filters or a colour head if the paper is variable contrast.
Checkpoint: You have chosen a paper suited to your first session.
4Set up the trays
Print processing follows the same order as film: developer, stop bath, fixer, then wash and dry. Setting everything out before you start keeps the chemistry separate and the session calm.
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Lay out a tray for each chemical in order, with its own tongs, and label them. Read the safety section before you begin, and never mix chemistry other than as instructed.
Checkpoint: You can now set up a tray line and handle print chemistry safely.
5Make a test strip
A test strip gives you several exposures on one piece of paper, so you can find the right one without wasting sheets. It tells you about density, not contrast.
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Under the safelight only, focus the negative, set your working aperture and expose the strip in stepped bands. Use the printing calculator to plan the steps of the strip. Process it, then choose the exposure where shadow detail just appears and the highlights hold.
Checkpoint: You can now make a test strip and choose an exposure from it.
6Make the print
A full print uses the exposure you found, then develops, stops, fixes and washes in turn. Prints change as they dry, and pulling one from the developer early gives weak blacks.
Do this now
Keep the enlarger settings exactly as they were for the test strip, expose a full sheet and process it with the full development time. Judge the density and contrast, and change one thing at a time for the next print.
Checkpoint: You can now make and process a full print and judge how to improve it.
7Fix, wash and dry the print
A print is only permanent once it has been fixed and washed, and it must be washed before you judge it for good. Resin-coated and fibre papers wash and dry differently, so follow the guide for your paper.
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Fix your print, then wash it as the guide describes for your type of paper. Dry it as the guide describes, and keep the chemistry separate throughout.
Checkpoint: You have a fixed, washed and dry print.
8Burn and dodge
Dodging holds light back from part of the print and burning adds light to another part. Used with restraint, they bring out detail and guide the eye, and the tools must keep moving.
Do this now
Pick one area to lighten and one to darken on your work print. Make another print using a dodge and a burn, keep your tools moving, and write down what you did.
Checkpoint: You can now dodge and burn a print and record how you did it.
9What went wrong?
When a print looks off, a systematic check usually finds the cause. Problems fall into groups such as exposure, contrast, development, fixing, paper and the enlarger.
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Compare your prints against the symptoms in the guide. Pick the likeliest cause and try the fix on your next sheet.
Checkpoint: You can now diagnose a poor print and choose a fix to try.