The Darkroom Printing Thread

Kevin Allan

Kevin Allan

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Hello everyone, I thought it might be useful to have a specific thread for sharing images, experiments, successes, and failures, from the "wet" darkroom.

I'll kick off with the results of some experiments to test different combinations possible with two papers, two developers, and two toners.

The papers were (A) Ilford MG IV RC, pearl finish (a neutral tone paper) and (B) Ilford MG RC Warmtone

The developers were (C) Champion Multicontrast (neutral tone) and (D) Fotospeed WT 10 warmtone

The toners were (E) Fotospeed ST20 Sepia and (F) Fotospeed SLT20 selenium.

Here are the results using neutral paper and neutral developer:

Neutral paper neutral dev.jpg


Next, the results using neutral paper and warm tone developer:

neutral paper warm dev.jpg

Here are the results using warm tone paper and neutral developer:

warm paper neutral dev.jpg


Finally, here are the results using warm tone paper and warm tone developer:

warm paper WARM dev.jpg


There's more explanation on my blog at https://kevinthephotographer.wordpress.com/2017/05/29/toning-darkroom-prints/
 
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Great idea! I'm hoping to get into the darkroom a few times this summer, since doing my little day course :)
 
This reminds me of my mid teens, using an old, second-hand, 1950s Gnome Beta II enlarger in a home-made darkroom in the loft; with a red 'pygmy lamp' bulb as a safelight (as I couldn't afford a proper Paterson one!) and a home-made negative carrier made from corrugated cardboard (as the original metal one didn't come with the enlarger - well, what could I expect for £9?)!

It was too cold to be up there in winter, and roasting hot in summer, so that meant I had about 6 weeks of the year when it was about the right temperature to develop prints! So please don't think badly of me if I watch from the side-lines but continue to use a digital scanner, Photoshop and Lightroom instead. After all, I've served my time, so go easy on me! :LOL:
 
Mr Badger said:
This reminds me of my mid teens, using an old, second-hand, 1950s Gnome Beta II enlarger in a home-made darkroom in the loft; with a red 'pygmy lamp' bulb as a safelight (as I couldn't afford a proper Paterson one!) and a home-made negative carrier made from corrugated cardboard (as the original metal one didn't come with the enlarger - well, what could I expect for £9?)!

It was too cold to be up there in winter, and roasting hot in summer, so that meant I had about 6 weeks of the year when it was about the right temperature to develop prints! So please don't think badly of me if I watch from the side-lines but continue to use a digital scanner, Photoshop and Lightroom instead. After all, I've served my time, so go easy on me! :LOL:
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A Gnome Beta II. Luxury ! I had to use a Jumbo enlarger if anyone on this forum knows what one is ? :LOL:
 
Yes, so much luxury that when we moved house a couple of years later I couldn't even give it away, so it had to be taken to the tip! :(
 
shapeshifter said:
A Gnome Beta II. Luxury ! I had to use a Jumbo enlarger if anyone on this forum knows what one is ? :LOL:
Click to expand...

I think I / my dad did have a Gnome Enlarger in the 70s-80s and we also had one of those Zenith enlargers that fold into a suitcase - although I can't remember ever using it. A few years ago Dad was given another one which has found it's way into my loft - I should put it together and use it at least once for "fun"

There's a Youtube demo of the Zenith enlarger here -
: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJbIXvKajTw
 
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I've been spending a lot of time trying to get a routine for the size of borders with which I print in the darkroom - although the same issues would apply to inkjet images.

If I make the borders too narrow, it can be hard to get the border even when matted; and even a 1/4 border, the smallest size my easel will allow, will make the image too small for commercially available mounts with the same nominal size as the paper.

So I'm trying a new thing of printing, say, 7 * 5 images on 10 * 8 paper, with a 1.5 inch border all round.


Here's looking at you by Kevin Allan, on Flickr

I find the wide border helps to make the image stand out from it's surroundings.

If I choose to frame the image, I can out in a mount designed for 7*5, and there will be enough spare width and height to attach the print without any border showing; or I can put in a mount designed for 10*8 and have a large border showing.

I can just about print a 10*8 image borderless, without the paper curling, but I don't really like looking at borderless un-mounted images.

Print 6b.jpg

What do other people do ?
 
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Yes, I know the process you are going through, its something you have to figure out for yourself, we've all got different ideas about what we want.

Most of my stuff is square, I don't really crop, square is awkward.
I prefer a border but like to print as big as I can, 16x12 is my top so its gonna be 12x12 which isn't massive but obviously still doesn't leave any room for a border, which is particularly annoying.
I don't wanna fanny about cutting mats, but its the only way besides gearing up for 20x16.
For 35mm, I don't really print it seriously, I've done a few 10x8's and haven't been troubled by cropping to fit, but its a pretty small print if your giving it an inch and half border.

So, its an individual thing, shaped by what you want, by how brutal you are prepared to be in cropping, by the available format of the materials you use, paper/frames/matting and the capability of your enlarger...:)
 
I read your post again, and I guess I don't have an answer, I'm stuck at the print size, its not a size I'd be interested in framing, so I've never had the problem.
Personally I'd be looking at a 16x12 frame and 16x12 paper and fitting my 1-1.5 format in to that with a border of my choice, 16x12 is pretty much A3 and very available.
But 16x12 trays take up some room, 10x8 is much more convenient, there isn't really anything in between.
A4 might be a format with more choice I dunno, but it won't fit in10x8 trays, I've got some 11x14 fiber that I doubt I'll use cos it doesn't fit my purposes, and some 9.5x13..I think, just daft daft sizes, they're only really fit for printing 10x8 with a border and put in easy to get 10x12 frames.

Thats your answer, 10x8 in 10x12 frames, but its bigger paper and trays
 
ere, anybody know what this is ?

full


full
 
Do a Google search for lithographic paper, I can't remember exactly what it was or is.
Matt
 
High contrast film, used for the graphic arts. Had a few other uses in more standard darkrooms, but that's about all I can remember. I have a half recollection that it might have been used in making unsharp masks...
 
Its 100 sheets of 15x12, that's kinda big.....for film.
And it say's "paper" on the front, I'm assuming it is paper but all I can find is Lith talk on the interwebz.
mebbe it is film, named paper by the associated process, I dunno.
£2.50, wedged between cook books in a charity shop...lol

I'm gonna pull a sheet out in the darkroom and see what the heck this stuff is...


like......nobody else has done that...:cautious:
 
A couple of prints toned, spotted (first time and didn't mess it up!) and mounted for a house-warming gift. The photographs are about 10" square.

These were split grade printed using 00 and 5 grade filters, on Ilford warm tone fibre paper. They were developed in Fotospeed WT10 and toned with Rollei RSE Selenia Toner for about 4 minutes at room temperature. The toner barely changed the colour, but did seem to darken the blacks slightly. I was mostly interested in making them as fade-resistant as possible as the recipient's flat is very light, so they may end up being hung in the sun.


38660778580_7ca209b18c_b.jpg
 
shapeshifter said:
A Gnome Beta II. Luxury ! I had to use a Jumbo enlarger if anyone on this forum knows what one is ? [emoji38]
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Certainly a luxury. My first was made from an old 620 bellows camera with a couple of coffee tins to hold a bulb and mounted with a homemade wooden block to an upright made of galvanised gas pipe mounted onto an old table top. Then my Dad got me a plastic AgiScope. The lens on the camera was better. Anyway a good idea for the thread, I've got some printing to get done sometime and will add my results.
 
I've got paper and negs coming out of my ears but haven't printed anything for yonks...:(
 
FujiLove said:
A couple of prints toned, spotted (first time and didn't mess it up!) and mounted for a house-warming gift. The photographs are about 10" square.

These were split grade printed using 00 and 5 grade filters, on Ilford warm tone fibre paper. They were developed in Fotospeed WT10 and toned with Rollei RSE Selenia Toner for about 4 minutes at room temperature. The toner barely changed the colour, but did seem to darken the blacks slightly. I was mostly interested in making them as fade-resistant as possible as the recipient's flat is very light, so they may end up being hung in the sun.
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Did you get sorted out with a safe ?
I made one a while ago out of ply but I don't really like it, the lid is tight by design so its a faff to open and I just feel it would damage the paper with me throwing it round the DM trying to open it in the dark
That particular size is difficult to come by, I've only seen those flimsy hinged things made from pressed plastic, never seen a proper restem one with front loading door.
 
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dmb said:
Certainly a luxury. My first was made from an old 620 bellows camera with a couple of coffee tins to hold a bulb and mounted with a homemade wooden block to an upright made of galvanised gas pipe mounted onto an old table top. Then my Dad got me a plastic AgiScope. The lens on the camera was better. Anyway a good idea for the thread, I've got some printing to get done sometime and will add my results.
Click to expand...
Well, when I say a second hand Gnome Beta II, the Elmar lens had a large scratch on it, but it didn't seem to show on the prints! Happy days! :whistle:
 
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joxby said:
Did you get sorted out with a safe ?
I made one a while ago out of ply but I don't really like it, the lid is tight by design so its a faff to open and I just feel it would damage the paper with me throwing it round the DM trying to open it in the dark
That particular size is difficult to come by, I've only seen those flimsy hinged things made from pressed plastic, never seen a proper restem one with front loading door.
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Hi John- Yes, I bought one of the plastic ones off eBay. I have a couple of them in 8x10 size and they're ok, but like you say, a bit flimsy. They do the job though.

Did you get the info for the one you made from www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk ? If not, there's a thread on there with plans. I'll try and get around to making something one day, but I just don't have the time to faff with one right now. I'm still trying to figure out how to better deal with the bloody great roll of Kodak colour paper I bought!
 
There's one on there now @ 50 odd quid..:cautious:
I made it using those plans, by Rienhart or Rienhalt or something.
I remember he also posted plans for some rebate print masks and a 50 inch roll paper dispenser, but I can't find the dispenser.
The paper dispenser was light tight and you just pulled it out of the rack like toilet roll and cut to whatever length.
50 inch is a bit big but the same design could be shrunk to 12 or 16 or whatever pretty easily.......probably....lol
 
joxby said:
There's one on there now @ 50 odd quid..:cautious:
I made it using those plans, by Rienhart or Rienhalt or something.
I remember he also posted plans for some rebate print masks and a 50 inch roll paper dispenser, but I can't find the dispenser.
The paper dispenser was light tight and you just pulled it out of the rack like toilet roll and cut to whatever length.
50 inch is a bit big but the same design could be shrunk to 12 or 16 or whatever pretty easily.......probably....lol
Click to expand...

The roll dispenser is exactly what I need: basically a light tight paper dispenser. I'll have a trawl around that site and see if I can find the plans. At the moment I have to take the entire roll out of the bag, place it on a table, carefully lift the roll up with one hand and pull a length out with the other hand to feed into my rotary paper cutter. I have to keep the edge of the cutter aligned with the paper, which is not in a fixed position and ensure it's all square before cutting. Then, as I didn't have a paper safe big enough, I had to store the cut sheets in light-safe bags which were not much bigger than the paper. And as I don't entirely trust the bags, I was double-bagging the first one and taping them both closed.

Easy peasy...if it wasn't all in the pitch black in my tiny darkroom with the ironing board banging against my left elbow! :eek: :D

Edit: these digital shooting b*stards don't know they're born! ;)
 
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Yeah, been there, done that faff.
My last lot was from a dispenser, it was just a box with pole through the middle and a slot through which the paper was dispensed.
It was all light tight, but it was still a bit faffy retrieving the "leader", and it was never easy to cut perfect length, it was always over a half inch or so.
Not ideal if you have a beard or easel that needs exactly 16x12.
No matter what, nothing on Earth is as easy as flipping open the door of a restem or unitron paper safe and it passing you one sheet of paper, best thing since sliced bread they are..:)
 
Some recent prints:

g0gk3DX.jpg

Hexar AF + Delta 3200, split grade print on 8x10 Ilford Multigrade, scanned with my Epson flatbed. Imgur has totally killed the grain/acutance of this print with its compression.

sTiCtuS.jpg

Far left and far right are with a Rollei 2.8F, left is Tri-X (or HP5), right is FP4+
Middle is from my Pentax 67 + 105/2.4
All on Ilford 16x12 Multigrade
 
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