Print Developing Tools (dry side)

All photos and text © 2002 - 2004 Glenn E. Stewart. All rights reserved.

This page last modified 18 Aug., 2004

from: Stumbling around in the Dark(room)

by Glenn Stewart

Having covered film developing tools last month, this month's column will be dedicated to the tools required for processing prints. A well laid out darkroom has a “dry” side and a “wet” side. This column will address the “dry” side.

Prints can be created by two basic methods:

1)    Contact printing, in which the negative is laid directly on the print paper. As with projection printing, light passes through the negative to expose the print paper, but since the negative is in direct contact with the print paper, there is no means for controlling the print size. This method is useful for printing large negatives (medium format and larger) and for creating "proof sheets", where a roll of film is cut into strips and laid on a large sheet of print paper and the entire roll is exposed onto the paper at one time. This allows the photographer to have a miniature positive image of each frame on the roll so the desired image(s) can be found quickly within the many images that make up the roll.

2)    Projection printing, which allows making prints of any size. They can be larger than the negative, the same size, or even smaller, given the proper lens and bellows setup in the enlarger. Light passes through the negative, then through a lens and the image is projected onto the print paper.

Contact printing is the most simple method of creating prints, but has the drawbacks that the photographer can't control print size and has limited control of cropping. Due to the small size of most contact prints, dodging and burning (these are a couple of advanced printing techniques) are difficult or impossible. Controlling exposure is also difficult, unless you're using an enlarger for a light source, and if you are, contact printing loses its main advantages of simple equipment and low cost. A darkroom timer is useful for helping to control exposure time, but is not a necessity.

Contact printing requires the same processing tools on the wet side of the darkroom as projection printing, but requires far less equipment on the dry side. All that's required is a white light source and a means for holding the negative flat against the print paper during exposure. Contact printing frames can be bought or made at home. They are quite simple and inexpensive to construct. The commercial variety run from ~$20 to ~$65, depending on size and features, whether it is made for making proof sheets or single prints from large negatives. A homemade contact printing frame can be as simple as a piece of window glass having the edges covered with tape for safety. Simply lay the print paper on the table, place the negatives on top of it, then use the glass as a cover to keep the negs flat against the paper.

My contact printing frame (left) is a bit more elaborate. I made the base from wood, painted it a color that won't reflect light of a damaging color back through the paper, and attached the glass using a couple of inexpensive hinges and some epoxy. It's about 20 years old, has never needed repairs and still works just fine.

There are proofing frames that have negative strip holders. These make it easy to create professional-looking proof sheets. If you’re a cheapskate, as I have been known to be from time to time (that's how I know some of this stuff), you can make acceptable proof sheets by placing the negatives in the clear plastic storage sheets, laying the storage sheet on the paper and covering it with the glass. As far as I'm concerned, neatness doesn't count a lot when making proof sheets. As long as you can identify the negative you want from the roll by looking at the proof sheet, it's an acceptable proof.

Projection printing requires a number of additional pieces of equipment, and these range from inexpensive to quite expensive. The main piece of equipment is the enlarger. It can be bought used for a couple of hundred dollars. The price goes up depending on whether the enlarger is equipped with filters for working with variable contrast B&W print papers or color papers, and whether the previous owner sells the enlarging lens(es) and negative carrier(s) with it.

If you decide to buy new, do so with the understanding that you will never be able to sell the enlarger for the same value you paid for it. You may eventually (20 years) get the same dollar amount for it, but never the same value. Enlargers simply don't have good resale value, so buy with the understanding that the dollar value lost in resale is the value you got from using the tool while you owned it. Personally, I've bought new twice and have not regretted it. By buying new I'm assured that I have all the required parts and that the enlarger is in perfect condition and will work as expected.

Shown at the left is my current enlarger. It is an Omega C760 Dichroic. It will handle all film sizes 6X7cm and smaller. Since I don't expect to ever work with anything larger than medium format, it will serve me for many years. The "Dichroic" in the name means that it is equipped with built-in filters that allow me to control the color of the enlarger light for use with both variable contrast B&W paper and color paper. Usage of this filtration will be discussed in detail in a later column. Suffice it to say that this enlarger meets all my needs. The column is tall enough to allow me to make 16X20 prints from my negatives, even if I have to crop a bit. It's easy to adjust the print size and focus and the machine is well-built. It's biggest drawback, though I consider it minor, is that the light source lamp is expensive. This is the one piece of darkroom equipment that MUST be kept as a spare. There is a law somewhere that says that enlarger lamps only burn out on Saturday afternoon during a heavy darkroom session, five minutes before the photo store closes, that the photo store is located ten minutes from your house, and that all photo stores are closed on Sunday (except in NY city, where the lamps burn out on Friday because the stores are closed on Saturday). Remember, it's the Law, so keep a spare enlarger lamp in the darkroom and replace your spare lamp immediately so you’ll have one the next time you need it.   For use with the enlarger, you'll also need three additional items:  1)     Negative carriers for the negative size you'll be working with.  2)     Enlarging lenses, one for each negative size.  3)    An easel for each print size, or a good adjustable one that works with several different paper sizes.

A negative carrier is a metal frame that holds the negative within the enlarger. It has a central opening that allows light to pass through the negative while supporting the negative around the edges. The ones shown at the left are used for, from the left, 6X7cm, 35mm, and mounted 35mm slide. Negative carriers are matched to the enlarger and film size. There are two basic types, glass and glassless. Each type has advantages and disadvantages. Glass carriers are the best for keeping the negative flat. These are a must with large format negatives (4X5 and above) because these large pieces of film will sag in the center if used in a glassless carrier that only supports them around the edges. A sagging negative cannot be properly focused, resulting in unsharp prints. Glass carriers sandwich the negative between two pieces of glass, which are in turn supported by the metal frame. The glass supports the negative across its entire width and length and promotes excellent focus, but has the drawback that it must be kept perfectly clean. No dust, no fingerprints, no smears. All these imperfections WILL appear in the print. The negative already has two sides that collect dust and must be cleaned before printing. The glass negative carrier introduces an additional four glass surfaces (two on the top piece of glass, two on the bottom glass) that must be cleaned. In addition, there is another effect that occurs when the negative is pressed between two pieces of glass. If the surfaces are not exactly parallel, Moiré shadow patterns will be created and projected onto the print paper, resulting in a striping effect in the print.

Glassless carriers are quite adequate for the smaller film sizes. The film does not sag to any appreciable extent, so the glass is not necessary. The largest of the medium format negative sizes (6x7, 6x8 or 6x9cm) can sag or can bow upward during long exposures when they become heated by the enlarger lamp, but this is not usually a problem. Sag and bow are especially troublesome in condenser-type enlargers. De to their design, condenser enlargers impart more of the heat generated by the enlarger lamp to the negative. Diffusion enlargers typically have a greater physical separation between the lamp and the negative, so heating isn't as large a factor. I'll discuss the differences between enlarger types in greater detail in a later column. Anyway, glassless carriers work well for 35mm film and don't contribute additional surfaces that require cleaning. They are also less expensive than glass carriers.

Enlarging lenses are probably the most important piece of equipment required for making quality enlargements. Expect to pay as much for a good one as you would pay for a quality lens made by the manufacturer of your camera. In this case, you really do get what you pay for. A cheap lens will produce average prints. It will almost never produce a great print. A good lens, on the other hand, will always produce good prints, and when the photographer does everything right, will produce GREAT prints. The lenses at the left are, 75mm EL-Nikor enlarging lens for 6X6cm negatives, a 50mm F1.4 Nikon camera lens for size comparison, and a 50mm EL-Nikor enlarging lens for 35mm negatives. Generally speaking, the enlarging lens will have the same focal length as the “normal” lens for the camera that shot the film that’s being enlarged.

 I'll do a little name dropping here because I think it's worthwhile. The best place I know of to buy new stuff of any kind related to photography is B&H Photo-Video in NYC. The URL is: http://www01.bhphotovideo.com . For film photography, select "Photo" from the column on the left side of the home page. On the phone, these guys are guilty of typical New Yorker brashness, but are very helpful if you keep cool and ask nicely for help. They are the most reputable photo retailer in NY and almost always have the best prices, as well as having a fabulous selection of products. Now for the name dropping related to the enlarging lenses. The "Big Three" names in enlarging lenses are Nikon, Rodenstock and Schneider. You can hardly go wrong with any of them. The higher end models in each line are superb quality.

As shown at the left, the EL-Nikor lenses come with protective cases to keep out dust and to protect the lenses from physical damage. Other brands may have similar cases, but I haven’t seen them, so I can’t give a first hand report.

You will also need a lens board to fit your enlarger. This device is used to mount the lens into the enlarger. I recommend that you have one for each lens. It is worth the cost for the convenience of being able to change lenses easily when you change from one film size to another.

Printing easels are a requirement. Their purpose is to hold the paper flat during exposure. There are several types: Border, borderless, adjustable and non-adjustable. I do not know of any non-adjustable borderless easels, but it would not be difficult to make one. There are non-adjustable easels that create a border around the print, and adjustable easels that are of the border or borderless types. The only adjustable types that both create a border and are also high in quality are likewise high in price. There are inexpensive ones, but they typically are incapable of keeping the adjacent borders perpendicular to each other. There are few things in life that look worse than a print with crooked borders, so I'd suggest you stay away from them.

The fixed-size, or non-adjustable, border type and the adjustable borderless easels are among the easiest to use and are durable. They are generally moderate in price, associated with size.

Borderless easels come in several styles. First, and the last one I'd use, is the variety that has a glass cover. There are two reasons not to use one. First, they have two glass surfaces that must be kept perfectly clean, and second, the glass itself distorts the image being projected from the enlarger. Imagine me sitting here with my arms outstretched and my index fingers crossed in front of the screen as if I was warding off a vampire.

Second of the borderless types is the kind that has two parallel adjustable rails. These can be set for the width of the paper being used and work quite well, especially with resin coated papers. The hard part is getting the rails parallel when adjusting the easel for different paper sizes. If you're going to buy one, be sure to get the largest size you expect to use. You really only need one, and you might as well only spend money once. Generally, these are good easels.

Lastly is the vacuum type of easel. These are pretty easy to make. They consist of a plate (wood or Plexiglas work well) with a lot of small holes drilled through it. Below the plate is a chamber to which is attached a vacuum pump. An old vacuum cleaner can be used for this. In use, the paper is placed on the plate and the vacuum pump is turned on. The vacuum draws the paper down tightly against the plate and keeps it very flat. As long as the plate is just a bit larger than the largest print size you intend to make, it will accommodate any paper size you want to use without requiring any adjustment. A manufactured vacuum easel costs ~$450. You can make a first-class one for under $50. A brand new ShopVac can be had for $30 from Wal-Mart and the remainder of the materials can be bought for less than $20 at Home Depot. The biggest drawback to the vacuum easel is that it is large and heavy and has a vacuum hose attached to it.

Whew! That's a lot of stuff for the dry side, and probably enough for this month. I had intended to cover all the print hardware in one article, but there just isn't enough space. Next month I'll cover the wet side equipment required for print processing.

Remember, questions will be answered if you'll send them to me.

Best regards,

Stew

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