I have just started printing in a dark room. Using Kodak Dektol, I develop the print and once the image has come through, put it in the Stop, taking +/- 10 seconds to develop. Is this sufficient or should I be developing longer?

-- Tricia Bassett (tmb1022@juno.com), April 27, 2001

Answers

Leave prints in Dektol a minute or two, with continuous gentle agitation. Drain them about 15 seconds, and then into the stop bath for 30 seconds. Drain another 15 seconds, and into the fix. Rosin-coated paper needs to fix about 3 minutes, fiber paper longer, according to the manufacturer's instructions. Standardize your developing time at a minute or 90 seconds so you can get consistent and repeatable results. I use one minute for Dektol. Ten seconds is way too brief a time, even for rosin-coated paper. The emulsion needs more time to fully absorb the developer and produce its full tonal range.

-- Keith Nichols (knichols@iopener.net), April 27, 2001.

Trica, there should be/have been instructions with the enlarging paper. Usually they are on a piece of paper in the box.

I recommend you develop RC paper for 1 minute, then stop and fix. The amount of fixing time depends on the paper fixer. For example, I fix my Ilford paper for only 30 seconds, as per their recommendations.

Fiber paper should probably be in the developer from 3 to 5 minutes, then stooped and fixed.

The thing is, RC is fully developed after 1 minute and then just gets darker all over. With fiber, the print develops up to about 5 minutes or so. Thus you have more control over the appearance of the print with fiber than with RC.

chris

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), April 27, 2001.

.....time depends on the paper fixer.

This should have read:

...time depends on the paper and fixer.

chris

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), April 27, 2001.

This is a question for the "Printing and Finishing" forum! Wooaaaah!!! (Not mad, just kidding! :-))

-- Patric (jenspatric@mail.bip.net), April 27, 2001.