Thanks Murray! I hope to get an enlarger soon so I can start printing as well. I appreciate your comment, as I'm very new to all this and am working off what I glean from this site, the guys at the photo store I frequent and the good ol' 'Developing your first roll of film' PDF file from the Ilford website.
I agree with Murray, you nailed right but...Neg scans are not the same as prints. I have some very thick negs that give excellent scans, so if I were you, I would also make a proper contact sheet, and of course try to enlarge it to see whether you've overdevelopped or not. Nevertheless, Good continuation!
I see your point. I will do exactly as you suggest, once my contact sheet holder and paper processing equipment comes home from the store (hopefully in the next couple weeks). I have heard that different films scan differently, and have noticed that whenever I scan my films (esp slides) they end up quite a bit darker than the original- I always have to adjust levels to make the scan look like the original.
Michel's got a good point. I've never used a scanner for negatives and one computer monitor will display things completely differently from another. Have you been in a darkroom before, and know how to make contact prints?
No, I haven't been in the darkroom before, but have been told how to make a contact sheet. My equipment is on order and when it comes in hopefully I will get more guidance. So far it has just been "trial and error on exposure time until the edges are as black as they can get without darkening the white and you should just see a hint of the guide holes on the film". I think I'll buy a book.... and take a course when I can find one offered locally.