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8 x 10 Prints

Mars

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Messages
45
Location
Eastbay Area
Format
35mm
Hi! I am new to photography. I want to make 8x10 prints. Do I just crank up the enlarger to make these large prints? Thank you!
 
Hi Mars,

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking. But if you have some developed film, and an enlarger with the right film holder ( "negative carrier" ) and lens, then you can make prints of various sizes. Any size from small like 4x6 inches up to large like 11x14 inches.

Maybe try to write a little more specific question if this doesn't help

This thread is a great place to start learning. The Ilford documents are particularly "friendly" and useful for getting started.

Have fun.
 
Yeah, your question is a bit short on info.
Are you now making prints that are smaller than 8x10.?
But you have it correct. The higher you raise the enlarger head, the bigger the image will get.
What size negative are you dealing with, and what Brand/Model enlarger are you using.?
 
Sadly, with the new Ilford website, it seems that some or all of those Ilford documents have at least been moved, if not removed.
The Ilford links don't work any more.
There are new Ilford links for beginners, but they seem quite different.
 
MattKing said:
Sadly, with the new Ilford website, it seems that some or all of those Ilford documents have at least been moved, if not removed.
The Ilford links don't work any more.
There are new Ilford links for beginners, but they seem quite different.
Click to expand...

Oh, that's not good news. Lots of useful tidbits in those documents.
I'm sure I've got copies of most of them, at least the ones about making prints and developing film.

Not sure which laptop they are on, so it will take some digging for me to find them, but I'll post them here in this thread.
I'm going away for the weekend and won't be back until the middle of next week, but keep an eye on this thread and they should be here by the end of next week.

Mars, I'll shoot you a PM when they are here. ( And don't hesitate to send me a reminder if I forget! )
 
Mars said:
Do I just crank up the enlarger to make these large prints? Thank you!
Click to expand...

Crank head up.
Refocus
Determine new exposure time*
Make print

* formulas exist to get you in the ball park
 
Nige said:
...

* formulas exist to get you in the ball park
Click to expand...
The exposure basically goes up in proportion to the square of the enlargement, e.g., if you have a 6 second exposure for a 4x5" print, it will be 6x6 = 36 second for an 8x10" print.
 
MattKing said:
Sadly, with the new Ilford website, it seems that some or all of those Ilford documents have at least been moved, if not removed.
The Ilford links don't work any more.
There are new Ilford links for beginners, but they seem quite different.
Click to expand...

Ilford had posted on another thread that they are in process of redoing their site. They are reviewing the documentation and intend to relink it.
 
The Kodak Darkroom Guides have a very handy calculator sort of a circular slide rule. They allow the easy calculation of a new exposure time. Everyone who does darkroom work should have one. Check Amazon for used copies.
 
It sounds like the OP has maybe just been printing smaller prints and the enlarger head is locked down to suit that size. Maybe they don't realise that you just need to release the lock on the head, raise the head, refocus, compose, then lock the head to the new higher height. Stating what is obvious to most of us but nobody else has said it so I'm saying it. Good luck with the larger prints, OP. You will love them.
 

Absolutely. I still make the most idiotic errors. Last night, whilst tired I printed out an 8"x10" from 6x4.5. I thought that the very old camera had nasty lens flare on one side of the picture. This was not the case. I was using the wrong focal length lens. D'oh!
 
I made a series of prints a few years ago, and each one was brighter along one side. I thought the camera was developing a light leak.
The red filter on my enlarger somehow got bumped and had been pushed in so that it's edge was just barely interfering.

Another time, my prints were all slightly light along one side. I spent a bunch of time re-positioning my under-the-lens filter holder... I thought it was catching the edge. What was really happening was that the enlarger light was bouncing off the wall and the edge of the easel was casting a shadow: all my prints were getting flashed as I printed . A piece of black matboard taped to the wall, and carefully sealing the enlarger negative stage helped that one.

I'm probably still making some errors I don't even know about!
 
Spoke too soon about the Ilford pdfs. They aren't on any of my laptops... must have been on one that I wiped and installed a different OS.
They will be in my backups, but it will be a while before I have time to dig through and find them... but I'll still try to do it when I find some more time.
 
Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of info. 35mm film, 23ciii enlarger, I was previously making 5 x 7 prints.
 
No problem, no need to go digging. I appreciate it though.
 
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