Blemishes On Prints

jaydebruyne said:

Do you have a link to this? I'd like to look into it. And it's as good as any branded stop solution?

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Stop bath is pretty flexible.

You can even use diluted white vinegar - it just usually ends up being more expensive than concentrated stop bath.

And vinegar and citric acid don't have any "indicator" in them to give you an indication that the stop bath is getting tired.

You can tell your citric acid/diluted vinegar/stop bath is near exhaustion when the prints feel slippery.

I put the prints in the developer face down and gently push them under with my gloved fingers. I use tongs for test strips and prints I know won't be final. Much less likely to damage prints by hands. I use nitrile gloves and wash them after each print, like I was washing my hands. Then dry them before taking them off. That last for many printing sessions, so there's little cost.

Some developers keep better than others. I've been reusing and replenishing the same batch of Ansco 130 for over a year now. It still develops quickly with excellent DMax. I use water for a stop bath and a neutral fixer. All of this is odorless and causes no discomfort in the darkroom. I don't usually run the fan with this chemistry. I would if I was using an acetic acid stop bath, or an acid based fixer. I'm sure someone will say I should use the fan anyway, but I'm not convinced.

I wouldn't run a table type fan while printing. It's a sure way to add more dust to the paper than it looks like you already have. It also helps to keep the cats and dogs out of the room and vacuum frequently (ideally with the exhaust of the vacuum outside the darkroom).

jaydebruyne said:

Anyway, I digress. So at times I notice white dots or hair like marks on my prints, and then they disappear on the next print of the same negative.

Ruling out the negative as the blemish is sporadic, is this debris on the paper or???

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I'd say it's on the paper, as several others have noted.

If you wanted to do a conclusive test, and don't mind wasting a sheet of paper, you could dial the enlarging lens out-of-focus, then make a print. If you still get the white specks, you know that they can't possibly be dust on the negative ('cuz it would be too far out-of-focus).

I don't know your printing conditions, but if there is any open woodwork or the like above your enlarger, you might try taping a sheet of plastic dropcloth to the ceiling over the enlarger. This would stop debris from falling straight down.

paul_c5x4 said:

No links, although the use of citric acid as a stop has been discussed on APUG quite a few times.
Is it as good as a branded solution - Somewhat subjective. Plain citric acid stop bath lacks the indicator dye used by the likes of Kodak, and it also lacks any buffering agents. On the plus side, it is dirt cheap, especially if you buy citric acid in bulk.

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Is buffering agent a must have?

So, I can buy any citric acid say from freeBay, tea spoon (heaped? Level? Does it matter?) of the powder in 1ltr of water?

I can get 1kg for £5 which would last me ages, rather than ilfostop which at 50ml a session would last me 10 sessions in the darkroom and double the cost.

Bill Burk said:

jaydebruyne,

If you didn't blow the dust off neg between prints, then the specks or hair were probably on the paper when you had the enlarger light on. Doesn't matter in the developer after that, you can scatter all the dust you want at that point. Sometimes there are specks caused by stop bath being so strong they cause effervescence but doesn't sound like that to me in your case.

I for one, would rather have a white speck to spot on the print... than a black spot (caused by dust on the film before the light hits it in the camera). That's harder to retouch.

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I'm convinced it's on the paper so. I'm also convinced it's coming from my home made light tight bag!! After I've finished my box of paper I'll use the bag from that instead as it's cleaner.

Retouching. Whoa! I'm just getting used to dodging/burning and exposing haha I'll give that a try at a later date!

I really want to share some of my prints but my scanner is so crap it renders the prints awfully. And you never get a good reproduction with a photo

MattKing said:

Stop bath is pretty flexible.

You can even use diluted white vinegar - it just usually ends up being more expensive than concentrated stop bath.

And vinegar and citric acid don't have any "indicator" in them to give you an indication that the stop bath is getting tired.

You can tell your citric acid/diluted vinegar/stop bath is near exhaustion when the prints feel slippery.

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I'm def going to go the citric acid route and I'll probably discard after every session as it's so cheap. I generally never print more than say 15 5x7 prints in a session (due to burning dodging errors) so I'm assuming one batch of citric will handle this?

jaydebruyne said:

Is buffering agent a must have?

So, I can buy any citric acid say from freeBay, tea spoon (heaped? Level? Does it matter?) of the powder in 1ltr of water?

I can get 1kg for £5 which would last me ages,

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A buffering agent is not a "must have" - It is only a stop bath...

A heaped teaspoon is sufficient, not that it really matters that much.

I purchased a tub from Bonneymans (along with a bunch of other stuff) - Doesn't really matter if it comes from an ebay seller or a major chemical supplier.

The main point of the exercise is to have fun without spending more than you really need to.

paul_c5x4 said:

The main point of the exercise is to have fun without spending more than you really need to.

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Absolutely!! Cheers for the info

Clean Air

Of all the things I've read on this thread, the one that catches my eye the most is 18 hours in a darkroom with less-than-optimal ventilation. At the very least,open the door and let some fresh air come into the room very 1/2 hour or so. If you can place a fan by the door that brings in fresh air from the other rooms while the door is open, even better.

I use stop bath until it can "give" no more …. I use it and re-use and re-use it and re-use it. And, when I'm running low, I mix 1/2 the recommend concentration and keep using and re-using. And, when I'm totally out, I simply use fresh water (several changes). As for developer, if I'm developing just a few prints (less than 10), I put the used/old developer in a bottle and re-use it and re-use it. I only use fresh developer when I know I am close to the final print (the last iteration or two). No need to waste fresh developer when you're still figuring out your dodging/burning scheme, I don't think.

I have tried both ways: emulsion up and emulsion down. Never had an issue with emulsion up, so I place my paper emulsion up on the developer - never a problem.

Hope this helps.

JackRosa said:

Of all the things I've read on this thread, the one that catches my eye the most is 18 hours in a darkroom with less-than-optimal ventilation. At the very least,open the door and let some fresh air come into the room very 1/2 hour or so. If you can place a fan by the door that brings in fresh air from the other rooms while the door is open, even better.

I use stop bath until it can "give" no more …. I use it and re-use and re-use it and re-use it. And, when I'm running low, I mix 1/2 the recommend concentration and keep using and re-using. And, when I'm totally out, I simply use fresh water (several changes). As for developer, if I'm developing just a few prints (less than 10), I put the used/old developer in a bottle and re-use it and re-use it. I only use fresh developer when I know I am close to the final print (the last iteration or two). No need to waste fresh developer when you're still figuring out your dodging/burning scheme, I don't think.

I have tried both ways: emulsion up and emulsion down. Never had an issue with emulsion up, so I place my paper emulsion up on the developer - never a problem.

Hope this helps.

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I left the darkroom every hour or so.. I'm still alive

Interesting that you max out your chems. Think I will do just that while I'm getting used to burning/dodging.

Thanks Jack

Oh yes, i used to stretch my developer until if would die. That meant 3-4 reuses and up to 2 weeks wthout problems.

jaydebruyne said:

I left the darkroom every hour or so.. I'm still alive

Interesting that you max out your chems. Think I will do just that while I'm getting used to burning/dodging.

Thanks Jack

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Jay: one other idea that could prove beneficial to you: When you think your developer has had it, don't throw it our but keep it in a bottle labeled "OLD" or "FIRST" and use this old/almost exhausted liquid to be the first thing your paper sees. After 1/2 minute or so, transfer the sheet to fresh developer (or use method described below).

Same with the fixer - use the 2-bath fixing method: the print first goes into a tray with old/quasi-exhausted fixer, then you transfer the print to the fresh fixer. Your chemicals will last you much, much longer. It adds to the process (and potentially the time), but if money is not unlimited for you, you will greatly benefit from the savings. I'd rather use the $$ to buy new toys that on chemicals, especially when these chemicals are used on test prints that are going to be discarded anyway.

Rather than adding trays, I simply empty the old developer (into a jug) and pour the fresh developed in the tray. I do the same with the 2-batch fixing ~ rather than using 2 trays, I empty the old fixer into a jug and pour fresh fixed into the same tray. Two additional jugs is more space efficient than 2 additional trays.

No need for fancy jugs/container either. For the old developer and fixer, any container you were going to discard would do (milk, large soda containers, etc.) Who cares how airtight they are anyway?

If you are using TF-4 fixer (my favorite!), no need to use an acid stop bath between developer and fixer; just plain water - this applies especially to those "test" prints while you are figuring out your dodge/burn sequence and times. Once you feel you are very close to the final print, you may want to use the acid stop bath. When I do use a stop bath, I always use a weaker concentration than the one specified in the acid bath's instructions. IMO, too little acid is better than too much acid.

Hope this helps