How do you develop your paper prints

[tballphoto]

How many are using trays to do it versus how many are still using paper developing tube?

 

[Alan9940]

Been developing paper in trays for nearly 50 years. Developed sheet film this way, too, for about 30 years until I got a Jobo.

 

[MattKing]

I do both, although my tubes haven't been used for a while.
If you are going to use tubes, you will want several, or you will end up spending more time drying the tubes than printing.

 

[gijsbert]

I used only drums in the beginning, it works but it's a PITA. Now I got space for 3 8x10 trays and do 5x7 and 8x10 prints in them and then sometimes (not enough!) I do bigger prints in drums. I figure out how to print a negative in the trays, and then for a few select do a bigger print in drums. Admittedly, I haven't tried fibre based prints in the drums yet, but RC works great. Using drums isn't even that much more time consuming, especially with a drum roller, but I found it annoying and printed a lot less.

 

[tballphoto]

Ive been doing things very very slowly, killing off crappy and often useless paper. Really doing things the wrong way.

The thought of being able to do a dozen sheets of 5x7 at one go in the developing tube seems nice, but the effort to hunt down the components is really killing me at the moment. Youd THINK that it would not be hard to find the abs pipe these days.

 

[MattKing]

The thought of being able to do a dozen sheets of 5x7 at one go in the developing tube seems nice, but the effort to hunt down the components is really killing me at the moment. Youd THINK that it would not be hard to find the abs pipe these days.

I don't think you will find that people use tubes this way for prints.
It would only make sense if you were doing multiple prints of exactly the same negative.
On a couple of occasions I tried that for a postcard exchange - up to four identical 4"x6" prints in an 11"x14" tube, but is unwieldy and there is a risk that the prints will overlap.
When you use tubes the prints are essentially stuck to the inside wall of the tube, and the chemicals flow over their surface as the tube rotates.
The people who experiment with abs pipe are usually using that instead of very large trays - larger than 16" x 20" usually.

 

[logan2z]

I use a vertical slot processor. It takes up way less space than trays and I can leave the chemistry in it for a few months (replenishing occasionally), which greatly cuts down the startup time for a print session.

 

[Randy Stewart]

I use trays for B&W. When I did color prints in the past, I used rotary tubes, and if I ever go back to it,k I will again. My difference is that the color process gives practically no user control in development, so why not take the convenience and chemical efficiency of tube processing.l

 

[removed account4]

Ive been doing things very very slowly, killing off crappy and often useless paper. Really doing things the wrong way.

The thought of being able to do a dozen sheets of 5x7 at one go in the developing tube seems nice, but the effort to hunt down the components is really killing me at the moment. Youd THINK that it would not be hard to find the abs pipe these days.

if you have the ability to use trays use trays, 12 prints at once is not very hard once you learn the technique. the "trick" is to make 1 print first, expose and put it in the tray .. flip it about 5 times and always agitate the tray then interleave the 12 prints between your fingers (back to back ) exposing them and developing them the same exact way. make sure you have a large enough tray, make sure you flip and agitate the prints, and be careful of a corner scratching your emulsion.. people always skim on their chemistry ( don't have enough in the tray ) and don't agitate &c and end up in trouble. (even when making just 1 print )

 

[Paul Howell]

I use print drums when printing only a few prints, like less than 5 or 6, when spending the day in the darkroom, trays.

 

[Jim Jones]

I've used only trays for film and paper for many decades. For a few years where a traditional darkroom was impractical for printing, I did use a processor and paper incorporated with developer. It was good to go back to traditional trays and chemicals.

 

[Konical]

Good Morning,
I use rotary processing when I have a few contact sheets to do. When I have a few small prints to make and I know from experience with similar negatives the filter and exposure that will likely be appropriate, the drum is also very handy and takes a smaller volume of chemicals; by the way, has anyone noticed the much higher prices for common developers and fixers in the last few years?? For more serious printing, trays are the way to go.
Konical

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Trays.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Drums are a pain. I only used them for color work when I had a very small darkroom. Trays for B&W prints are much easier to deal with. If you don't have room, use a tray stacker. I made 16x20-inch prints in a four-foot-long sink for years with tray stackers.

Doremus

 

[Mick Fagan]

I quite often use trays for one or two prints, but when doing a decent printing session for the last 30 years I have been using my Durst Printo paper processor, initially for RA4 colour prints, but since stopping colour printing, I've used it exclusively for B&W prints. When I was in the postcard exchange, it was nothing to run off 50 prints as fast as I could expose the paper.

I have the intro unit, plus two energy Mot tanks that can heat the chemistry to whatever temperature I need. The prints fall out into a tray full of water, which I then transfer through a couple of large trays. I then dry my prints through a paper dryer.

https://www.photoinfos.com/Fotolabo...ungsmaschine/Durst-Printo/Durst-Printo-11.jpg

 

[Craig75]

I normally just use slot processor so neither trays or drums

 

[Bill Burk]

Drums are a pain. I only used them for color work when I had a very small darkroom. Trays for B&W prints are much easier to deal with. If you don't have room, use a tray stacker. I made 16x20-inch prints in a four-foot-long sink for years with tray stackers.

Doremus

Good idea!

 

[Michael Firstlight]

It depends. For color prints up to 11x14 inch a Fujimoto CP32 processor. For color 16x20 and 20x24 a CPP2. Trays for B&W for everything up to 20x24 I can go larger; I built my own trays for larger prints out of washer machine drain pans and added drains with ball valves to each tray.

Mike

 

[RalphLambrecht]

How many are using trays to do it versus how many are still using paper developing tube?

I prefer tray development. There's nothing like seeing the print coming up.

 

[JensH]

+1

Only trays, no matter if just 13x18cm or 50x60cm...

 

[GKC]

Trays for prints. For me, watching the image appear under a safelight is a big part of the attraction

 

[logan2z]

Trays for prints. For me, watching the image appear under a safelight is a big part of the attraction

I taught myself to print in a community darkroom and the safe lights weren't always that safe. So I got into the habit of putting my prints in the trays face down and never really got used to watching the image form in the developer. So when I moved to a slot processor I didn't feel like I was missing out on part of the experience

 

[faberryman]

I use trays for black and white. When I did color, I used a drum.

 

[winger]

Trays only for me. If I need to do multiples of a negative, I can usually do at least a few together if I use a big enough tray. With postcards, I think I did 4 at a time in an 8x10 tray once I'd done a single or two to make sure I had my exposure time right. The biggest pain with that was making sure I didn't double expose any prints and kept the paper safe from the light exposing the others.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I do both, although my tubes haven't been used for a while.
If you are going to use tubes, you will want several, or you will end up spending more time drying the tubes than printing.

That is what I am afraid of. I need to buy more tubes.