Is there a good "ultimate guide" to analog printing color negs?

[ChrisBCS]

Realizing I know very little about it as I've spent my time devouring everything I can re: monochrome. ...and I'm about to head to Rarotonga to do a bunch of color shooting.

 

[Wayne]

Realizing I know very little about it as I've spent my time devouring everything I can re: monochrome. ...and I'm about to head to Rarotonga to do a bunch of color shooting.

There are many books on the subject, but I've never read any of them so I can't recommend one. You don't really need an "ultimate" anything to get started though, you just need a bare bones outline. If you google "how to print color negatives" you'll probably find dozens including some posts here.

 

[btaylor]

If you are looking to print your c41 negs to RA4 paper you will find a number of useful threads here. Maybe pick up an old Kodak color darkroom data guide, other than no color reversal printing, nothing has changed. There are fewer variables in RA4 printing, the only new skill to learn is how to color correct, and in my opinion that comes from practice and a set of viewing filters. I think processing in drums is a good way to start, I know there are a number of people here that use open trays, but I can't stand the smell of the chemistry and I process at recommended temperature. Good luck, I find it very enjoyable.

 

[wiltw]

you might try to find a old Kodak book used...
Basic Developing, Printing, Enlarging in Color

 

[RPC]

Older books may discuss the older EP-2 process, the current process is RA-4.

Also, books will tell you to process with the normally used developers at a high temperature, typically 95-100F. You can do this, but by using Kodak Ektacolor RA Developer/Replenisher RT, you can develop down to 68F at a slightly longer time, with excellent results. This makes it as easy to process as b&w. Either drums or trays can be used, but trays are much easier. Fuji markets cut-sheet paper.

Knowing how to color balance the print is necessary, but will become easier with a little experience. A basic knowledge of color theory is required, but books and the internet will help you there. You will need an enlarger with the ability to alter the color of the light source. Such enlargers are not hard to find online.

I find printing from color negatives as easy as, and more fun and rewarding than, b&w.

I doubt if you can find one source that tells it all, however.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Nope. The old Kodak color printing handbooks have many useful clues; but films and papers have changed. If you have a decent colorhead and a processing drum it is fairly easy, at least to get to first base. You could get plenty of answers right here. Precise temp control, fresh chemistry, and good ventilation are important.

 

[brent8927]

I believe I learned everything about color printing from the internet (APUG was quite helpful!). I printed both Ilfochrome and RA-4. I stopped after about a year--I felt the chemicals were a bit too toxic, and developing color negatives is very difficult without proper equipment (printing was easy with drums), so I never developed my own color neg/slide film. I like how with B&W I do everything from start to finish, and the chemicals (most developers/fixers) are quite a bit easier on the body. We actually use fixer (sodium thiosulfate) in medicine--it helps with preventing athletes foot, has some uses in hemodialysis, and treats cyanide poisoning... And of course you can just use vinegar instead of stop bath--the acetic acid is the important part. However, I never use stop bath...

I felt color was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and was a lot of fun. Lots of trial and error when learning color correction, but I'm really glad I did it. On the rare occasion I shoot color now, I send it out for development and scan the negatives, but the prints I get now just don't look as good when I printed them in the darkroom. And obviously nothing compares to the beauty of those Ilfochrome prints...

 

[wiltw]

you might try to find a old Kodak book used...
Basic Developing, Printing, Enlarging in Color

Older books may discuss the older EP-2 process, the current process is RA-4.

The Kodak book I mentioned, in 1992 edition, has E-6 chemistry for color slides, The same book has Kodak RA chemistry for color neg printing the same things as used today.
Only the chemistry for processing color neg film is different (Kodak Hobby-Pac instead of C-41).
Most importantly the general procedure for processing and the equipment needed to do processing remains the same in chemistry today, even if time and temperature might be different today.

 

[RPC]

The Kodak Hobby-Pac used the C-41 process.

 

[wiltw]

So my 1992 book suggestion gives information pertinent to TODAY"S chemistry!
Darkroom techniques are generally 'timeless' in concept, while time/temperature is documented in the included instructions with today's chemistry.

 

[Mr Bill]

Hi, the best one I know of is by a guy who goes by Ctein, it's available for free download on his website.

http://ctein.com/booksmpl.htm

I'd also suggest to look through the Kodak Z manual for the RA4 process. And if you can find wiltw's book, I'm sure it's a good one.

Two particular things I would suggest 1) make sure the FILM is properly processed, and 2) when you evaluate your prints for color correction, make sure your viewing light has a fairly complete spectrum. Else you may end up redoing them once you see them in daylight.

A quick note on correcting - it's easy to get your eye "corrupted" if you stay focused on bad prints for too long ; eventually you may think, "that's not so bad," and eventually, "you know, this looks pretty good... why did I ever think it looked bad to start with?" You combat this with periodic looks back at the real world and/or having good reference prints lying around to help reset your eye.

One more note (or rule) - when you get confused about which way to correct, I suggest the rule, "always do the wrong thing." I read this when I was new to lab work (prior to RA4) and it's pretty near infallible. For example, if your print is too red, the wrong thing seems to be to add even more red to the light source, but that's what you need to do (except that you won't use an actual red filter - you'll add a combination of yellow and magenta). It kept me from going the wrong way a lot of times.

Best of luck in your endeavors.

 

[wiltw]

Hi, the best one I know of is by a guy who goes by Ctein, it's available for free download on his website.

http://ctein.com/booksmpl.htm

Ctein's listed book is indeed at an 'advanced' level and is certainly well aimed to someone already well experienced in enlarging who wants to optimize/fine tune the process and equipment selection. After all, the title tells you
"
POST EXPOSURE - Advanced Techniques for the Photographic Printer"
It has been on the shelf in my library for about 15 years.
But it is not a good book to consult simply to get started with color printing...there is NOTHING about getting color pack correct, which is one of the tasks which challenge novices, nor anything about how to assess color balance with wet prints, the most basic of tasks.

 

[Mr Bill]

Ctein's listed book is indeed at an 'advanced' level...

Hi, I don't argue against that, but I've long since lost my ability to understand what a novice finds readable. At any rate, the OP asked for an "ultimate guide," and I don't know of any single publication that is more "ultimate." Anyway, given the ease of obtaining it, I think it's well worth the d/l for anyone who intends to become serious. Then they can decide if it's useful to them or not.

 

[RPC]

So my 1992 book suggestion gives information pertinent to TODAY"S chemistry!
Darkroom techniques are generally 'timeless' in concept, while time/temperature is documented in the included instructions with today's chemistry.

Yes, your book appears to be generally up to date. However, the RA-4 process was available to home users around 1990 (not sure of the exact year), so any books older than that (and there are plenty out there) would refer to the old EP-2 process and paper, and could cause confusion to a beginner who is not aware of the "timeless" idea you mention. That is why I would only recommend books with the process they want to use. Anything else would certainly not be an "ultimate guide".

About Ctein's book, it discusses room temperature development, but the chemistry discussed is no longer available and was inferior to the RA-RT developer I mentioned earlier. Otherwise, it's a useful book.

 

[wiltw]

. At any rate, the OP asked for an "ultimate guide," and I don't know of any single publication that is more "ultimate." Anyway, given the ease of obtaining it, I think it's well worth the d/l for anyone who intends to become serious. Then they can decide if it's useful to them or not.

With a price tag of $49 thru Amazon, and up to $90 (shipped price) from other sources, the fact that Ctein made it available thru his website as a PDF is a remarkable cheap way to obtain a book filled with valuable insights.

About Ctein's book, it discusses room temperature development, but the chemistry discussed is no longer available and was inferior to the RA-RT developer I mentioned earlier.

Are you referring to Room Temperature R-3000 process for reversal prints? Well, add Cibachrome to the same class of product, mentioned by Ctein. As a matter of fact, he even mentions dye transfer and he was in sole possession of the last of that material made by Kodak and finally stopped printing that.
But with under 4 pages in the book even covering processing chemistry, the book is not of much use to someone trying to print color for the first time!

 

[btaylor]

My Kodak Color Darkroom Dataguide is from the mid '80s when I was doing Kodak Type R and RA4 printing-- it's still useful and valid for the RA4 information, and if the OP is looking for solid useful information it's a good place to start. I think it even included some viewing filters.

On another note, my best friend for color correction is an 18% gray card. Shoot one in the same light as your subject. Then process your print to match the actual card you shot. Basic color correction solved.

I like Mr. Bill's "always do the wrong thing" concept-- makes it pretty easy. I still have to refer to a color wheel all the time.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'd drop the "Ultimate"part of the question and just try to get to first base first, then if necessary correct your technique before proceeding further. Take something like a MacBeath Color Checker Chart and make a master reference negative on your preferred film, correctly exposed and correctly balanced for illumination color temperature. Know how to keep your chem bottles at consistent temp in a water jacket. Get fresh chem and paper. I strongly recommend either Kodak RA/RT chem or an identical generic replacement. I use various Fuji Crystal Archive papers. One step at a time. After learning basic technique, you can go as far as you wish, including advanced masking techniques.

 

[RPC]

@wiltw, Ctein mentions Tetenal Mono RA-4 AT, for RA-4 paper at 60F-77F, but it is no longer available.

@btaylor, I did color printing throughout the 80s and did not see RA-4 anywhere for sale to the home user or in the photo literature, but only EP-2. Are you sure you were doing RA-4 in the mid 80s? Anybody else here doing it in the 80s?

 

[Gerald C Koch]

The Kodak Color Darkroom Guide is very helpful with tables, calculators and viewing filters.

https://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Color-Darkroom-Dataguide-Publication/dp/0879856114

 

[Mick Fagan]

Cut sheet paper for the RA4 process was started in late 1988 at the Melbourne Kodak manufacturing plant, I know as we received some for trial. Previously, as far as I know, it was only available in roll form.

We changed our 50" wide EP2 processor over to RA4 during the winter of 1999 (June in Australia) to the largest you could get. It was custom built and took the widest RA4 paper available in the world, which was 72" wide. In fact we ran both systems as paper supply in the new process was a bit iffy. Eventually though we ditched the EP2 process and converted the EP2 processor to take Kodak R3 process, which was a reversal process. Making positive pictures from slide film.

I think Kodak Australasia started manufacture of RA4 paper in-house around 1990, maybe earlier. I personally know one of the paper guillotine operators from that period, I'll try to remember to ask next time I see him.

I would think RA4 process for general home use, meaning cut sheet paper, sort of started around 1990 and was probably going very well by about 1992, which is roughly when the EP2 process petered out, or to be honest, Kodak stopped manufacturing consumables.

I know I sold my Durst RCP20 to a local fella who was going to convert it to RA4. I sold it as I had the then brand new Durst Printo which can take any* paper or film process invented by just changing the gearing and temperature. *To varying degrees of compatibility, that is.

I suppose the fact I purchased my Durst Printo to do RA4 printing at home, which was in 1989-1999 summer, about when it was available in Australia, I was among the first to have one of the units in Australia. Means the RA4 process sort of happened around around the world in 1990, give or take.

Mick.

 

[Mr Bill]

I did color printing throughout the 80s and did not see RA-4 anywhere for sale to the home user or in the photo literature, but only EP-2. Are you sure you were doing RA-4 in the mid 80s? Anybody else here doing it in the 80s?

Yes, RA-4 was around in the mid 80s. The outfit where I worked (US) bought into early one-hour labs about 1984, and these systems all ran RA-4 paper process. And we had converted our main lab mostly to RA-4 by roughly 1985 or 1986. As a mass market portrait lab, we didn't need the wide variety of materials that a pro lab would want to have; we only needed a pro portrait paper in whatever our standard "surface" was at the time. And with the rather large paper volumes we ran there was no problem getting what we wanted.

I think that many pro labs waited as long as possible, running into the early 1990s. In Henry Wilhelm's book, he says that by 1989, Fuji, Konica, and Agfa all had introduced RA-4 papers, and he thought the "industry-wide changeover to RA-4 began in earnest in 1990." Which sort of jibes with what Mick says (ignoring the mis-typed dates, ie "... which was in 1989-1999 summer.").

 

[Mick Fagan]

Ooops, yes I should have written, "1989-1990 summer".

Mick.

 

[RPC]

Yes, RA-4 was around in the mid 80s. The outfit where I worked (US) bought into early one-hour labs about 1984, and these systems all ran RA-4 paper process. And we had converted our main lab mostly to RA-4 by roughly 1985 or 1986. As a mass market portrait lab, we didn't need the wide variety of materials that a pro lab would want to have; we only needed a pro portrait paper in whatever our standard "surface" was at the time. And with the rather large paper volumes we ran there was no problem getting what we wanted.

I think that many pro labs waited as long as possible, running into the early 1990s. In Henry Wilhelm's book, he says that by 1989, Fuji, Konica, and Agfa all had introduced RA-4 papers, and he thought the "industry-wide changeover to RA-4 began in earnest in 1990." Which sort of jibes with what Mick says (ignoring the mis-typed dates, ie "... which was in 1989-1999 summer.").

I was asking about RA-4 being available to the home user, not labs. I am aware it was available to labs earlier than the mass market. I do not remember seeing it until around 1990, and all my old photo mags of the 80s do not show it anywhere in the big photo store ads, only EP-2. Like-wise with color printing books.

 

[mklw1954]

I have been color printing for 4 years now and, while I didn't find an ultimate guide, I found the following and the attached file to be very useful:

http://www.earthscenics.com/manuals/colorman_8_11_05.pdf
http://photographytraining.tpub.com/14209/css/Chapter-12-Color-Printing-307.htm
https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/4-h7743.pdf
http://wwwau.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j39/j39.pdf

In addition, there are good threads on this site for specifics on chemicals and processing. However, I found I had to come up with the specifics of my own setup, including how to achieve the right temperatures with water baths. I happen to use a color head enlarger, Kodak Ektacolor chemicals (to make 10 liters, from Unique Photo), drums and a Unicolor roller base, and Fuji Crystal Archive Type II paper, all of which I would recommend. After learning starting color filtration settings, and how to adjust them, the process is not difficult, especially if you have made b&w prints. Results are beautiful.

 

[wiltw]

@wiltw

@btaylor, I did color printing throughout the 80s and did not see RA-4 anywhere for sale to the home user or in the photo literature, but only EP-2. Are you sure you were doing RA-4 in the mid 80s? Anybody else here doing it in the 80s?

My own Kodak Color Darkroom Dataguide has 1989 publication date, and a chart on one of its first pages shows

Color Reversal Film: E6
Color Reversal Paper: R3, R3000
Color Negative Film: C41
Color Prints: RA​