Paper Development - How to do it

fmariasilva

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Hello everyone!

I have been developing my films at home for quite a while now, but it is only now that I bought an enlarger. I studied analog photography a few years ago, in Portugal - I remember perfectly the practical aspect of developing paper, bath management, etc. But I can't remember how chemistry was done. Does anyone know any book / article / thread that serves as a guide to develop black and white paper? I need it to be super specific as I don't remember anything about the chemichal part of it.

Thank you all!
 

grain elevator

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What do you mean by chemical part? You buy paper developer and dilute it with water according to the instructions that come with it. Or do you need a formula to mix your own developer from raw chemicals? If so, tell us what you have!
 
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fmariasilva

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grain elevator said:
What do you mean by chemical part? You buy paper developer and dilute it with water according to the instructions that come with it. Or do you need a formula to mix your own developer from raw chemicals? If so, tell us what you have!
Click to expand...

By chemical part I mean a bit of everything. For example:

can i use film developer/stop/fix for paper;
for each type of paper there is a specific chemistry or can i use the same chemistry for every type of paper;
how to mix de chemicals;
how do I know how to dilute it;
what baths can I reuse;
for how long should I develop paper, stop it , fix, etc

I didn't asked anything that specific cause I have questions about everything related to the process. That's why I'm looking for a book for example, so that I can study the process again and get familiar with the chemical part of it.
 

removed account4

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hey francisco!

you are just about home
any of henry horenstein's books
(https://www.amazon.com/photography-henry-horenstein/s?k=photography+henry+horenstein).
will treat you right.
basically ... they are just about he same chemicals you used for your film
developer, stop, fix wash ( for RC paper. fiber paper its the same process but after fix is a rinse then fix remover then final wash )

are you mixing your chemistry from scratch or do you have stock chemistry you are diluting ?
just set up some trays
you can use the same stop bath and fixer fixer ( well -- unused )
they don't change depending on the paper its the same stuff for every paper....

thing that is really different is the developer... you'll need to find some print developer

times change depending on RC or fiber based paper
RC paper is 1 min in the developer, 30 seconds in stop, 2 mins in fix wash for 10 mins
fb paper is 2 mins in developer 30 seconds in stop, 5-6 mins in fix rinse 30 seconds fix remover 2-5 mins ( depending on brand of chemistry ) and wash for 20 mins by shuffling and filling and dumping the tray .
agitate all the chemistry / rock the tray

regarding dilution of developer, it depends what you use...
some developers can vary from straight ( to give high contrast ) to 1:3 or 1:4 ( softer tones )
if you can find some Ilford or foma print developer or whatever brand you like the instructions for dilution will
be on the bottle or found on the company's website...

have fun!
john
 
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fmariasilva

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We

Thanks for the book tip!

I haven't bought the paper developer yet cause I didn't know what to buy. A friend gave me a very old stock of paper he bought like 15 years ago. I'll leave a pic of the box here. I just don't know what developer to buy for this paper stock

And how do I know how much chemistry should I dilute? Cause I have adofix for example, and for paper it says 1+19 (i guess) - should I dilute the 1000ml i have with 1+19, or dilute it depending on how much water i'll need for the size of the tray?
 

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jay moussy

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Is all you chemistry liquid?
Does what you have require to make a stock solution, and then a working solution for the print day?
 

Wayne

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Dilute it with amount of water you need for the tray. One liter is convenient if you are using small trays for 8x10 paper. 1+ 19 would be 50 ml plus 950 ml. Ilford Multigrade developer and Ilford stop bath should be available in Portugal, I would think and is very convenient but the adofix should be fine if its not too old. Your gifted paper might be fine but you'd be better off to start with fresh paper to reduce the number of variables.
 
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fmariasilva

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Ilford Multigrade VS Adox Neutol - thoughts?
 

grain elevator

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I see. Ilford have a pdf with instructions, that should help you get started again.
All paper developers work with all papers and typically come with instructions, or you can find them on the manufacturer's website. The instructions contain times, dilution, capacity for re-use etc. You can continue using developer until it takes too long or gets to soft, you see immediately what it does. Be more careful with fixer because improperly fixed prints will age badly.
 

gone

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That box of papers......if you don't know how it's been stored, those papers could cause you more problems than they're worth if they've gotten fogged. I would suggest starting out w/ a brand new box. Youtube has lots of good film and paper developing videos you can learn a lot from, and this link below will help as well.

https://www.darkroomdave.com/tutorial/making-your-first-black-and-white-print/
 

MattKing

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Welcome to Photrio Francisco.
It looks like people have already shared with you lots of good advice and links.
Generally speaking, there are differences between film and paper developers, even though some developers can be made to work with both. It is probably best though to use a developer that is designed for prints.
The rest of the chemicals will work well with both prints and film, although sometimes it is better to adjust the dilution between them.
There are instructions available for each chemical. After a short time, you will get familiar with what is available.
In most cases, choice of which is best will turn on things like availability, ease of use, price and personal preferences. Some factors that may come into play are things like how frequently you expect to use the chemicals and what sort of storage space you have available. If you are like me, and have a temporary darkroom that has to be set up and taken down each time, your needs are likely to be different than if you have dedicated darkroom space.
Have fun - time in the darkroom is some of my favorite time.
 

oxcanary

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Just get used to the fact that for everyone who says use chemical X because it is best there will be someone who says use chemical Y because it is best. Try and reach your own decisions on all of this.
 
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