rate of printing

Paul Howell · Jan 12, 2015

tkamiya said:
I never thought about speed.

If I'm printing RC and don't care about making it perfect AND no dodging and burning, I can probably do 2 per hour.
Typically, it takes me a whole session to make ONE of something I'm happy with, which is usually 3 to 6 hours.

If this is Fiber, it will take multiple days to make one that I'm happy with. I only work on one at a time.

I'm really not concerned about productivity.

2 work prints an hour? Assume that it takes 5 mints to find a negative, put the negative in the enlarger, focus, stop the lens down, if the exposure is not known run a test strip. 1 mint in the developer, 10 seconds in the stop, 1 mint in fixer, followed by 5 mint wash. While test strip 1 is the wash find and print develop another test strip, pull negative 1 from the wash blow dry the test strip, return negative 1 to the enlarger and print work print, then print work print for negative 2 then repeat. Very possible to print 2 prints in 10 mints, I don't see why you cannot print 10 to 12 prints in an hour? I can print more than 10 to 12, I as usually don't need to print test strips for every negative from the same roll.

If you have cold darkroom and cold water and time in the developer is extended then I can see how your production will be slowed.

Ricardo Miranda · Jan 12, 2015

wet darkroom

I really wished one day to see how a wet darkroom works.
How do you do that? Do you spray water around the room or you just put a bath in there? :confused:

tkamiya · Jan 12, 2015

PDH said:
2 work prints an hour? Assume that it takes 5 mints to find a negative, put the negative in the enlarger, focus, stop the lens down, if the exposure is not known run a test strip. 1 mint in the developer, 10 seconds in the stop, 1 mint in fixer, followed by 5 mint wash. While test strip 1 is the wash find and print develop another test strip, pull negative 1 from the wash blow dry the test strip, return negative 1 to the enlarger and print work print, then print work print for negative 2 then repeat. Very possible to print 2 prints in 10 mints, I don't see why you cannot print 10 to 12 prints in an hour? I can print more than 10 to 12, I as usually don't need to print test strips for every negative from the same roll.

If you have cold darkroom and cold water and time in the developer is extended then I can see how your production will be slowed.

Yes, 2 per hour. I work slowly.

If I pull a new negative, I inspect it for dust or other issues. Clean it if/when necessary. Pull and inspect and clean the lens and install it. Elevate enlarger for right magnification and crop it to my liking. Select the contrast filter. Focus. Set timer. This far takes good 15 minutes. Expose and process. Then, wash and dry. If I'm just testing, I'd air dry with hair dryer. Otherwise squeegee and let dry on a towel. Then inspect for density and problem areas.

If I am printing anything, it is a print I want to do it right and to my satisfaction. Even casually printing something I don't rush through. I still make sure everything is clean and to my liking.

I have no need to do it fast. I contemplate a lot during process.

My darkroom is warm. I live in Florida.

Once, I had a very difficult print. It took 3 months to get a print I was happy with.

Paul Howell · Jan 12, 2015

tkamiya said:
Yes, 2 per hour. I work slowly.

If I pull a new negative, I inspect it for dust or other issues. Clean it if/when necessary. Pull and inspect and clean the lens and install it. Elevate enlarger for right magnification and crop it to my liking. Select the contrast filter. Focus. Set timer. This far takes good 15 minutes. Expose and process. Then, wash and dry. If I'm just testing, I'd air dry with hair dryer. Otherwise squeegee and let dry on a towel. Then inspect for density and problem areas.

If I am printing anything, it is a print I want to do it right and to my satisfaction. Even casually printing something I don't rush through. I still make sure everything is clean and to my liking.

I have no need to do it fast. I contemplate a lot during process.

My darkroom is warm. I live in Florida.

Once, I had a very difficult print. It took 3 months to get a print I was happy with.

I guess the Air Force and working for the wire services ruined me, I don't think I could slow down.

NedL · Jan 12, 2015

I'm definitely closer to tkamiya than PDH. 1 or 2 prints per session, sessions usually around 45 minutes or an hour.... it does depend a lot on what my goals are. Sometimes I'll get through 5 or 6 in about 90 minutes if I just want quick 5x7s to get an idea... sometimes a single print will go over several sessions if I'm thinking about it, considering, etc....

adelorenzo · Jan 12, 2015

My darkroom sits about 15 C (59F) in the winter and drops even lower when it is very cold out. I don't find I have any issues developing RC or fiber paper in Dektol 1:2. I don't time my developing but even with fiber it's likely 90-120 seconds max, RC is much quicker obviously.

Sirius Glass · Jan 12, 2015

I get one to several prints per session when I want a finished print that I will mount, give or sell. I will print a higher number of prints if I want to make a bunch of straight prints to study and perfect later.

andrew.roos · Jan 13, 2015

I feel much better after reading this thread. My darkroom is typically around 24C (75F) but I still only manage a maximum of 4 prints (dodged and burned, from different negs) a session, which can last up to 4 hours. And if I find one that I think shows real (for me) promise, then I'll typically spend at least a couple of hours trying to get it right.

EdSawyer · Jan 13, 2015

Doing RA4 color and using a Fujimoto processor, I can do about 12-15 different negatives per hour.

tkamiya · Jan 14, 2015

PDH said:
I guess the Air Force and working for the wire services ruined me, I don't think I could slow down.

I wouldn't say THAT....

I just like to work slowly. Just concentrate on one print and make it to my satisfaction. Besides.... you are used to volume environment where speed is money and critical. Darkroom time is time for myself, so I do it the way that pleases me. Besides, I waste more money if I speed and print more without contemplating and planning. On top of that, my skill is not up to standard/par. I'm out of practice at this point.

rate of printing

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