Tips on printing full sets of prints from 35mm & 120mm

[Nicole]

I photograph primarily with 6x6 and 35mm.

How best to hand-print a (often) full sets/rolls of prints relatively quickly?

Straight prints
Sizes either 6x4", 5x7" & 5x5"
White borders
RC paper

I'd appreciate your tips and tricks on making life easy.
Kindest regards
Nicole

 

[SuzanneR]

Good question, Nicole. I've been struggling with this issue myself. Although, normally just scanning negs is fine, but occasionally I have to produce a set of prints. Way back when... before scanners... I got pretty good at generating quick RC prints. I cut my 35mm negs into strips of six. I make a test strip with the first negativea nd establish a good exposure time. Iuse this exposure time for the whole roll. Then I expose the whole strip of negatives. When I have six exposed sheets of paper, put them through the dev. stop. fix. Then I move on to the next strip. It's still a fairly time consuming and tedious process.

Would be interested to hear what other's do as well.

 

[ScottH]

I've only done this once, and about half the shots of 2 rolls. The biggest issue I ran into were density and contrast differences. I listed out each of the negs I wanted to print, sorted them based on density/contrast, and checked them off the list once printed. I made test strip prints on any tricky ones. Once you have 3-4 similar negatives in a row you get pretty comfortable with the process. I washed them in batches, much easier with RC of course.

 

[127]

I just got given a Durst ACS R11a roll box that I THINK is for this kind of thing. It holds a roll of paper, and you press a button to advance the paper by a controled distance. There are a set of masks for different size prints.

I think the idea is you can make a whole load of exposures quickly, the take out the paper and process it in one go, but I really have no idea. As the thing is full of paper (as I discovered by opening it! - hopefully most of the roll is still good), I haven't been able to poke around in it yet. I really don't know if it's any use, but this thread seemed a good place to mention it

Anyone tried one? Is it any use for black and white? I'd be a bit uncomfortable about loading up that much paper in one go, even if I could get BW paper in rolls.

Ian

 

[Nick Zentena]

Are you talking about proofs or finished prints?

If you're just looking at quick proofs then get an enlarger meter. Expose the paper and batch process. I use a big Jobo tank with colour prints. The same thing would work great with RC B&W prints. Load the tank and process up to 4 8x10s at a time or a whole bunch of 5x7s.

The other thing I have is a 16x20 easel out of a portrait studio I guess. It lets you make 4 8x10s on one sheet of 16x20 or various numbers of smaller prints. But the thing is huge and needs a big enlarger base.

If you get a roll easel and a processor that can handle it. You can expose the paper. Then feed it straight into the processor. But that's a lot of equipment.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Having consistent exposures helps, of course, and then being able to judge differences in exposure by eye once establishing a baseline exposure.

Another handy thing is a multiprint easel, with a movable mask that lets you print in multiple images in various sizes on one sheet, or proofing easel. I have a Saunders proofing easel with a template on top that has a 4x5" hole in the middle, and a large tray underneath, and as you move an 8x10" sheet into each corner of the tray, you expose a different 4x5" quadrant of the sheet. If you can't find one, it would be easy to make such a thing, and it's not as huge as a multiprint easel.

 

[Bob F.]

I just got given a Durst... <snip>
Ian

Can't help re' the processor, but Silverprint sell B&W paper by the roll.


Nicole: haven't really done this but it seems that something like the Ilford EM10 meter might be helpful in quickly defining the exposure for each negative. Making a multiple print easel out of mount board to allow you to expose multiple negatives on one sheet of paper will also probably help speed things up.

 

[rbarker]

I'd suggest that you look at the enlarging meters from RH Designs, Nicole. Once you have the paper you are using calibrated, and saved to the meter's memory, the meter will give you both exposure time and contrast grade very quickly for each negative. I think you'll find the meter's suggestions very close - close enough, at least, for proof prints.

Once you have confidence in the metered print exposure and contrast, batch processing, after storing the exposed prints in a paper safe, becomes a matter of how many prints you can fiddle with in the developer tray. A good paper safe (a larger one with multiple internal shelves) also makes it easier to cut enough paper to size ahead of time.

 

[removed account4]

nicole -
i've had to do this on occasion with both 35mm and like 4x5 negatives.
like suzanne, i made a test exposure as a "base time" and just cranked them out ( 35mm ). i did 6 prints at a time ( put the exposed paper between my fingers and put them in the soup all together alternate the dunk ( pinky first then thumb then index then ring finger ). once they were in the developer - back to back face to face.

for the 4x5 views, it was a little tricky - i had a base-time and then i had to split filter every view with 2 different contrast grades. after every 10 i put through the developer i did a test to make sure my developer wasn't getting shot ... once they were in the developer - back to back face to face.

good luck!

john

 

[srs5694]

Another handy thing is a multiprint easel, with a movable mask that lets you print in multiple images in various sizes on one sheet, or proofing easel. I have a Saunders proofing easel with a template on top that has a 4x5" hole in the middle, and a large tray underneath, and as you move an 8x10" sheet into each corner of the tray, you expose a different 4x5" quadrant of the sheet. If you can't find one, it would be easy to make such a thing, and it's not as huge as a multiprint easel.

I've got one of those Saunders easels. I've also created my own top template that lets me make three 4x6 prints with borders rather than four 4x5 (more-or-less) borderless prints, which is what it otherwise produces. Here's a photo of my modified template. I epoxied together some thin metal bars to form the print outlines, then epoxied those to a slab of wood sized to cover the whole easel. The "flaps" are wood. It's close enough to light-tight that I can leave the paper in it when I reposition the frame, but I get some leakage if I turn on the lights to select and change a negative. Some dark cloth draped around the edges would probably fix that, but I haven't yet tried that.

I also recently bought a Unicolor combination easel from a guy on eBay. He's still got one available. This one's very flexible in what it lets you print -- basically any combination of 5x7, 3.5x5, or 2.5x3.5 on a single 8x10 sheet of paper. (I've no association with the seller other than as a one-time purchaser of an identical item.) I intend mainly to use it for color test prints, but I might make some final small prints with it, too.

For Nicole's sizes, though, she might want to consider making something similar to one of these but a bit bigger and printing on 11x14 or larger paper, assuming such paper sizes aren't too awkward for her.

In any event, if printing multiple shots on a single sheet of paper, I find it's helpful to devote the first sheet to test prints to get the exposure approximately right. I then plow on, guesstimating exposure changes when necessary. Occasionally I'll go back and redo one negative if I get it wrong.

For the most part this is too much bother; I prefer to scan the negatives and get digital prints from the scans at my local Walgreens. For 4x6 prints, the quality is fine, at least for me. Sometimes just I feel like doing a roll "wet," though.

 

[photobackpacker]

Hi Nicole:

If you are asking how to reduce process time in the darkroom - especially when producing proof prints, there are a few process tricks I have used. These will produce prints that will inform you about your negative but are generally not acceptable as final product. You may already be employing them but I offer them as general ideas:

Write down a standard height, contrast and exposure setting for each print size, format based on a "normal density" negative. (For these prints, I would avoid f5.6. f8 to 11 should yield good results for the smaller prints you are talking about.) Set this on your enlarger and focus on first negative only.

If available, use a top quality roll film advancing negative holder. Be sure the device protects your negatives as they advance. Beseler made a great one for 35mm at one time.

Batch expose your negatives full frame. I have a light-tight drawer next to my enlarger where I store exposed prints until I have a batch of 8 (normally 11 X 14). With smaller prints, I will go up to 12 prints.

Batch develop. Book your exposed but undeveloped prints back to back, fan each pair in your left hand so you can pull each booked pair and feed them into the developer at 5 second intervals. Count off as you do this, 1, 2, 3, ... then shuffle through the stack in the enlarger tray pulling each pair from the bottom keeping the count of where your are.

You may need to adjust your developer dilution to one that supports batch development. Depending on how many prints you are trying to handle, shorter isn't always better. If you are running out of time, try a more dilute solution to better fit the development time to your process. You should be able to shuffle through the stack at least twice before the first pair need to come out.

Pull pair # 1 at proper time and drop into tray of stop. Be careful not to dip your fingers into stop and then back to developer tray. Unbook the prints in stop bath to ensure all developer has been neutralized. if your Stop bath is fresh, 10 seconds (enough so the print no longer feels slippery) is enough then into the fixer.

For proof prints - white lights can come on 10 to 15 seconds after the prints hit the fixer. (In fact prints will suffer little damage from white light after the developer is neutralized by the stop bath but I don't recommend that.) Just to be clear, if I am processing prints for inventory or display, I keep the white lights off until 1 minute in the fixer. For proof prints and test strips, I cut this back to 10 to 15 seconds.

Inspect the proofs and, if desired, reprint only those where departure from normal is too severe.

If these prints are to be used as larger alternatives to contact proofs, consider printing them at a grade 0 or 1 contrast so you can see all of the detail the negative has to offer. These will appear muddy and not very impressive but will reveal potential not seen in a "perfect proof." It takes some getting used to to look at these prints but after doing this for a while, you will appreciate knowing where interesting detail is available.

If cropping is required, consider cropping with a temporary paper mat. I save ruined sheets of paper for this very purpose. When I forget to reset the f-stop after focusing and accidently nuke a sheet , I toss it directly in the fixer so I have a glossy sheet I can use as a temporary composition mat. You can also use L-shaped cropping guides. (Yes, I realize I am probably the only photographer on Apug who forgets to reset the enlarger f-stop or, for that matter, who creates a negative that needs cropping. )

It is a good thing when you have reached the point where time in the darkroom is redefined as productive time in the darkroom!

Good Luck!
Bruce

 

[rexp]

Well.... you could scan them & shoot them off to WalMart for printing. Not elegant, but then your time is probably worth more than 29 cents per print (especially for proof quality). Choose your battles wisely.

 

[fhovie]

I have done this (B&W negs to Walmart) - just to see which ones are worthy for darkroom time. - The thing is - some prints are just snapshots that are not / will not become art. I don't have time for them - I shoot them in color and am done with it. For everything else (95%) of my photography, I scan them in, sort out those that are not worthy and then pick my favorite 5 or 10 to spend time in the darkroom with. I don't have time for anything less than a 8x10 RC print (except a 4x5 contact AZO print). The very best ones go straight to 11x14 FB paper. Out of 15 rolls of film, I bet I only print 20. Those are the very best 20 and a lot of really excellent images never get printed - they will get scanned but not printed. The ratio for 4x5 is about 1/4 of these get printed. I do spend a lot more time with the bigger negs because the end product is so much nicer. Of course 8x10 contact prints are the top consideration - if the image is good. It is all about the image potential. If the images are for a client, some can receive scans on a CD. For those my process remains the same. The easiest way to get a roll of proofs to a client is the Walmart trick but- I dare say this is not without the risk or them destroying your negs. I could do a roll of 5x7 prints in the darkroom pretty fast but it is as much fun as getting dental work and I would have to charge accordingly. I would not show a client a proof that was badly printed or one that is a technically poor image.

Well.... you could scan them & shoot them off to WalMart for printing. Not elegant, but then your time is probably worth more than 29 cents per print (especially for proof quality). Choose your battles wisely.

 

[Nick Zentena]

Well.... you could scan them & shoot them off to WalMart for printing. Not elegant, but then your time is probably worth more than 29 cents per print (especially for proof quality). Choose your battles wisely.

Doesn't it take longer to scan them and go to Walmart then to make basic prints?

 

[srs5694]

Doesn't it take longer to scan them and go to Walmart then to make basic prints?

It probably varies from one scanner to another, your skill/efficiency in the darkroom, etc. For me, it probably takes about 1-2 hours to scan a 36-exposure roll of film at 2700 dpi, but much of that time is the scanner whirring away while I do something else (read APUG, watch TV, etc.). (I've got a Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400, which can scan up to six negatives sequentially, so it only requires attention between strips, rather than for each individual scan.) If I were more selective about what I scan, I could do it in less time. Add in time to burn the files to a CD-R and go to the store and return there to pick up the prints, or time uploading the files to an online photofinisher, and it's more like 1.5-3 hours. I'd guesstimate it takes 1-2.5 hours to do a dozen 4x6 prints, including setup and cleanup times, reprinting bad ones, etc. So the darkroom route might have a very small edge on time (assuming I want prints from 1/3 of the photos on a roll), except of course that I can do things that "multitask" well during much of the scanning time. I'd have to clock myself on both approaches to narrow those ranges, too; it's possible the scanning route would actually come in ahead.

For me the rub is that I scan all my negatives (well, aside from the really bad ones or certain test negatives), so the scanning time is time I'd spend anyhow. This makes the commercial prints from scans approach much more appealing.

As with others, this is only for small (4x6 or so) prints. For bigger prints I prefer to do it myself, at least for B&W. (I'm just starting with color printing.)

 

[Nick Zentena]

The beauty of an enlarger meter is you really can bang out print after print. They may not be 100% perfect but they'll be good enough for proofs.

If you really wanted to and get into the rythm it wouldn't be that hard to expose 36 5x7s in less then 1 hour. Wouldn't suprise me if it wasn't a fair bit less then an hour. Then it's only a question of processing.

OTOH I'm still not really sure what the OP's goal was. An 8x10 enlarger with enlarged contact prints might do the job pretty quickly-) Or how about just a 4x5 enlarger doing it in 1/4 ?

 

[Nige]

>>How best to hand-print a (often) full sets/rolls of prints relatively quickly?
see last point

but if that's not acceptable...

>>Straight prints

1. Shoot in a studio with consistant lighting to ensure perfect exposure.
2. get, calibrate and use a exposure meter. I use one and it's good enough for 'work' prints.


>>Sizes either 6x4", 5x7" & 5x5"

I's suggest buying right-sized paper, as printing multiple prints on a single larger piece is fiddly and prone to error (did I rotate the paper, etc and you then have to cut & trim them which is time consuming... I did 50odd for Xmas cards and that meant 200+ trims with the paper cutter!!! slow and boring!). However, this might be a problem... Since we recommend Ilford around here you can buy there 5x7 ok, but I don't know if they make 6x4 anymore (not listed at Vanbars anyway.. maybe it can be ordered, they used to make it once-upon-a-time) and no one makes 5x5. Agfa are listed with 6x4's.

Maybe the roll easel mentioned above might get you around this. Never seen one but imagine they are designed to cut the paper as you use it with the width of the paper being one dimension and the other variable. You'd need to investigate of course... I wonder what happens in regard to portrait vs landscape orientation when you want to print 'sideways'.. maybe you can't unless you can rotate your neg carrier to suit?? If possible, that would let you do 6x4, 5x7 with trimming (or maybe a 6x8 or 9) and 6x6 for the square ones.

>>White borders
any easel with suitable sized border... smaller prints generally require smaller borders IMO. I do have a multi format easel (Durst Commask) that allows you to print (all with borders) a 8x10, 2 5x7's, 2 5x8's or 4 4x5's (incl border.. print area is slighty less). I've used it to print both multiple copies of a single neg and different negs on the one sheet but I'm of the opinion sinlge sheets is faster and easier, as once you've got the easel postioned, you don't move it, unlike this multi format thing (which is different to what David describes)

>>RC paper
definetly! Maybe use bigger trays with more dilute developer so you can process a heap in one go consistantly. I do 4 5x8's or postcards in a 8x10 tray without too many swear words so in a 12x16 or bigger tray I reckon you could do half the roll or more in one go.

>>I'd appreciate your tips and tricks on making life easy.
shoot Ilford XP2 and get it processed/proofed at Kmart/BigW for $5-$6 a roll.


Cheers, Nige