Wet print or ink jet

WET PRINTS ONLY!!!

I happened to pull out some of my very early Cibachrome a few weeks ago. Over forty years old and look like they were made yesterday. I seriously doubt that today's Crystal Archive prints will hold up as well because they slowly yellow due to residual couplers. But they are allegedly
more permanent under reasonable display conditions, relative to moderate UV, so I've moved on to shooting color negs and printing on Crystal
Archive. The deluxe Fujiflex Supergloss version of CAII even looks similar to Ciba. A lot of this has to do with facilities and equipment (having a
darkroom). But a lot has to do with personal temperament too. There is something satisfying about tactile darkroom work and actually making
something with your own hands and equipment. But I guess if you're the type of person who doesn't mind being hooked up to a high-fructose
corn-syrup IV for hours on end and punching buttons, inkjet has it's appeal too. It's a rare inkjet print I actually like. Most of the time the colors look pasted-on. Visually, I prefer the greater transparency of actual dyes. With inkjets you've got a complicated blend of dyes and pigments, and some hues tend to render more opaque than others. Then there's a lot of uneveness to the blacks. Not my cup of tea.

I print all my analog photographs in my darkroom. At present I only print B&W due to the difficulty of obtaining color paper and chemicals locally.

Ink jet for invoices and sudoku puzzles
all photographic prints done in the dark room.

Each and every reply in this thread is correct and true. What works, for you, is right. Nothing else matters.

I will add one unique perspective. There is something really magical, amazing, to me, about wet printing C-41. That is, when you get the myriad steps all done properly. The final step, color balancing, can be quite frustrating, time-consuming, and costly.

But man, opening up that drum, and pulling out that gorgeous color print... for me it's like, well, how a team feels when they win the World Series. None of it was easy. Lots of obstacles were overcome.

I could be considered a digital native (off by a few years), grew up on it, work with it all day and have my share of digital devices. Took up film seriously last year, developing, and started printing in my make shift dark room. Since the renovations are taking place (waiting to complete the basement / dark room) I have started to scan and print locally and at the shop down the street. I have wasted more time than I would like to admit scanning negs and printing them to my liking to only have them come out wishing they look like wet prints. Some things should always be analog.

Whenever I've been without a darkroom I've started projecting slides as the next best alternative. I print mostly colour and occasionally black and white. Photography is my time away from the computer.

I never figure out how those printers works, always struggle to get it in right size. Even if I'm trying to use some big stores labs. Have go to small shop nearby where smart people works.
But in the darkroom I have direct control of it. And it is fun to edit image analog way, while I hate Photoshop.

My black and white is a mix of inkjet and wet prints. I've finally got my film recorder back to working so I can now even print my digital snaps in the darkroom. I think inkjet can get results that almost equal darkroom glossy fiber prints now (main issue is gloss differential). If matte prints are your thing the results on some of the nicer rag matte papers can be truly stunning.

I now do color on the inkjet. With the right paper I like it better than the RC paper I use in the darkroom.

I enjoy an evening in the darkroom much more than one sitting at the computer.

L Gebhardt said:

My black and white is a mix of inkjet and wet prints. I've finally got my film recorder back to working so I can now even print my digital snaps in the darkroom. I think inkjet can get results that almost equal darkroom glossy fiber prints now (main issue is gloss differential). If matte prints are your thing the results on some of the nicer rag matte papers can be truly stunning.

I now do color on the inkjet. With the right paper I like it better than the RC paper I use in the darkroom.

I enjoy an evening in the darkroom much more than one sitting at the computer.

Click to expand...

Film recorder? What model?

Wolfeye said:

Film recorder? What model?

Click to expand...

LightJet 2080. Feel free to PM me for more details, since this subject isn't really germane to APUG.