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Processing your own film can speed up your workflow and give you quicker access to your negatives. It is also typically more cost effective and best of all there is nothing like the sense of satisfaction you will gain by taking control over the full end-to-end process of your photography.
While trying it for the first time might be a daunting prospect, fear not. Below is our guide on what equipment, chemistry and method would be suitable for anyone new to processing films. For more detail, you can downlo...
Why print?
When you can get excellent prints from your black & white negatives by sending them off to commercial processing laboratories, why make your own?
For many photographers, making a photographic print is as much a part of the process as shooting the image itself. For a start, it is a creative process that is both enjoyable and fulfilling and, much like the role of a post processing tools such as Photoshop or Lightroom in any digital workflow, (although much more fun) a darkroom provides film...
Having shot a roll of black and white film it now needs to be processed to create the negatives. At this point your film is still light sensitive so should not be exposed to light.
Processing your own film can be highly satisfying and cost effective. It is also easy to learn. The most common method for hand processing film is undertaken by using a Daylight Processing Tank. This piece of kit needs the film to be loaded on to a ‘spiral’ or ‘reel’, in the dark, and then enclosed in a light tight co...
Contact sheets are a great way to review and record your images. They allow you to view all the negatives on a roll of film before deciding which ones you want to print and how you may want to crop them. They also provide a permanent record of those negatives for filing purposes.
How to make a contact sheet
To make a contact sheet we recommend using ILFORD MULTIGRADE RC DELUXE
Set the enlarger head to a height that gives a 40cm (16in) wide rectangle of light on the baseboard
Put a MULTIGRADE fil...
ILFORD PHOTO technical downloads
On this page we have collated all of our technical information in one place. Whether you are looking for technical data sheets, our film processing chart or information relating to contrast control for our MULTIGRADE Papers this is where you will find it.
All relevant technical information can also be found at the bottom of each specific product page.
Technical Data Sheets
Here you will find links to all technical data sheets for our film, paper and chemical products. ...
General health and safety advice
This section provides advice to our customers on the safe handling, use and storage of our photochemical solutions, best practice for waste disposal and specific advice to women who are pregnant or breastfeeding a child.
If you are looking for information on the chemical safety of HARMAN photochemistry solutions, please refer to the Safety Data Sheets (known as SDS or MSDS)
24 HOUR OHES emergency line for advice on chemical incidents
Safe working practices
It is essen...
A black border often enhances a print and does not involve any sort of mounting or overlay.
Ink or tape borders
The easiest way to produce narrow black borders is to rule them with a pen directly onto your finished print: an India-ink pen gives the most solid line, but most permanent (all surface) spirit based markers are much less expensive and will do the job.
For slightly wider black borders, narrow, self-adhesive strips are available from graphic arts suppliers. Supplied in dispensers, of various w...
Mounting your Prints
Even the most stunning print can look better when it has been properly mounted. Mounted prints are also better protected as they are kept flat with the image separated from the immediate surroundings by unobtrusive margins.
There are no hard and fast rules about mounting prints; the most suitable results will depend on individual preference, the nature of the image, the intended use and other circumstances.
It is recommended that only boards and other materials intended for the p...
1992 - How I met Masterji
Soon after leaving my staff photographer’s position on the local newspaper where I’d been employed for the previous 5 years and with the luxury of in-house film processing no longer a convenient option I began using my local city centre professional colour lab, in Coventry.
During the accumulating hours I spent in that lab waiting for my 35mm films to process, watching small colour prints dropping from the conveyor belt from the end of the machine, I very watched a short In...
I always loved celluloid pictures. Maybe I was drawn in as a baby, while the 8mm camera whirred (and the handheld light blinded). Maybe it was being so thankful to my big brother for lending me a 35mm rangefinder and showing me how to use it at age 10. Might have been the Minolta-16 he gave me (as a graduation present?). What a sweet little 16 that is, and I’ve still got it. Can you get those cartridges now? I envied his Pentax Spotmatic as I shot 8mm motion pictures on the point and shoot family camera,...