Darkroom Printing: Contact Sheets, Test Strips and Your First Enlargement

Making a print by hand in the darkroom is the traditional end point of black and white film. The process is straightforward: project the negative onto light-sensitive paper, then develop, stop, fix and wash it much as you did the film. Here is how to go from a strip of negatives to your first finished silver gelatin print.

Papers: RC and fiber

Resin-coated (RC) paper is sealed in plastic, so chemicals don't soak into the base. It develops in about a minute, washes in a few minutes and dries flat. It is the best paper for learning and for proofs.

Fiber-based paper has a plain paper base. It takes longer to fix, much longer to wash, and curls as it dries, but many printers prefer its depth, surface and archival life for finished prints. Both come in glossy, pearl, satin and matte surfaces, and in variable contrast or graded versions.

Step 1: Make a contact sheet

A contact sheet shows a whole roll at negative size, the best way to choose frames to print.

Raise the enlarger head so its light covers a full sheet of paper, and set the lens to f/8.
Under the safelight, lay a sheet of paper emulsion side up (the shinier side, or the side the paper curls toward).
Lay the negative strips emulsion side down on it, and cover with a sheet of clean glass to press them flat.
Make a test strip to find the exposure, then expose the whole sheet and develop it.

A good contact exposure is the shortest time that makes the clear film edges just print as full black.

Step 2: Set up the enlargement

Clean the negative with a blower or soft brush, and place it in the carrier emulsion side down.
Open the lens to its widest aperture so the image is bright, and raise or lower the head to frame the picture on the easel.
Focus with a grain focuser on the easel until the grain is sharp.
Stop the lens down two or three stops, usually to f/8 or f/11, for sharpness and convenient exposure times.

Step 3: Make a test strip

A test strip finds the right exposure time. Place a strip of paper across an important part of the image. Cover all but a fifth of it with card and expose for 3 seconds; uncover another fifth and expose for 3 more; and so on, giving steps of 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 seconds. Develop it fully. Choose the step where the important midtones look right, and check that highlights hold detail and shadows are rich.

Many printers prefer test strips in stops rather than equal seconds, for example 4, 5.6, 8, 11 and 16 seconds, because equal steps of time give smaller and smaller visual changes as the time grows.

Step 4: Expose and develop the print

Expose a full sheet at the chosen time and process it:

Step	RC paper	Fiber paper
Developer	60 to 90 s	2 to 3 min
Stop bath	10 to 15 s	30 s
Fixer	1 to 2 min	Per fixer instructions, often two baths
Wash	2 to 4 min	30 to 60 min, less with washing aid

Always develop to completion: a print pulled early has weak blacks. Judge the print under white light only after it is fixed, and remember that wet prints look slightly lighter than they will when dry, a change called dry-down.

Step 5: Refine

The first straight print is a starting point. If the overall tones are right but it looks flat or harsh, change the contrast with filters. If one area is too light or too dark, use dodging and burning. Keep notes on each print's time, filter and aperture, so you can reprint it later.

Drying and toning

Hang RC prints or lay them face up on a rack. Dry fiber prints face down on screens, then flatten them in a dry-mount press or under weight. Toning in selenium shifts blacks slightly cooler and deeper and improves permanence; sepia toning gives warm brown tones. See alternative processes for other ways to print.