How to Print B&W Photographs in a Darkroom

Step 11 Developing Paper

All of your times will vary based on what chemicals you use. Always follow the instructions given to you on the packaging. The work flow to follow when developing goes as follows:

• Put paper in developer, agitate (rock the tray back and forth) for the required amount of time.
• Rinse print in water (isn't your picture neat?)
• Put paper in stop bath, agitate for the required amount of time.
• Rinse print in water for ~30 seconds
• Put paper in fixer, agitate for the required amount of time.
• Rinse print in water
• Put paper in hypo clear, agitate for the required amount of time.
• Rinse print for ~10 minutes to make sure all the chemicals are off the paper
• Squeegee the paper to get most of the water off
• Hang the print for drying

Here are a few tips/explanations:

• Rinsing between each chemical prevents cross contamination of chemicals, making them last longer.
• Once the chemicals start taking longer to work, they're pretty much spent, and are ready for disposal (more on this later). Indicator stop bath will change colors when it's ready to toss.
• In a home dark room, you could use the shower to squeegee in.
• Fixer is the one chemical that it's most important to use for the full amount of time. Prints do turn yellow over time if not properly fixed.