Print Development
Using Arista RC paper with chemicals at 68 degrees

Developer - The basic function of all developers is to make a latent image visible.  The action of developer upon exposed silver halide crystals within a paper emulsion frees crystals that have been exposed to sufficient light and converts them to silver metal particles.   The concentration of silver metal is proportionately greater in those areas of the print that have received greater illumination than those areas receiving less light.

Stop Bath - The primary function of the stop bath, is to halt the development process and to remove excess developer from the print paper. 

Fixer - The primary function of the fixer is to dissolve the undeveloped silver halide crystals within the paper emulsion, forming a soluble salt compound that is subsequently washed away.  The chemical used today is sodium thiosulfate.

Making a Contact Sheet

    A 35mm camera allows you to make lots of exposures, but it is necessary to be more selective when it comes to enlarging them.  However, it is difficult to evaluate a picture just by looking at the negative, so a contact sheet can be a very useful next step.
    A contact sheet or proof print contains all the pictures from one roll of film.  They are naturally very small, but when examined through a magnifying glass can give a good idea of what the final print will look like.  A contact print can also help you to see how a picture might be cropped, and whether it is more or less dense than average (and so needing more or less exposure).
    All of a 36 exposure 35mm film will fit on a single 8x10 inch sheet is cut into strips of six negatives. 
    To make a contact sheet, all negatives are placed emulsion side down in contact with a piece of photographic paper.  A sheet of glass is placed over the top to ensure good contact.
    To make the exposure, set the enlarger head at a height that gives you a slightly larger than 8 inches rectangle of light on the enlarger baseboard.  At this height make an exposure of 10 seconds with the enlarger aperture set at f8.   (This exposure time will very depending on the enlarger used).
    Process the contact sheet the same as any photographic print.

Sample Contact Sheet

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