i suck at printing.

[ronocnikral]

Originally Posted by tropicpine

This may be a dumb question but, have you developed a piece of unexposed paper to make sure you do not have a problem w your paper / safelight?

tested paper in the "darkroom." we're ok there. and i was trying to make some prints with snow and it wasn't fogged.

i know it's just practice, studying, change one thing, practice, study, change one thing, practice...

i like to focus on one thing at a time. otherwise it's chaos for me. and my scientific brain goes haywire.

[venchka]

Originally Posted by ronocnikral

tested paper in the "darkroom." we're ok there. and i was trying to make some prints with snow and it wasn't fogged.

i know it's just practice, studying, change one thing, practice, study, change one thing, practice...

i like to focus on one thing at a time. otherwise it's chaos for me. and my scientific brain goes haywire.

What a radical concept.

[venchka]

Here's a thought............

Kevin, Westley, moi, we loan you a negative and a print from that negative. Give you something to shoot for that we know prints ok.

[ronocnikral]

that would definitely help!!

[venchka]

I'll dig through my pile of prints. You will be at a disadvantage: my prints were made on Agfa Brovira #2.

[ronocnikral]

hmmm...maybe i should have continued my reading of the negative last night and tried printing tonight. chapter 4 is really good.

oh well...

[KJ Smith]

Conor, and I say that with a fake Boston accent.

What type of enlarger do you have? What I am asking is it a condenser type or a diffusion/cold head type ?

Condenser type enlargers are generally a little more contrasty and print quicker.

A typical, no contrast filter print from one of my negs is two stops down on the lens and ~5 seconds.

On a cold head, my stuff comes out pretty flat and is typically 10-12 seconds. I usually use contrast filters on these.

There are several of us on here that know, or think we know, how to print.

Keep asking and we will fill in the blanks.

You are doing test strips, right?

[ronocnikral]

beseler 23cII. condenser head (i think).

the first time i printed i burned through 2 full sheets of paper when i discovered the test strips thing.

thanks for the help everyone!

[KJ Smith]

Yes, its a basic condenser head.

Printed on one for years. Have 2 in the garage.

That is not causing the issue.

[venchka]

Do you own "The Print"?

Did you set the condensers in the right place for your negatives?

Most of the prints I have were made on that enlarger. It's a keeper.

[ronocnikral]

kevin, the issue is user error.

i don't own the print, but i have it checked out from the library right now. the negative is so good. here's what i have learned so far. negatives that suck = prints that suck = part of my problem.

hmmm...i'll have to read the print while on break. maybe i'll even go to the slc library to shoot off a couple of rolls and then sit and read. i'll return knowing how to ensure the condensers are properly located

there's so much to this. maybe by the time i'm 70 (that's another 44 years) i'll have a good chunk of it down.

[KJ Smith]

There is a knob, up by he light, well towards the top, that should be marked. Turn the knob until the little pointer lines up with the format you are using.

[Bruce M. Morris]

Kodak used to have an item that you put over the paper while exposing it that made the test print in one exposure rather than multiexposure and moving a mask. This might also help you to determine if your chemistry is good.
I am assuming that your developers were bought new and fresh? Many years of dealing with military supply, I got developers that were years past shelf life expiration and had to use it but it was a fight to get any contrast at all in images.

To check your film developing, you might try getting a gray scale step tablet (Kodak or Macbeth used to be the ones we used)shoot the image and then see do you have a good range from white to black on the neg.

Lots of this seems like waste of materials when all you want is to make prints, but in the long run it will make sure that you KNOW you have the right materials and set up.

Good Luck!

[venchka]

What Kevin said. If 6x4.5 isn't marked, 6x6 is close enough.

[Valerie]

I make test strips to determine contrast first. Reason is that changing contrast filters can mean changed exposure times.

Then there is split-grade printing..... but we will go into that later........