In these digital times, most photographers have migrated away from the traditional wet darkroom process, in favor of the DSLR and the inkjet printer. However, if you have ever watched a silver-gelatin print developing in a darkroom tray, you will probably never forget the feeling of watching an image bloom on a blank piece of paper right before your eyes.
Although black-and-white papers are vulnerable to daylight until "fixed," a certain amount of "safe" light is allowed in the darkroom. It is this amber, red or green light (contingent on the sensitivity of the particular enlarging paper you’re using) that allows us to find our way around while we prepare to print.
Proper ventilation is essential in a darkroom. Chemicals, especially fixer (hypo) and acetic acid (stop bath), give off strong fumes that can be disturbing, can aggravate respiratory ailments and are extremely unhealthy in a non-ventilated space.
It is important to mention at this point that print quality is more a factor of the negative than it is of the equipment used to print. Remember what Ansel Adams said: “The negative is the score. The print is the performance.” That says it all. It is very difficult to get a satisfactory print from a bad negative.
A contact printer (or proofer) is a kind of easel that enables you to make a sheet of thumbnail prints from a roll of film that has been cut into strips, usually containing six images per strip for 35mm film and three or four images per strip for medium-format negatives.
Though the choices are fewer than they were just a few years back, there are still a number of black and white enlarging papers available to satisfy the printing needs of both amateurs and hypo-stained chemical darkroom diehards.
Like their black-and-white counterparts, the number of color enlarging papers available in sheet and roll form is limited compared to the number of offerings that were available before the advent of digital inkjet printers.
A paper safe can save time, effort and the cost and aggravation of having to replace a box of fogged photo printing paper. Imagine going into the darkroom to make ONE print and having to open a brand new box of printing paper. Just as you open it, someone comes in to your darkroom and turns on the room light!
As an engine is the heart of a car, an enlarger is the heart of a darkroom. It is the instrument through which negatives are brought to life. Along with a good lens, it is the enlarger around which the rest of the darkroom is built.
As the name implies, a timer is what controls the length of an exposure. A timer can be something as simple as a watch or as complex as a high-end multi-functional digital timer. The advantage of an electronic timer is that it can be connected to the enlarger’s lamp house.
An easel holds the printing paper flat beneath the enlarger. Easels come in many sizes and varieties: two-bladed, four-bladed, borderless and speed easels. A good easel can make printing easy, while a bad one can be a nightmare.
For previewing black-and-white, color negative or slide film, there is nothing more convenient and comfortable than being able to examine images through a high-quality loupe atop a precise, color-controlled light box. In this way, a photographer can determine which of a series of images is the best composed or sharpest, or which contains subtleties of light or expression that the others lack.
Despite the shrinking availability of black-and-white films and papers, the chemistry available that’s required to process black-and-white film and paper remains virtually untouched since the heyday of what we now refer to as “traditional” photographic processing.
Nowadays color printing is primarily the domain of commercial labs. But there are still a number of photo enthusiasts producing high-quality color prints in the temperature-controlled environs of their home darkrooms. Happily for them, the film- and paper-processing chemistry they need is still available for purchase by the ounce as well as by the drum.
Most people do not have a permanently installed darkroom space. If you are fortunate enough to own a house or an apartment with the appropriate space and configuration and can dedicate an entire room, walk-in closet or “the room under the stairs” to printing, you are ahead of the game.
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In these digital times, most photographers have migrated away from the traditional wet darkroom process, in favor of the DSLR and the inkjet printer. However, if you have ever watched a silver-gelatin print developing in a darkroom tray, you will probably never forget the feeling of watching an image bloom on a blank piece of paper right before your eyes.
Although black-and-white papers are vulnerable to daylight until "fixed," a certain amount of "safe" light is allowed in the darkroom. It is this amber, red or green light (contingent on the sensitivity of the particular enlarging paper you’re using) that allows us to find our way around while we prepare to print. 
Proper ventilation is essential in a darkroom. Chemicals, especially fixer (hypo) and acetic acid (stop bath), give off strong fumes that can be disturbing, can aggravate respiratory ailments and are extremely unhealthy in a non-ventilated space. 
It is important to mention at this point that print quality is more a factor of the negative than it is of the equipment used to print. Remember what Ansel Adams said: “The negative is the score. The print is the performance.” That says it all. It is very difficult to get a satisfactory print from a bad negative.
A contact printer (or proofer) is a kind of easel that enables you to make a sheet of thumbnail prints from a roll of film that has been cut into strips, usually containing six images per strip for 35mm film and three or four images per strip for medium-format negatives.
Though the choices are fewer than they were just a few years back, there are still a number of black and white enlarging papers available to satisfy the printing needs of both amateurs and hypo-stained chemical darkroom diehards.
Like their black-and-white counterparts, the number of color enlarging papers available in sheet and roll form is limited compared to the number of offerings that were available before the advent of digital inkjet printers.
A paper safe can save time, effort and the cost and aggravation of having to replace a box of fogged photo printing paper. Imagine going into the darkroom to make ONE print and having to open a brand new box of printing paper. Just as you open it, someone comes in to your darkroom and turns on the room light!
As an engine is the heart of a car, an enlarger is the heart of a darkroom. It is the instrument through which negatives are brought to life. Along with a good lens, it is the enlarger around which the rest of the darkroom is built.
As the name implies, a timer is what controls the length of an exposure. A timer can be something as simple as a watch or as complex as a high-end multi-functional digital timer. The advantage of an electronic timer is that it can be connected to the enlarger’s lamp house. 
An easel holds the printing paper flat beneath the enlarger. Easels come in many sizes and varieties: two-bladed, four-bladed, borderless and speed easels. A good easel can make printing easy, while a bad one can be a nightmare.
For previewing black-and-white, color negative or slide film, there is nothing more convenient and comfortable than being able to examine images through a high-quality loupe atop a precise, color-controlled light box. In this way, a photographer can determine which of a series of images is the best composed or sharpest, or which contains subtleties of light or expression that the others lack.
Despite the shrinking availability of black-and-white films and papers, the chemistry available that’s required to process black-and-white film and paper remains virtually untouched since the heyday of what we now refer to as “traditional” photographic processing.
Nowadays color printing is primarily the domain of commercial labs. But there are still a number of photo enthusiasts producing high-quality color prints in the temperature-controlled environs of their home darkrooms. Happily for them, the film- and paper-processing chemistry they need is still available for purchase by the ounce as well as by the drum.
Most people do not have a permanently installed darkroom space. If you are fortunate enough to own a house or an apartment with the appropriate space and configuration and can dedicate an entire room, walk-in closet or “the room under the stairs” to printing, you are ahead of the game.
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