Hey ! this video it is so educative ! Thank you :) Do you have the file of your RGB and GREY density ? Im interested to print them for my darkroom
@koraks99395 ай бұрын
Hi Thomas, thanks so much for your comment! Hah, to my own surprise, I actually do still have that file! I've put it up for download on my website: tinker.koraks.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Color-calibration-chart-120114-scaled.jpg If the link doesn't work, just go over to my blog at tinker.koraks.nl and fill in the contact form, and I'll send you the file in response.
@ThomasTessierStudio5 ай бұрын
The link work ! Thank you so much ! Have great week end :) @@koraks9939
@kcjoey6 ай бұрын
Thank you Korak for your patient and clear video tutorial here. I’m printing RA4 at home and am recently taking a hack with homemade chemistry from scratch!
@koraks99396 ай бұрын
Thanks so much! I'd be very happy to hear about your experiences with home-made chemistry!
@bobprendergast3888 ай бұрын
Great video! I do room temp RA4 tray development too, and have has really good success with it.
@aantonic9 ай бұрын
but when i do printing in jobo drum i put 100ml but was told to dump it after a print. so how can u reuse it so much
@koraks99399 ай бұрын
Well, there are essentially two ways of using RA4 developer. The first is 'one shot', i.e. use it once and then discard it. This is what you've been doing, and it works really well when using drums, since you only use a little developer every time and the results are always consistent (assuming good temperature control). The other way is to use a much bigger volume of developer and to replenish that in order to keep its level of activity constant. While it is probably difficult to get *perfectly* constant developer activity in a small volume that's used intermittently (ask the people at FUJIFILM!), my experience is that it's plenty good enough to allow for predictable print-to-print consistency. Keep in mind that replenishment is also the way the developer is used in big labs, where the vast majority of this chemistry is used. You might say that the chemistry is actually designed to be used this way, so it's only logical (in my view) to translate this practice to a home lab setting. It's also vastly more efficient; if I were to use 100ml of developer for every print, I'd easily go through several liters of developer in a single session - while the same session and number of prints only requires 100-200ml or replenisher! If you want to experiment with replenishment while using drums, I would recommend the following: * Mix a certain volume (let's say 1 or 2 liters) of working strength developer and store it in a large bottle. Ensure the bottle (preferably glass or PET) is entirely full between sessions and tightly capped so no oxygen can enter it. * When developing a print, take 100ml from this volume, use it in your tank, and then put it back into the large bottle with the rest of the developer. * Once ever 5-10 prints, replenish the developer in the bottle as per the manufacturer's instructions. E.g. FUJIFILM give fairly clear guidelines for how much replenishment is needed for how much paper that's being processed; this generally works out at roughly 100-175ml per square meter of paper developed. This is the way I've always used by RA4 developer, in both trays and a roller processor - and very occasionally drums (but they're not my preferred workflow). When stored properly, used regularly and replenished as needed, the developer will remain in working condition for a very long time, and in principle indefinitely.
@MateuszMazurkiewicz9 ай бұрын
Great video Koraks! There is one thing I can't wrap my mind around... why do you need positive image? My first thought was that it should be negative, since you want to harden dark areas to print them. Do you think this process can be done with classic film negatives?
@koraks99399 ай бұрын
Thanks Mateusz! Very kind of you! You need a positive because you need to harden the areas on the polymer plate that will become the light areas with little/no ink in the final print. If you use a classic film, negative, you'll encounter two issues: (1) your final print will be a negative as well. (2) film negatives don't have a screen, so dark areas will not hold ink. To solve this, you'll have to invert your negatives; if you want to do this in the darkroom, you could make a positive using e.g. an enlarger and print your negative onto film (something like xray film might work, or a regular ortho B&W film) and expose the polymer twice: once with the negative and once with a stochastic screen.
@melody3741 Жыл бұрын
I dunno about Fuji but Kodak supports very very specific true monochrome safelights at dim setting. Red incandescent lightbulb wont cut it.
@koraks9939 Жыл бұрын
Red is definitely the wrong color for RA4 safelight, yes. The sweet spot is 595nm off the top of my head, which is a deep orange. However, also today's Kodak papers (insofar/if still made, which is highly doubtful at this point) are quite sensitive altogether, which they need to be to enable digital exposure. I can confirm that Fuji paper also will withstand very minimal exposure to such safelight conditions, but the permissible exposure (without any color shift) is so minimal that I don't bother with it!
@thekarmafarmer608 Жыл бұрын
Excellent! I`m very interested in learning the processing of x-ray film. Can anyone recommend where I might get more info please? I looked up Mytol etc and already hit a wall. Pee
@barrykirsten7517 Жыл бұрын
Loved this video Koraks, including the music, all done to a very high standard. I'm about to try salt printing myself. Thanks for taking the time to produce this helpful tutorial.
@constantinf.5764 Жыл бұрын
For how long can you keep replenishing the developer and blix, do they ever become oversaturated with paper residues? Are the replenishers purchased from Fuji or you concoct your own mix? Also I cannot find anywhere where I can buy Fuji paper and chemistry here in Toronto.
@koraks9939 Жыл бұрын
I have yet to find out how long replenishment can continue, as I'm still working with the same solutions as back when I made that video! So they're now >3 years old. I replenish with the Fuji replenishers I also mixed the initial volumes with. DIY RA4 chemistry is technically possible, but economically not attractive and I doubt you'll ever get the quality of the factory product, especially for the developer. As to sourcing paper and chemistry: this is a major headache for many small-volume users, all around the world. Essentially everyone I talk to about color printing brings this up. Since I'm located in Europe, I wouldn't know where to look in Toronto...but I suspect that for instance Champion chemistry might be easier to get hold of than Fuji over there, and I wouldn't hesitate to give that a try. As to paper, you could try contacting digital print service providers that use RA4 products, since they're essentially using the same stuff we do. Some of them may be willing to order an extra roll of paper for you, or share names of distributors or retailers with you. Most of us rely on this kind of informal networking to source our materials.
@constantinf.5764 Жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 Thankfully at least it will be always possible to make own B&W materials and chemistry or color carbon and hopefully the digital photo paper process does not stop soon. There is B&H Photo in NYC nearby selling rolls of Fuji paper but the RA4 chemistry cannot be shipped for some reason.
@koraks9939 Жыл бұрын
@@constantinf.5764 Shipping chemistry is sometimes problematic due to H&S rules of the shipping companies. You might want to check on Photrio for sources in Canada for color chemistry; I think it has been discussed there recently as well, but can't recall the specifics.
@constantinf.5764 Жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 yes we're just discussing it there now.
@chrisdyer1971 Жыл бұрын
Hi there great and informative do you have the 2nd video for photopolymer printing?
@koraks9939 Жыл бұрын
Hi Chris, thanks! Sure, here's part 2: kzread.info/dash/bejne/falqr818YKfdoMY.html And part 3 is here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nK2huJtsYdbTe5M.html
@domi78592 жыл бұрын
me who still has agfa color paper :)
@x53LL332 жыл бұрын
Did you ever end up documenting a the LED source for the durst 138? or make the improved version? Would love to try it myself
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Not yet, it's still on my to do list though!
@b69838322 жыл бұрын
Nothing is harder than getting a roll of Kodak paper in Europe these days. I admit that Fuji DP II is a very good paper, but it is the only one available. Of course there is Fuji CA, but it is not up to my standards. Sometimes I would like have those "Kodak colors" in my prints. I am aware of the problems Kodak had some 10 years ago when people thought there will be no more analog photography. Nowadays, they would sell 10 times more their Portra 400 than they can produce.
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Yeah, it's a pity and very frustrating about the Kodak paper. I understand that Kodak divested their paper business to a Chinese party and that this may have something to do with the supply problems, but I havent looked into it very deeply I admit. I did at some point (about one year ago) contact Kodak with the question if/when Endura would be available in Europe again, but never received a response. Now that I've got my new darkroom set up, I might try polling my regular supplier once more, but I'm not very hopeful. Like you said, sometimes I just want those Kodak colors. The blues and reds of Fuji don't compare to Endura.
@escritoriodecristal2 жыл бұрын
Great video! Do you have any favorite fuji paper? Glossy, lustre or matte ? Planning on buying but not Shure Wich way to go ✌🏻
@caymmitb12 жыл бұрын
Thank you, very informative video! if you had the availability would you use a calibration device? I am getting into RA4 printing and wonder wether i should use the calibrator in the beggining or learn the basics first. Another question I would like to ask is wether you have changed developer, I havent been able to find the MP90 in european retailers in the searches i did, only MP108 and in the long run I dont think i can afford to go the tetenal small kit route. Best regards, ct
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
If by calibration device you mean a color analyzer: it's not a necessity, really. Some people prefer using one, but I sold mine off because I didn't use them. As to the developer: the MP108 will work fine! All the Fuji MPxx developers should work more or less identically for a home user in trays. The main difference is the rate of replenishment; refer to the manufacturer's product sheet for more information, but as I recall, MP108 would require replenishment of 108ml per square meter of processed paper. However, I'd replenish more than that when using open trays for development as it wears down the developer a bit faster.
@caymmitb12 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 Yes thats what i meant! Thank you very much for your answer, ill go that route when im done with the tetenal. I recently got myself two rolls of supreme but seeing that I will probably sell most of one to a darkroom acquaintance and that I intend to use at least 200 sheets for contact prints I might find myself needing more paper sometime this year. I am also curious about the fancy fuji (maxima), i might try to comment here again when im ready for more paper, as joining for roll ordering seems to be the way to go (and being in austria im not so far away i imagine). Best regards!
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
@@caymmitb1 sounds good! I'd love to try the maxima as well, but I probably won't as it only comes in large rolls - too large for my taste. I prefer 30.5cm rolls and maxima doesn't come in that size.
@xpost922 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this, really great video and HELPFUL! Your comments re paper are very interesting to me. I have found the same thing with Fuji paper, seems thin and blacks not ideal. I’m going to get some rolls. Do the rolls come with a black plastic cover like the sheets? How do you manage to put the roll on the rod and then light seal? Thank you 🙏🏼
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Thanks! The rolls come in a different packaging than cut sheets. Rolls come in a box, inside the box is a bag of heavy brown paper lined on the inside with a matte black polymer. If you're careful you can maintain the integrity of the bag and store a roll you've already partially used in it. For storage of a roll between cutting sessions I generally make a box with a tight fitting lid out of scrap carboard that's easy to open and close in the dark. I store the roll inside the original bag, inside the DIY box. Putting the roll onto the spindle/rod is just a matter of being accustomed to working in the dark. Just set up your stuff on a table with plenty of room to move about and practice once or twice with the lights on. From there it's a matter of fumbling your way through it, but it becomes easier after a few times.
@xpost922 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 excellent thank you. I’ve ordered some rolls. I’ll do exactly that. I’ll cut the sheets and store in the same bags and boxes the cut sheets come in. I cut 100 sheets and put the rest away
@xpost922 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 I just cut my fist roll. Was so hard. Kodak endura is allot better than CA ii. It’s very contrasty and deep blacks. I wonder if there is a paper for skin tones?? Something a little less saturated?
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
@@xpost92 I'm not aware of any less saturated papers than crystal Archive. You'd have to fix the 'problem' elsewhere, particularly in choice of film and how you light your subject. Great to hear you got it to work though!
@xpost922 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 yeah seems that way. Only one kind of paper. Fuji CA cut sheets are absolutely less saturated than endura but they aren’t much good
@estovaono2 жыл бұрын
Man i cant thank you enough for this priceless information!
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Hey, that's great to hear! :)
@JasonRenoux2 жыл бұрын
Korak, you're a print wizard, seriously. I hope you're well. I see the last comments are 10 months ago. You won a Like and a Subscriber. And if I may say, that print is Etsy material if you catch my drift 😉 Will go look at your channel now. All the best 🤙🏻
@alexinnewwest18602 жыл бұрын
Hey that was very well explained! I’d love to see how you go about mixing your chemistry, since your not buying the off the shelf ra-4 kits $$$
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Well, the Fuji chemistry I use is actually off the shelf; it's just not the small consumer-targeted amounts sold by regular shops. So mixing is straightforward and in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications. I use the developer without starter, but instead run some paper through a fresh batch of developer to season it. But I virtually never make a fresh batch; instead I simply replenish my working stock. My present working solution has been in use (with frequent replenishment) for 2 years or so.
@alexinnewwest18602 жыл бұрын
Ah thanks so much! Do you know what this fuji kit is called or have a photo? I’m fairly new to ra-4 and have only used the off shelf tetinal kits. How do you replenish a developing solution and how do you know when to add to it plus how to check it Thanks again
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
@@alexinnewwest1860 I don't have a photo at hand, but it's just generic minilab RA4 chemistry from Fuji. I think they sell it under the 'Enviroprint' name mostly these days. There are several variants; I think I'm using MP160 but it could also be MP90. Consult the FujiFilm website for current products: www.fujifilm.com/us/en/business/photofinishing/photographic-chemicals/ra-4 I think catalog number 600006061 is currently the most sensible choice for the home user. Mixing instructions also available through the Fuji website: asset.fujifilm.com/master/americas/files/2020-02/461c7d5f54febef296373ae9b79e5c54/600006061.pdf Replenishment rates are also indicated, but I tend to err on the side of safety with this and replenish more than indicated by Fuji. Having a decent pH meter at hand is also a good idea especially as your chemistry ages, as it may drift in pH.
@alexinnewwest18602 жыл бұрын
Thanks again for your help. I’ll look into that. Hopefully here in Canada Fuji is friendly about selling to the public. How do you like Kodak paper? That metallic paper sounds interesting Alex
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
@@alexinnewwest1860 Oh, there's no chance at all you'll get a response from Fuji. Your best bet is to try a retailer that sells to consumers. Btw, you're by no means limited to Fuji chemistry. If in Canada for instance Champion chemistry is easier to get, give it a try. As to Kodak paper: I love it! The only major problem I have with it is that it's currently so difficult to get here in Europe...I have not tried the metallic, but I very much liked the regular Endura. Very nice and saturated colors. I'd also very much like to try Fuji's Maxima paper, but sadly it only comes in somewhat larger rolls, while I prefer to print small.
@andrewbroekhuijsen67702 жыл бұрын
Really nice video and great print. Did you take the time to calibrate your exposure, negative density, etc?
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Thanks Andrew! No, I didn't do any calibrations other than that I know from experience how much exposure I need to get good dmax on the print. I just make sure to develop sufficiently to get enough contrast in the negative. I do this based on experience rather than measurement. It worked in the 1880s, it still works today :)
@simonmatthee38772 жыл бұрын
Great video - I've got supplies on the way and I'm keen to try this out - initially directly from 120 film (small I know) and eventually larger format when I get the equipment/experience. Quick question - at about 12:30 you're applying what looks like masking tape and wetting it with a sponge - what is happening there and is that normal tape? Many thanks, Simon
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Simon, that sounds good! Actually you can make very nice little prints from 120 film negatives. I've done so multiple times myself. Matted and framed they're really nice. As to the tape: it's gummed paper tape, which is used by watercolorists to tape their paper to the easel/board. It works very well to dry prints (also fiber based gelatin prints) perfectly flat.
@simonmatthee38772 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 thanks! Appreciate the response 👍
@hakfin3 жыл бұрын
hi nice demonstration. I have one question. I had good results making albumen and salt prints, but they were fading away during fixing. I was using Ilford rapid fixer. Any idea why? tnx
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thank you; the problem of fading is usually either because of insufficient exposure of the print, or too strong fixer. Since you're using a rapid fixer, try diluting it 1+20 or so instead of the normal, stronger paper or film dilutions.
@hakfin3 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 thanks, i tried diluted fixer, but 1:10... still in search of sodium thiosulfate, which is hard to find here, in Macedonia, or i need ton of paperwork to import it :) tnx keep up the good work
@sebastianprzybya59663 жыл бұрын
Does the citric acid used in preparation rinse out of the paper particularly easy? Do you have any way of reintroducing base buffers into the paper?
@RobertoRodriguez-gg6ei3 жыл бұрын
Great video, has helped immensely. How do you store the large paper rolls?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Many thanks, I'm glad it was a helpful video! Well, the rolls I use aren't all that big (considering that larger sizes such as 16"+ width are pretty common), and that helps with the storage issues. What I usually do is carefully open the plastic-coated cardboard bags the Fuji rolls come in so that I can roll them back up when I put a roll back into it. Still, I find these bags tend to suffer from pinholes, so I usually also create a cardboard box from some scrap cardboard or boxes, and if I feel like it, I'll even tape tinfoil into the inside. The boxes I make are two-part boxes with a lid fitting over the lower half so I can conveniently work with the boxes in the dark. This works better than the default folded 'lids' of cardboard boxes which will always have several seams running across them. So it just takes some scrap cardboard boxes (the heavier the cardboard, the better), some sturdy tape and a knife to put something together that works OK.
@RobertoRodriguez-gg6ei3 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 thanks, appreciate all the information.
@NasserAlhameli3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the informative vid!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
You're welcome, and many thanks for your kind words!
@Aesthetic_Voyager3 жыл бұрын
Hi, I’m hoping you can clarify a little further on how the chemistry is able to be kept at room temperature. Is it just the time spent developing the print needs to be longer? Or is there more to it than that? Everything I’ve read online stresses that a specific temp must be maintained so I’m curious how this works Thank you for making this video!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Hi Laura, thanks for asking and thanks for your compliment! In my experience simply extending the development time is sufficient to deal with the lower temperatures than officially stated. It is possible that color balance and print to print consistency suffer marginally when not adhering to official processing parameters, so if you're doing color-critical work (art reproduction, fashion photography with the requirement that the photos perfectly match the real life garments etc), this may not be for you, but for general purpose photography (landscape, portraiture etc) I have not seen any grave issues.
@johnramalhete53653 жыл бұрын
WHERE DO YOU GET THE PAPER
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
A German seller (I'm in Europe). You could check ebay as well, some sellers also retail through it.
@johnramalhete53653 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 what is the roll paper called
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@johnramalhete5365 there are many types, but the paper I used in the video is Fuji Crystal Archive Supreme HD Digital. If you leave out the "supreme hd digital" you get a paper that also works just fine.
@johnramalhete53653 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 Thank you i did not know that you could use a digital paper in the darkroom I will have to rethink everything I know about paper and I will have to try some
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@johnramalhete5365 Many papers these days are labeled 'digital', but I have not yet found any reference that they couldn't be used in the darkroom as well/despite this. Also my own experience with the paper I mentioned as well as with Kodak Royal digital suggests that it works just fine. For all I know the main characteristic of 'digital' paper is that they allow for very short exposures (in the millisecond range or perhaps even faster), which is what digital RA4 printing machines tend to do: they 'scan' the paper very rapidly with a laser which exposes individual pixel-sized dots on the paper and as a consequence, the exposure that each site receives is extremely short. Papers had to be re-engineered for this to make them less susceptible to color shifts with extremely short exposures (essentially a form of reciprocity failure). For the longer (several seconds) exposures that we use in the darkroom, it doesn't seem to make a difference. Please note that the above applies to 'digital' RA4 papers. There is of course also a plethora of inkjet and laser printer papers out there, but those obviously don't work in the darkroom as they are not RA4 papers!
@copybaste26373 жыл бұрын
Hey! Amazing video! Super helpful! I still have some questions though, You mentioned that you’re using the Fuji MP90 developer, but I can’t seem to find it online (in order to purchase). It would be super helpful if you can point me in the right direction: the full set of chemistry that you’re using (links to where to buy them) and instructions on how to mix them, replenishing instructions and basically a dummy prof step by step guide of the exact steps so I could recreate your process Thank you for spending the time in making this video! I really appreciate it!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Hello Copy & Baste, many thanks for your compliment! I understand your question, but it's a tricky one to answer, mostly because what chemistry is available to you depends a lot on your location and also on current market conditions. However, the good news is that it likely isn't very critical. Whether you use Fuji MP90 or MP160 or any of the other Fuji MP series (MP108, MP73, MP60 etc), doesn't really matter - and actually, it will also work quite the same if you use Kodak, Champion or whatever other RA4 chemistry you can get your hands on. If you're really determined to use the exact same kind of chemistry I do, I think your best bet is to keep an eye on eBay. There are a few sellers who sell the Fuji chemistry and you can verify which is which by looking (or asking) for the Fuji catalog numbers. The developer I used in this video is the MP90 developer which currently seems to have catalog number 995472 (or sometimes called XC 995472). I'm not sure if it's still being made; the current Fuji Catalog doesn't mention it, so I would suggest switching to one of the other developers (MP60/73/108/160). For the Bleach-Fix, the same story applies: any RA4 bleach-fix will do fine. You can even use differents brand of developer and bleach fix in the same process, so e.g. Kodak developer and Fuji bleach-fix will work just fine alongside each other. For the Fuji chemistry, the current product catalog seems to be here: www.fujifilm.eu/fileadmin/content/content/photofinishing/Phototerminals/download/Uptodate_documents_10-2020/PL_RA4_Minilab_E01_09-20.pdf And all mixing, measurement and conditioning information can be obtained from this document: www.fujifilm.eu/fileadmin/countries/europe/products/Photo_Imaging/Chemicals/Photochemicals_RA4/TB_RA4_E17_09-13.pdf (this also explains the difference between the various products). For the MP-series developers, the dilution is always 1+4, so one part developer concentrate and add 4 parts water (see pages 18-19 from the Fuji Process RA4 document; second link). Notice that Fuji gives instructions to mix replenisher and 'tank' solutions - the latter is intended for setting up a fresh batch of chemistry before replenishment is commenced, and it includes a starter and has a lower dilution than the replenisher. I always just mix the replenisher (no starter) and season the initial batch of developer by running some paper through it. If you want to do it by the book, also buy the starter liquid and mix the 'tank' solution. For the bleach-fix, Fuji mentions various dilutions depending on the specific product used, but in my experience it isn't critical in the least. In fact, I never really measure it and just add a dash of concentrate then I intuitively feel like it may be a good idea. So I'm afraid this isn't the detailed recipe you were asking for, and the primary reasons for this are that (1) it's not as critical as some people make you believe it is (but this may get me into trouble ;)...) and (2) there is quite a wide range of products available and what you use depends on what you can get your hands on, and then study the technical documents/guidelines for the product you chose to get the right information on things like dilution etc. If you're looking for something that comes as close as possible to a detailed guideline, I'd suggest looking into Kodak Flexicolor RA4 RT ('Roller Transport') chemistry and then gleaning as much information as you can from for example threads on Photrio from people who use this; here's a good start: www.photrio.com/forum/threads/list-of-color-chemicals-and-where-to-get-them.79069 (lots of information here!) So long story short, I don't recommend trying to get your hands in the *exact* kind of chemistry that I used in this video. In fact, I wouldn't even try this myself. Instead, look for what RA4 developer and BLIX/Bleach-Fix you can obtain easily and at reasonable cost where you are located, and then work from there. If you have any additional questions, please let me know!
@copybaste26373 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 wow! I’m speechless. Thank you for the super detailed response! I guess there’s no replacement to experimentation and trial & error, but since there are so many variables I’m a little intimidated/overwhelmed. I just backed the Kickstarter campaign for the new intrepid enlarger (that’s also using LEDs) and I’m trying to learn as much as I can before it gets here. I think I’ll start with B&W prints and once I feel comfortable with that I’ll work my way to colour. Thank you again! You may be hearing from me again when I start experimenting! :) (Is there a better way to reach out to you other than these comments?)
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@copybaste2637 I'm interested to hear about your experiences with the Intrepid light source; I came across it before you posted your comment as well and it looked like a very convenient way to step into color enlarging, albeit with the drawback of having to use a camera as an enlarger, which seems a bit cumbersome to me. Although perhaps it's actually possible to fit their light source onto a regular enlarger and thereby circumvent the inherent limitations of a large format camera in an enlarger role. As to reaching out to me: I try to keep an eye on KZread comments, so that's a relatively easy way to get in touch with me. In case a discussion evolves that really necessitates another mode of communication, we can always switch over to another channel. You could also register on the photrio.com forums and send me a personal message there; it's not necessarily quicker than KZread, but photrio has the obvious benefit of being the virtual home to lots more people with knowledge of photography, so you could more easily tap into that resource as well. I'd recommend it!
@copybaste26373 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 Hey! I was referring to the new Intrepid colour enlarger, that should become available around September, and not the existing large format B&W enlarger. But as soon as I get my hands on it I will message you with my experience and thoughts! I’m actually thinking of experimenting with arduino (a small electrical controller board). I’m thinking to connect the controller to a temperature sensor and heating pads which I will attach to a development tray and see if I can keep the temperature steady that way. I wonder how come there’s no heated development tray available on the market... Also, do you know of a scientific way of determining if a chemical (developer/fixer, etc) has been exhausted? I’m trying to figure out what other types of sensors I can hook up to the controller (such as a PH sensor and the like) to be able to monitor specific attributes of the chemicals so I won’t need to guess if they are still good or not?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@copybaste2637 Yes, I know the product you're referring to. It's essentially a monorail camera mounted on a tripod, so essentially more a camera than a proper enlarger. Try and get your film plane and baseboard (which essentially isn't present in the kit) parallel - good luck with that! It's nice that it can be disassembled and stored efficiently, but it's just not really a proper enlarger IMO. Still, I'm sure it'll work OK. Concerning your arduino-controlled development tray (I'm familiar with Arduino and in fact my current enlarger uses a Nano as its CPU, although the next version will depart from this approach): yes, that will work fine. It's not very difficult to do. Getting absolutely perfect temperature stability may be difficult, but it will also not be crucial I think. A temperature variation of a degree or so is most likely going to be entirely acceptable. You might want to do some napkin calculations to determine how much heating power you need for a given tray size and liquid volume. Why is there no heated tray on the market? Probably because anyone who buys something like this off the shelf simply grabs a Jobo rotary processor. It does the same thing AND adds automated agitation and (depending on the model) automated fill & drain. But a simple temperature-controlled tray is perfectly feasible and might be useful. Personally I get good results at room temperature so I don't see the need for this, but if you want to cut development time by 50% and/or really want to stick to official RA4 processing parameters, it's a good approach. About determining chemical activity through some kind of automated analysis: alas, there's no shortcut here. Yes, it will be feasible to automate your pH measurements, but those only tell a tiny part of the story and I doubt if it's worthwhile to automate the process of sticking an off-the shelf $20 pH meter into your tray once in a while. Issues such as oxidation and actual developer activity, let alone its ability to reach consistent color balance, are simply not feasible to measure in a DIY fashion. In principle anything can be done, but this one 99% certain isn't going to be worthwhile to pursue. Note that high-volume labs also don't do this; they simply stick by the replenishment rates prescribed by the chemicals manufacturer combined with regular processing of control strips (e.g. at the beginning of each working day).
@marcogiai-coletti3543 жыл бұрын
Beautiful
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thank you Marco!
@milesmetcalfe943 жыл бұрын
I would be super interested in reading that document you mention about the enlarger conversion to LED as well as how you use the RGB for printing as all the other information I have found is about CMY. I haven’t found too much information with people talking about using additive colour for enlarging other than people arguing in forums without ever actually having used it.
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Hi Miles, here's the link where I discuss the internals of the RGB enlarger: www.photrio.com/forum/threads/craziness-using-leds-to-print-ra4-and-b-w.171911/ I'm currently working on a new and improved version, but work is slow ;)
@carlesaraguz3 жыл бұрын
Very comprehensive and informative video, thank you very much!! One thing surprised me a lot though. I've certainly never seen anything like an LED-powered enlarger but it blows my mind to learn that you use it for color processing! What kind of LED light source do you use? Is it like an RBG LED that you have calibrated yourself?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Hi Carles, many thanks for your kind words! Yes, the LED enlarger works quite well. I have made the light source of separate red, green and blue LEDs, with the blue ones having their emission peak around 425nm and the red ones are 650nm LEDs. With integrated RGB light sources there can be color problems because the blue is generally around 450-460nm and the reds are usually 620nm, which does not seem to align well with the response curve of the paper. However, if you read the comments of @Matthias Hägström, he reports good results with a smartphone-app controlled RGB video light. I'm currently working on a new version of my light controller, but because I want it to be significantly better than the current version, this involves re-engineering the entire system from the ground up, so it has been taking quite some time!
@carlesaraguz3 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 Awesome!! I'll be following your progress then :) Thanks for sharing your insight
@mattiashaggstrom20493 жыл бұрын
Do you have any experience using Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper Digital Paper Type DPII for analog development?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
No, I haven't tried this particular paper, but I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work. I have tried other papers that are 'for digital' (Kodak Royal and Fuji Crystal Archive Supreme HD) and they worked fine for 'analog' development.
@peteg.4633 жыл бұрын
This video was awesome. A long time ago I did b/w and now I want to try color. I always used to think it was way too complicated but this video really made it VERY clear!! Now I just need to find a good enlarger!! I will use this video as my guide!! Thank You!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
That's great Pete, and indeed, it is perfectly feasible to print color at home! I definitely recommend trying it. Of course, like with anything, there is a learning curve, but this is in my opinion a manageable one. Have fun!
@mattiashaggstrom20493 жыл бұрын
Great video. I have a bw durst 805 and like the idea of a LED light for color filtration. Is is difficult to make the color filtration logic board?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Well, it depends on how you define 'difficult'. If you have a good amount of electronics knowledge, know your way around datasheets of electronic components, are capable of interpreting and drafting (fairly simple) schematics, know the basics of electronics calculus & theory (particularly Ohm's law evidently), know how to code and troubleshoot Arduino code, understand how to build, measure and test a circuit - then it's not necessarily very difficult. But, as you can tell from this list, the challenge is mostly that you need to understand how to integrate knowledge from different domains. It's not really an Ikea-like endeavor in any case...
@mattiashaggstrom20493 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 well that is clearly over my head... Do you know any one who sells something like your controller? I must say that your implementation is awesome. Looks like a Apollo Guidance Computer.
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@mattiashaggstrom2049 To be honest, it took me a couple of months to figure it all out as well. Several of the requirements on that list I didn't meet myself, or only very minimally. I learned a lot from that project...Haha, yes, it does look a bit like somethin from the early space age! The only current product in the market I know of is Heiland's LED units: heilandelectronic.de/led_kaltlicht/lang:en They're apparently wonderful - but also somewhat costly. But if you're looking for something 'plug and play', this would be it!
@mattiashaggstrom20493 жыл бұрын
What do you think of the idea of using a RGB video light such as Aputure LED MC RGBWW? It is just the right size to fit into the light box of my Durst 805. And the color is controlled with app in the phone...
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@mattiashaggstrom2049 It most likely won't work well enough for color, although it might work OK for multigrade B&W. There are three problems with this kind of approach: (1) the spectral peak and purity of the red and the blue leds is usually not a good match for RA4 paper, resulting in insolvable problems with color crossover in prints, (2) the control resolution of the individual channels is likely grossly insufficient for color RA4 printing, meaning that it won't be possible to accurately color balance a print and (3) controlling a light source with an app might sound nice, but in real life when printing RA4 it's a downright nightmare to handle a smartphone with its bright screen while RA4 paper requires total darkness. I'm sorry, there currently seems to be no way to cut corners when it comes to printing color RA4 with leds. Either you have to engineer your own solution from the ground up, or you have to be prepared to invest a fair amount of money into the Heiland system. A third option of course is to see if you can get someone to do this for you as a hobby project, but be warned: it's not an easy task. Most people with sufficient electronics knowledge won't be sufficiently aware of the requirements of RA4 printing, and vice versa.
@vinyljunkie073 жыл бұрын
Great explanation on how to cut the paper rolls, thanks! Personally unless I'm just not seeing it I don't have the black issue with the Fuji Crystal Archive paper but my main gripe with it is as you said the weight of it being so thin and flimsy it's almost see through. I'd like to in the future try a slightly heavier more weighted paper.
@koraks99392 жыл бұрын
Thanks, and yeah, it's nice if a paper is a bit stiffer IMO. Do give it a try!
@mikethenumber13 жыл бұрын
what a great tutorial! i think i might actually give it a go, now.. i´ve been printing black and white for years and always wanted to try color but i just found it a bit daunting. Thank you for doing this video!!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
As you can see, it's not very daunting at all! If you can do b&w, you can do color!
@karlmatthias26983 жыл бұрын
Really good explanations. Your info on the replenished chemistry is helpful. Cheers
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thank you Karl!
@PP-qc4nz3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for this tutorial! Very useful video! I have made already a few dozen color prints so I already know the basics. I really enjoy the color printing and the results. What is problem to me that I still can not control the chemistry(what is the correct replenishing rate, also what is the correct replenisher ratio; I can obtain locally Tetenal minilab chemistry for reasonable price level, but unfortunately can not get a data sheet how to mix and replenish it..). At the moment I am struggling with a slightly reddish brown stain on the papers white surface after developing+bleachfixing. If I only develop the paper or only bleachfix the paper then the whites stay white. Any tip what can cause this?
@user-rh2qy7ud9s3 жыл бұрын
very very useful!!! thanks, i develop at 20℃adn 2min, blix 1min, fine~~~ but i add rinsing after developing 15secs
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Yes, that sounds good!
@jensaks3 жыл бұрын
I studied printmaking in college nearly 50 years ago, when we used a lot of toxic chemicals. I'm hoping to start up again, this time using less dangerous tactics. I have some copper plates I've prepared for etching, and I'm wondering about using photopolymer film on these. I would think it would work fine. My one big issue is how to expose the plates. I don't have the cash to invest in an exposure box, nor the expertise to build one. Any advice as to the cheapest light I could use? I do have a UV nail hardening apparatus I've bought for this purpose, but not sure how much time to give it. My plates are small enough for that (3x5 and 5x7). Advice? Thanks for the great tutorial and your willingness to interact in this way!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thank you for your kind words! It's nice to see you're about to pick up printmaking once again, I hope you succeed! I haven't tried photopolymer in combination with copper plates, but I know of others who worked this way and the results were very good. So it can be done, that's for sure. As to exposure: the nail hardening apparatus may actually work fine for smaller plates. An affordable alternative is a (second hand) face tanner placed at a reasonable distance (let's say 1-2ft) from the plate. The photopolymer doesn't require very intensive exposure, so there's no need for the very high-powered exposure units you'd want for some other printmaking processes (e.g. carbon transfer or salted paper prints). The main concern is collimation; e.g. a face tanner is essentially a rather diffuse light source, and combined with the thickness of the photopolymer film, this makes it hard to accurately expose very fine patterns. Hence my recommendation to allow for considerable distance between the light source and the plate, so that the light is at least collimated somewhat. A true point-source would be preferable - something like a single high-power UV led at a fair distance from the plate should work nicely. But that would probably push you into DIY territory (unless perhaps you can find someone willing to fashion something for you).
@jensaks3 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 thank you so much! I am inspired to give this a try!!
@juljos93433 жыл бұрын
I spoke to you before. I have tried this. I did a plate last night and a strange thing happened. It turned out NEGATIVE. I couldn't understand it, as I said I have done it before and this never happened. Where the dark should be was smooth and vice versa. Any ideas?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Is this in the print? I have had this inversion happen with plates that didn't have a good intaglio pattern. The most apparent issue was so-called 'foul biting' - the dark areas not having enough intaglio pattern to hold the ink. This leads to a partial inversion of the image that is very similar to solarization in silver gelatin prints. The problem in that case can be traced back to exposure or development of the photopolymer, such as insufficient exposure of the photopolymer, too much diffusion of the light source and/or overdevelopment of the photopolymer plate.
@juljos93433 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 No its not in the print. I haven’t printed yet. Its on the plate. All the dark areas are shiny and vice versa. I’m gonna print it tomorrow. But it looks like all the dark area are gonna light and all the light areas are gonna be dark. The prints I did before didn’t have this problem, it was lines, but this is more tones, not line, more light and shade.
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@juljos9343 Ah, that's interesting. I don't recognize the issue off the bat, but printing the plate will probably make the situation clearer. What I also used to do was inspect a freshly made plate with a loupe. The pits and valleys are pretty easy to see under the right light, and with a little experience, you can figure out if a plate is likely to print well, or what the possible causes for any problems are.
@LKNL133 жыл бұрын
Do you have an Instagram?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Hi, and thanks for your earlier compliment! No, I don't have instagram and I rarely post any of my photos online. If I do, it's mostly examples/illustrations. I have nothing against instagram etc, but there's too many other things that I like too... ;)
@LKNL133 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 No worries! I bought some Kodak paper in rolls so this has helped me with your little contraption roll off and cut so I'm going to build something similar myself! No problem hahah I rarely post online either to be honest, you just seem like a cool honest dude hahah
@MR-go7vx3 жыл бұрын
hi Korak, found your video so useful. I was looking at the best way to cut rolls in the dark myself so it was great to see your set up. Very smart! One question. How high is your paper holder? Thanks a lot!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thank you! I measured the most critical dimension of the holder, which is the distance between the central axle and the lower brace, which dictates the maximum roll diameter that can be accommodated. It's 20cm, which is sufficient for the 88 meter rolls that I use.
@MR-go7vx3 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 thanks a lot! Very useful to know!
@unpocodeluz_atill3 жыл бұрын
Great video. I watched in other videos that some people don't use stop bath between developer and blix. Is It necessary?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thanks! No, a stop bath is not necessary, but it prevents the pH of the blix rising too much as developer is carried over into the blix. Usually this shouldn't be a problem if the blix is replenished sufficiently. I'm a bit sloppy with replenishment, so I prefer to use a stop bath to ensure good blix life.
@atroche19783 жыл бұрын
Wow! What a great video! One of the most detailed videos on color printing that I've seen so far.
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thanks! That's what I set out to do!
@flavioserci60463 жыл бұрын
Hi.. great video. I have some problem with the developer. One day diluted developer gives me red prints. No greens, no blu.. only reddish. I've tried with the cyan maximum filter and no yellow and no magenta. My prints don't change. is it possible? What do you think?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Hi Flavio, thank you for your comment! The problem you describe is often/usually caused not by the development, but during exposure. Many enlargers such as the Durst types have a switch that allows you to remove the filters from the light path. Without filtration, RA4 prints tend to come out the way you describe: entirely red/magenta with no other colors. Changing filtration doesn't help because the filters aren't in the light path, so it looks like the problem isn't related to filtration, while in reality, it is. So the first thing to check is if your enlarger has this kind of switch/lever and ensure that it is in the correct position.
@flavioserci60463 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 Thank you very much. Filtration was ok because I use the gelatin filters. The strange thing is that when the developer is just mixed I have good prints with the same filtration.
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@flavioserci6046 Okay, that makes things a little clearer yet. What's the pH of the developer when it is fresh and after a day? How do you store the developer in the meantime? Do you replenish it, and if so, by how much?
@flavioserci60463 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 I've just found my mistake. I was following a old guide about cibachrome printing..and... It's the opposite technique about filtering!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@flavioserci6046 ah, that explains a lot! Hopefully it all works now!
@LKNL133 жыл бұрын
This is great thanks so much!
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thanks, glad to hear!
@jin93113 жыл бұрын
Hello. I am a Korean subscriber. Nothing else, I'm using a Bristol watercolor and 240g of paper, but when exposed to UV rays, the image is partially invisible. I think it's a problem when brushing the paper. What paper do you print on?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Thank you for your message! I'm sorry to hear about your troubles getting an even coating. I personally print mostly on etching papers because they have only modest sizing and therefore just the right degree of absorbance to liquids for good coating. Also, I found it impossible to get a perfectly even coating with brushes, at least for the step where the silver nitrate is applied on top of the already present salt coat. As soon as the silver nitrate solution comes into contact with the salt, insoluble silver chloride is created, and when brushes are used, this silver chloride is effectively brushed around the paper, making it end up in an uneven pattern across the paper. I know that some get good results when e.g. brushing with balls of cotton wool (e.g. Borut Peterlin seems to be doing this), but I prefer a puddle pusher/coating rod. This gives me the best/most even coating with good density. For best results, I pick a paper with a fine surface texture, but not too shiny. The paper needs to have a bit of 'tooth' to it, without being coarse in texture.
@NH-bm9vy3 жыл бұрын
Excellent tutorial; super helpful, thank you Koraks!
@juljos93433 жыл бұрын
I tried it. I'm having problems getting the right mix of the soda solution. Any advice?
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
Can you give some more information on what problems you're running into? The soda concentration is not very critical, as long as you use the same concentration for all your plate development and adjust the development procedure to it.
@juljos93433 жыл бұрын
@@koraks9939 The problem is, I can't get the same concentration every time. Every time I make a new mix its slightly different. I have no way of measuring it. Anyway Once that's done, I don't know if its right until I go to the inking part, then I can see where the ink will take or not.
@koraks99393 жыл бұрын
@@juljos9343 ah well, then the answer is simple: get a scale and a graduate. Both can be had for little money. Very high accuracy isn't required, so a cheap digital scale from the internet and a plastic graduate from the store will do fine.
Пікірлер
Hey ! this video it is so educative ! Thank you :) Do you have the file of your RGB and GREY density ? Im interested to print them for my darkroom
Hi Thomas, thanks so much for your comment! Hah, to my own surprise, I actually do still have that file! I've put it up for download on my website: tinker.koraks.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Color-calibration-chart-120114-scaled.jpg If the link doesn't work, just go over to my blog at tinker.koraks.nl and fill in the contact form, and I'll send you the file in response.
The link work ! Thank you so much ! Have great week end :) @@koraks9939
Thank you Korak for your patient and clear video tutorial here. I’m printing RA4 at home and am recently taking a hack with homemade chemistry from scratch!
Thanks so much! I'd be very happy to hear about your experiences with home-made chemistry!
Great video! I do room temp RA4 tray development too, and have has really good success with it.
but when i do printing in jobo drum i put 100ml but was told to dump it after a print. so how can u reuse it so much
Well, there are essentially two ways of using RA4 developer. The first is 'one shot', i.e. use it once and then discard it. This is what you've been doing, and it works really well when using drums, since you only use a little developer every time and the results are always consistent (assuming good temperature control). The other way is to use a much bigger volume of developer and to replenish that in order to keep its level of activity constant. While it is probably difficult to get *perfectly* constant developer activity in a small volume that's used intermittently (ask the people at FUJIFILM!), my experience is that it's plenty good enough to allow for predictable print-to-print consistency. Keep in mind that replenishment is also the way the developer is used in big labs, where the vast majority of this chemistry is used. You might say that the chemistry is actually designed to be used this way, so it's only logical (in my view) to translate this practice to a home lab setting. It's also vastly more efficient; if I were to use 100ml of developer for every print, I'd easily go through several liters of developer in a single session - while the same session and number of prints only requires 100-200ml or replenisher! If you want to experiment with replenishment while using drums, I would recommend the following: * Mix a certain volume (let's say 1 or 2 liters) of working strength developer and store it in a large bottle. Ensure the bottle (preferably glass or PET) is entirely full between sessions and tightly capped so no oxygen can enter it. * When developing a print, take 100ml from this volume, use it in your tank, and then put it back into the large bottle with the rest of the developer. * Once ever 5-10 prints, replenish the developer in the bottle as per the manufacturer's instructions. E.g. FUJIFILM give fairly clear guidelines for how much replenishment is needed for how much paper that's being processed; this generally works out at roughly 100-175ml per square meter of paper developed. This is the way I've always used by RA4 developer, in both trays and a roller processor - and very occasionally drums (but they're not my preferred workflow). When stored properly, used regularly and replenished as needed, the developer will remain in working condition for a very long time, and in principle indefinitely.
Great video Koraks! There is one thing I can't wrap my mind around... why do you need positive image? My first thought was that it should be negative, since you want to harden dark areas to print them. Do you think this process can be done with classic film negatives?
Thanks Mateusz! Very kind of you! You need a positive because you need to harden the areas on the polymer plate that will become the light areas with little/no ink in the final print. If you use a classic film, negative, you'll encounter two issues: (1) your final print will be a negative as well. (2) film negatives don't have a screen, so dark areas will not hold ink. To solve this, you'll have to invert your negatives; if you want to do this in the darkroom, you could make a positive using e.g. an enlarger and print your negative onto film (something like xray film might work, or a regular ortho B&W film) and expose the polymer twice: once with the negative and once with a stochastic screen.
I dunno about Fuji but Kodak supports very very specific true monochrome safelights at dim setting. Red incandescent lightbulb wont cut it.
Red is definitely the wrong color for RA4 safelight, yes. The sweet spot is 595nm off the top of my head, which is a deep orange. However, also today's Kodak papers (insofar/if still made, which is highly doubtful at this point) are quite sensitive altogether, which they need to be to enable digital exposure. I can confirm that Fuji paper also will withstand very minimal exposure to such safelight conditions, but the permissible exposure (without any color shift) is so minimal that I don't bother with it!
Excellent! I`m very interested in learning the processing of x-ray film. Can anyone recommend where I might get more info please? I looked up Mytol etc and already hit a wall. Pee
Loved this video Koraks, including the music, all done to a very high standard. I'm about to try salt printing myself. Thanks for taking the time to produce this helpful tutorial.
For how long can you keep replenishing the developer and blix, do they ever become oversaturated with paper residues? Are the replenishers purchased from Fuji or you concoct your own mix? Also I cannot find anywhere where I can buy Fuji paper and chemistry here in Toronto.
I have yet to find out how long replenishment can continue, as I'm still working with the same solutions as back when I made that video! So they're now >3 years old. I replenish with the Fuji replenishers I also mixed the initial volumes with. DIY RA4 chemistry is technically possible, but economically not attractive and I doubt you'll ever get the quality of the factory product, especially for the developer. As to sourcing paper and chemistry: this is a major headache for many small-volume users, all around the world. Essentially everyone I talk to about color printing brings this up. Since I'm located in Europe, I wouldn't know where to look in Toronto...but I suspect that for instance Champion chemistry might be easier to get hold of than Fuji over there, and I wouldn't hesitate to give that a try. As to paper, you could try contacting digital print service providers that use RA4 products, since they're essentially using the same stuff we do. Some of them may be willing to order an extra roll of paper for you, or share names of distributors or retailers with you. Most of us rely on this kind of informal networking to source our materials.
@@koraks9939 Thankfully at least it will be always possible to make own B&W materials and chemistry or color carbon and hopefully the digital photo paper process does not stop soon. There is B&H Photo in NYC nearby selling rolls of Fuji paper but the RA4 chemistry cannot be shipped for some reason.
@@constantinf.5764 Shipping chemistry is sometimes problematic due to H&S rules of the shipping companies. You might want to check on Photrio for sources in Canada for color chemistry; I think it has been discussed there recently as well, but can't recall the specifics.
@@koraks9939 yes we're just discussing it there now.
Hi there great and informative do you have the 2nd video for photopolymer printing?
Hi Chris, thanks! Sure, here's part 2: kzread.info/dash/bejne/falqr818YKfdoMY.html And part 3 is here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nK2huJtsYdbTe5M.html
me who still has agfa color paper :)
Did you ever end up documenting a the LED source for the durst 138? or make the improved version? Would love to try it myself
Not yet, it's still on my to do list though!
Nothing is harder than getting a roll of Kodak paper in Europe these days. I admit that Fuji DP II is a very good paper, but it is the only one available. Of course there is Fuji CA, but it is not up to my standards. Sometimes I would like have those "Kodak colors" in my prints. I am aware of the problems Kodak had some 10 years ago when people thought there will be no more analog photography. Nowadays, they would sell 10 times more their Portra 400 than they can produce.
Yeah, it's a pity and very frustrating about the Kodak paper. I understand that Kodak divested their paper business to a Chinese party and that this may have something to do with the supply problems, but I havent looked into it very deeply I admit. I did at some point (about one year ago) contact Kodak with the question if/when Endura would be available in Europe again, but never received a response. Now that I've got my new darkroom set up, I might try polling my regular supplier once more, but I'm not very hopeful. Like you said, sometimes I just want those Kodak colors. The blues and reds of Fuji don't compare to Endura.
Great video! Do you have any favorite fuji paper? Glossy, lustre or matte ? Planning on buying but not Shure Wich way to go ✌🏻
Thank you, very informative video! if you had the availability would you use a calibration device? I am getting into RA4 printing and wonder wether i should use the calibrator in the beggining or learn the basics first. Another question I would like to ask is wether you have changed developer, I havent been able to find the MP90 in european retailers in the searches i did, only MP108 and in the long run I dont think i can afford to go the tetenal small kit route. Best regards, ct
If by calibration device you mean a color analyzer: it's not a necessity, really. Some people prefer using one, but I sold mine off because I didn't use them. As to the developer: the MP108 will work fine! All the Fuji MPxx developers should work more or less identically for a home user in trays. The main difference is the rate of replenishment; refer to the manufacturer's product sheet for more information, but as I recall, MP108 would require replenishment of 108ml per square meter of processed paper. However, I'd replenish more than that when using open trays for development as it wears down the developer a bit faster.
@@koraks9939 Yes thats what i meant! Thank you very much for your answer, ill go that route when im done with the tetenal. I recently got myself two rolls of supreme but seeing that I will probably sell most of one to a darkroom acquaintance and that I intend to use at least 200 sheets for contact prints I might find myself needing more paper sometime this year. I am also curious about the fancy fuji (maxima), i might try to comment here again when im ready for more paper, as joining for roll ordering seems to be the way to go (and being in austria im not so far away i imagine). Best regards!
@@caymmitb1 sounds good! I'd love to try the maxima as well, but I probably won't as it only comes in large rolls - too large for my taste. I prefer 30.5cm rolls and maxima doesn't come in that size.
Thank you for this, really great video and HELPFUL! Your comments re paper are very interesting to me. I have found the same thing with Fuji paper, seems thin and blacks not ideal. I’m going to get some rolls. Do the rolls come with a black plastic cover like the sheets? How do you manage to put the roll on the rod and then light seal? Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks! The rolls come in a different packaging than cut sheets. Rolls come in a box, inside the box is a bag of heavy brown paper lined on the inside with a matte black polymer. If you're careful you can maintain the integrity of the bag and store a roll you've already partially used in it. For storage of a roll between cutting sessions I generally make a box with a tight fitting lid out of scrap carboard that's easy to open and close in the dark. I store the roll inside the original bag, inside the DIY box. Putting the roll onto the spindle/rod is just a matter of being accustomed to working in the dark. Just set up your stuff on a table with plenty of room to move about and practice once or twice with the lights on. From there it's a matter of fumbling your way through it, but it becomes easier after a few times.
@@koraks9939 excellent thank you. I’ve ordered some rolls. I’ll do exactly that. I’ll cut the sheets and store in the same bags and boxes the cut sheets come in. I cut 100 sheets and put the rest away
@@koraks9939 I just cut my fist roll. Was so hard. Kodak endura is allot better than CA ii. It’s very contrasty and deep blacks. I wonder if there is a paper for skin tones?? Something a little less saturated?
@@xpost92 I'm not aware of any less saturated papers than crystal Archive. You'd have to fix the 'problem' elsewhere, particularly in choice of film and how you light your subject. Great to hear you got it to work though!
@@koraks9939 yeah seems that way. Only one kind of paper. Fuji CA cut sheets are absolutely less saturated than endura but they aren’t much good
Man i cant thank you enough for this priceless information!
Hey, that's great to hear! :)
Korak, you're a print wizard, seriously. I hope you're well. I see the last comments are 10 months ago. You won a Like and a Subscriber. And if I may say, that print is Etsy material if you catch my drift 😉 Will go look at your channel now. All the best 🤙🏻
Hey that was very well explained! I’d love to see how you go about mixing your chemistry, since your not buying the off the shelf ra-4 kits $$$
Thank you! Well, the Fuji chemistry I use is actually off the shelf; it's just not the small consumer-targeted amounts sold by regular shops. So mixing is straightforward and in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications. I use the developer without starter, but instead run some paper through a fresh batch of developer to season it. But I virtually never make a fresh batch; instead I simply replenish my working stock. My present working solution has been in use (with frequent replenishment) for 2 years or so.
Ah thanks so much! Do you know what this fuji kit is called or have a photo? I’m fairly new to ra-4 and have only used the off shelf tetinal kits. How do you replenish a developing solution and how do you know when to add to it plus how to check it Thanks again
@@alexinnewwest1860 I don't have a photo at hand, but it's just generic minilab RA4 chemistry from Fuji. I think they sell it under the 'Enviroprint' name mostly these days. There are several variants; I think I'm using MP160 but it could also be MP90. Consult the FujiFilm website for current products: www.fujifilm.com/us/en/business/photofinishing/photographic-chemicals/ra-4 I think catalog number 600006061 is currently the most sensible choice for the home user. Mixing instructions also available through the Fuji website: asset.fujifilm.com/master/americas/files/2020-02/461c7d5f54febef296373ae9b79e5c54/600006061.pdf Replenishment rates are also indicated, but I tend to err on the side of safety with this and replenish more than indicated by Fuji. Having a decent pH meter at hand is also a good idea especially as your chemistry ages, as it may drift in pH.
Thanks again for your help. I’ll look into that. Hopefully here in Canada Fuji is friendly about selling to the public. How do you like Kodak paper? That metallic paper sounds interesting Alex
@@alexinnewwest1860 Oh, there's no chance at all you'll get a response from Fuji. Your best bet is to try a retailer that sells to consumers. Btw, you're by no means limited to Fuji chemistry. If in Canada for instance Champion chemistry is easier to get, give it a try. As to Kodak paper: I love it! The only major problem I have with it is that it's currently so difficult to get here in Europe...I have not tried the metallic, but I very much liked the regular Endura. Very nice and saturated colors. I'd also very much like to try Fuji's Maxima paper, but sadly it only comes in somewhat larger rolls, while I prefer to print small.
Really nice video and great print. Did you take the time to calibrate your exposure, negative density, etc?
Thanks Andrew! No, I didn't do any calibrations other than that I know from experience how much exposure I need to get good dmax on the print. I just make sure to develop sufficiently to get enough contrast in the negative. I do this based on experience rather than measurement. It worked in the 1880s, it still works today :)
Great video - I've got supplies on the way and I'm keen to try this out - initially directly from 120 film (small I know) and eventually larger format when I get the equipment/experience. Quick question - at about 12:30 you're applying what looks like masking tape and wetting it with a sponge - what is happening there and is that normal tape? Many thanks, Simon
Simon, that sounds good! Actually you can make very nice little prints from 120 film negatives. I've done so multiple times myself. Matted and framed they're really nice. As to the tape: it's gummed paper tape, which is used by watercolorists to tape their paper to the easel/board. It works very well to dry prints (also fiber based gelatin prints) perfectly flat.
@@koraks9939 thanks! Appreciate the response 👍
hi nice demonstration. I have one question. I had good results making albumen and salt prints, but they were fading away during fixing. I was using Ilford rapid fixer. Any idea why? tnx
Thank you; the problem of fading is usually either because of insufficient exposure of the print, or too strong fixer. Since you're using a rapid fixer, try diluting it 1+20 or so instead of the normal, stronger paper or film dilutions.
@@koraks9939 thanks, i tried diluted fixer, but 1:10... still in search of sodium thiosulfate, which is hard to find here, in Macedonia, or i need ton of paperwork to import it :) tnx keep up the good work
Does the citric acid used in preparation rinse out of the paper particularly easy? Do you have any way of reintroducing base buffers into the paper?
Great video, has helped immensely. How do you store the large paper rolls?
Many thanks, I'm glad it was a helpful video! Well, the rolls I use aren't all that big (considering that larger sizes such as 16"+ width are pretty common), and that helps with the storage issues. What I usually do is carefully open the plastic-coated cardboard bags the Fuji rolls come in so that I can roll them back up when I put a roll back into it. Still, I find these bags tend to suffer from pinholes, so I usually also create a cardboard box from some scrap cardboard or boxes, and if I feel like it, I'll even tape tinfoil into the inside. The boxes I make are two-part boxes with a lid fitting over the lower half so I can conveniently work with the boxes in the dark. This works better than the default folded 'lids' of cardboard boxes which will always have several seams running across them. So it just takes some scrap cardboard boxes (the heavier the cardboard, the better), some sturdy tape and a knife to put something together that works OK.
@@koraks9939 thanks, appreciate all the information.
Thank you for the informative vid!
You're welcome, and many thanks for your kind words!
Hi, I’m hoping you can clarify a little further on how the chemistry is able to be kept at room temperature. Is it just the time spent developing the print needs to be longer? Or is there more to it than that? Everything I’ve read online stresses that a specific temp must be maintained so I’m curious how this works Thank you for making this video!
Hi Laura, thanks for asking and thanks for your compliment! In my experience simply extending the development time is sufficient to deal with the lower temperatures than officially stated. It is possible that color balance and print to print consistency suffer marginally when not adhering to official processing parameters, so if you're doing color-critical work (art reproduction, fashion photography with the requirement that the photos perfectly match the real life garments etc), this may not be for you, but for general purpose photography (landscape, portraiture etc) I have not seen any grave issues.
WHERE DO YOU GET THE PAPER
A German seller (I'm in Europe). You could check ebay as well, some sellers also retail through it.
@@koraks9939 what is the roll paper called
@@johnramalhete5365 there are many types, but the paper I used in the video is Fuji Crystal Archive Supreme HD Digital. If you leave out the "supreme hd digital" you get a paper that also works just fine.
@@koraks9939 Thank you i did not know that you could use a digital paper in the darkroom I will have to rethink everything I know about paper and I will have to try some
@@johnramalhete5365 Many papers these days are labeled 'digital', but I have not yet found any reference that they couldn't be used in the darkroom as well/despite this. Also my own experience with the paper I mentioned as well as with Kodak Royal digital suggests that it works just fine. For all I know the main characteristic of 'digital' paper is that they allow for very short exposures (in the millisecond range or perhaps even faster), which is what digital RA4 printing machines tend to do: they 'scan' the paper very rapidly with a laser which exposes individual pixel-sized dots on the paper and as a consequence, the exposure that each site receives is extremely short. Papers had to be re-engineered for this to make them less susceptible to color shifts with extremely short exposures (essentially a form of reciprocity failure). For the longer (several seconds) exposures that we use in the darkroom, it doesn't seem to make a difference. Please note that the above applies to 'digital' RA4 papers. There is of course also a plethora of inkjet and laser printer papers out there, but those obviously don't work in the darkroom as they are not RA4 papers!
Hey! Amazing video! Super helpful! I still have some questions though, You mentioned that you’re using the Fuji MP90 developer, but I can’t seem to find it online (in order to purchase). It would be super helpful if you can point me in the right direction: the full set of chemistry that you’re using (links to where to buy them) and instructions on how to mix them, replenishing instructions and basically a dummy prof step by step guide of the exact steps so I could recreate your process Thank you for spending the time in making this video! I really appreciate it!
Hello Copy & Baste, many thanks for your compliment! I understand your question, but it's a tricky one to answer, mostly because what chemistry is available to you depends a lot on your location and also on current market conditions. However, the good news is that it likely isn't very critical. Whether you use Fuji MP90 or MP160 or any of the other Fuji MP series (MP108, MP73, MP60 etc), doesn't really matter - and actually, it will also work quite the same if you use Kodak, Champion or whatever other RA4 chemistry you can get your hands on. If you're really determined to use the exact same kind of chemistry I do, I think your best bet is to keep an eye on eBay. There are a few sellers who sell the Fuji chemistry and you can verify which is which by looking (or asking) for the Fuji catalog numbers. The developer I used in this video is the MP90 developer which currently seems to have catalog number 995472 (or sometimes called XC 995472). I'm not sure if it's still being made; the current Fuji Catalog doesn't mention it, so I would suggest switching to one of the other developers (MP60/73/108/160). For the Bleach-Fix, the same story applies: any RA4 bleach-fix will do fine. You can even use differents brand of developer and bleach fix in the same process, so e.g. Kodak developer and Fuji bleach-fix will work just fine alongside each other. For the Fuji chemistry, the current product catalog seems to be here: www.fujifilm.eu/fileadmin/content/content/photofinishing/Phototerminals/download/Uptodate_documents_10-2020/PL_RA4_Minilab_E01_09-20.pdf And all mixing, measurement and conditioning information can be obtained from this document: www.fujifilm.eu/fileadmin/countries/europe/products/Photo_Imaging/Chemicals/Photochemicals_RA4/TB_RA4_E17_09-13.pdf (this also explains the difference between the various products). For the MP-series developers, the dilution is always 1+4, so one part developer concentrate and add 4 parts water (see pages 18-19 from the Fuji Process RA4 document; second link). Notice that Fuji gives instructions to mix replenisher and 'tank' solutions - the latter is intended for setting up a fresh batch of chemistry before replenishment is commenced, and it includes a starter and has a lower dilution than the replenisher. I always just mix the replenisher (no starter) and season the initial batch of developer by running some paper through it. If you want to do it by the book, also buy the starter liquid and mix the 'tank' solution. For the bleach-fix, Fuji mentions various dilutions depending on the specific product used, but in my experience it isn't critical in the least. In fact, I never really measure it and just add a dash of concentrate then I intuitively feel like it may be a good idea. So I'm afraid this isn't the detailed recipe you were asking for, and the primary reasons for this are that (1) it's not as critical as some people make you believe it is (but this may get me into trouble ;)...) and (2) there is quite a wide range of products available and what you use depends on what you can get your hands on, and then study the technical documents/guidelines for the product you chose to get the right information on things like dilution etc. If you're looking for something that comes as close as possible to a detailed guideline, I'd suggest looking into Kodak Flexicolor RA4 RT ('Roller Transport') chemistry and then gleaning as much information as you can from for example threads on Photrio from people who use this; here's a good start: www.photrio.com/forum/threads/list-of-color-chemicals-and-where-to-get-them.79069 (lots of information here!) So long story short, I don't recommend trying to get your hands in the *exact* kind of chemistry that I used in this video. In fact, I wouldn't even try this myself. Instead, look for what RA4 developer and BLIX/Bleach-Fix you can obtain easily and at reasonable cost where you are located, and then work from there. If you have any additional questions, please let me know!
@@koraks9939 wow! I’m speechless. Thank you for the super detailed response! I guess there’s no replacement to experimentation and trial & error, but since there are so many variables I’m a little intimidated/overwhelmed. I just backed the Kickstarter campaign for the new intrepid enlarger (that’s also using LEDs) and I’m trying to learn as much as I can before it gets here. I think I’ll start with B&W prints and once I feel comfortable with that I’ll work my way to colour. Thank you again! You may be hearing from me again when I start experimenting! :) (Is there a better way to reach out to you other than these comments?)
@@copybaste2637 I'm interested to hear about your experiences with the Intrepid light source; I came across it before you posted your comment as well and it looked like a very convenient way to step into color enlarging, albeit with the drawback of having to use a camera as an enlarger, which seems a bit cumbersome to me. Although perhaps it's actually possible to fit their light source onto a regular enlarger and thereby circumvent the inherent limitations of a large format camera in an enlarger role. As to reaching out to me: I try to keep an eye on KZread comments, so that's a relatively easy way to get in touch with me. In case a discussion evolves that really necessitates another mode of communication, we can always switch over to another channel. You could also register on the photrio.com forums and send me a personal message there; it's not necessarily quicker than KZread, but photrio has the obvious benefit of being the virtual home to lots more people with knowledge of photography, so you could more easily tap into that resource as well. I'd recommend it!
@@koraks9939 Hey! I was referring to the new Intrepid colour enlarger, that should become available around September, and not the existing large format B&W enlarger. But as soon as I get my hands on it I will message you with my experience and thoughts! I’m actually thinking of experimenting with arduino (a small electrical controller board). I’m thinking to connect the controller to a temperature sensor and heating pads which I will attach to a development tray and see if I can keep the temperature steady that way. I wonder how come there’s no heated development tray available on the market... Also, do you know of a scientific way of determining if a chemical (developer/fixer, etc) has been exhausted? I’m trying to figure out what other types of sensors I can hook up to the controller (such as a PH sensor and the like) to be able to monitor specific attributes of the chemicals so I won’t need to guess if they are still good or not?
@@copybaste2637 Yes, I know the product you're referring to. It's essentially a monorail camera mounted on a tripod, so essentially more a camera than a proper enlarger. Try and get your film plane and baseboard (which essentially isn't present in the kit) parallel - good luck with that! It's nice that it can be disassembled and stored efficiently, but it's just not really a proper enlarger IMO. Still, I'm sure it'll work OK. Concerning your arduino-controlled development tray (I'm familiar with Arduino and in fact my current enlarger uses a Nano as its CPU, although the next version will depart from this approach): yes, that will work fine. It's not very difficult to do. Getting absolutely perfect temperature stability may be difficult, but it will also not be crucial I think. A temperature variation of a degree or so is most likely going to be entirely acceptable. You might want to do some napkin calculations to determine how much heating power you need for a given tray size and liquid volume. Why is there no heated tray on the market? Probably because anyone who buys something like this off the shelf simply grabs a Jobo rotary processor. It does the same thing AND adds automated agitation and (depending on the model) automated fill & drain. But a simple temperature-controlled tray is perfectly feasible and might be useful. Personally I get good results at room temperature so I don't see the need for this, but if you want to cut development time by 50% and/or really want to stick to official RA4 processing parameters, it's a good approach. About determining chemical activity through some kind of automated analysis: alas, there's no shortcut here. Yes, it will be feasible to automate your pH measurements, but those only tell a tiny part of the story and I doubt if it's worthwhile to automate the process of sticking an off-the shelf $20 pH meter into your tray once in a while. Issues such as oxidation and actual developer activity, let alone its ability to reach consistent color balance, are simply not feasible to measure in a DIY fashion. In principle anything can be done, but this one 99% certain isn't going to be worthwhile to pursue. Note that high-volume labs also don't do this; they simply stick by the replenishment rates prescribed by the chemicals manufacturer combined with regular processing of control strips (e.g. at the beginning of each working day).
Beautiful
Thank you Marco!
I would be super interested in reading that document you mention about the enlarger conversion to LED as well as how you use the RGB for printing as all the other information I have found is about CMY. I haven’t found too much information with people talking about using additive colour for enlarging other than people arguing in forums without ever actually having used it.
Hi Miles, here's the link where I discuss the internals of the RGB enlarger: www.photrio.com/forum/threads/craziness-using-leds-to-print-ra4-and-b-w.171911/ I'm currently working on a new and improved version, but work is slow ;)
Very comprehensive and informative video, thank you very much!! One thing surprised me a lot though. I've certainly never seen anything like an LED-powered enlarger but it blows my mind to learn that you use it for color processing! What kind of LED light source do you use? Is it like an RBG LED that you have calibrated yourself?
Hi Carles, many thanks for your kind words! Yes, the LED enlarger works quite well. I have made the light source of separate red, green and blue LEDs, with the blue ones having their emission peak around 425nm and the red ones are 650nm LEDs. With integrated RGB light sources there can be color problems because the blue is generally around 450-460nm and the reds are usually 620nm, which does not seem to align well with the response curve of the paper. However, if you read the comments of @Matthias Hägström, he reports good results with a smartphone-app controlled RGB video light. I'm currently working on a new version of my light controller, but because I want it to be significantly better than the current version, this involves re-engineering the entire system from the ground up, so it has been taking quite some time!
@@koraks9939 Awesome!! I'll be following your progress then :) Thanks for sharing your insight
Do you have any experience using Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper Digital Paper Type DPII for analog development?
No, I haven't tried this particular paper, but I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work. I have tried other papers that are 'for digital' (Kodak Royal and Fuji Crystal Archive Supreme HD) and they worked fine for 'analog' development.
This video was awesome. A long time ago I did b/w and now I want to try color. I always used to think it was way too complicated but this video really made it VERY clear!! Now I just need to find a good enlarger!! I will use this video as my guide!! Thank You!
That's great Pete, and indeed, it is perfectly feasible to print color at home! I definitely recommend trying it. Of course, like with anything, there is a learning curve, but this is in my opinion a manageable one. Have fun!
Great video. I have a bw durst 805 and like the idea of a LED light for color filtration. Is is difficult to make the color filtration logic board?
Well, it depends on how you define 'difficult'. If you have a good amount of electronics knowledge, know your way around datasheets of electronic components, are capable of interpreting and drafting (fairly simple) schematics, know the basics of electronics calculus & theory (particularly Ohm's law evidently), know how to code and troubleshoot Arduino code, understand how to build, measure and test a circuit - then it's not necessarily very difficult. But, as you can tell from this list, the challenge is mostly that you need to understand how to integrate knowledge from different domains. It's not really an Ikea-like endeavor in any case...
@@koraks9939 well that is clearly over my head... Do you know any one who sells something like your controller? I must say that your implementation is awesome. Looks like a Apollo Guidance Computer.
@@mattiashaggstrom2049 To be honest, it took me a couple of months to figure it all out as well. Several of the requirements on that list I didn't meet myself, or only very minimally. I learned a lot from that project...Haha, yes, it does look a bit like somethin from the early space age! The only current product in the market I know of is Heiland's LED units: heilandelectronic.de/led_kaltlicht/lang:en They're apparently wonderful - but also somewhat costly. But if you're looking for something 'plug and play', this would be it!
What do you think of the idea of using a RGB video light such as Aputure LED MC RGBWW? It is just the right size to fit into the light box of my Durst 805. And the color is controlled with app in the phone...
@@mattiashaggstrom2049 It most likely won't work well enough for color, although it might work OK for multigrade B&W. There are three problems with this kind of approach: (1) the spectral peak and purity of the red and the blue leds is usually not a good match for RA4 paper, resulting in insolvable problems with color crossover in prints, (2) the control resolution of the individual channels is likely grossly insufficient for color RA4 printing, meaning that it won't be possible to accurately color balance a print and (3) controlling a light source with an app might sound nice, but in real life when printing RA4 it's a downright nightmare to handle a smartphone with its bright screen while RA4 paper requires total darkness. I'm sorry, there currently seems to be no way to cut corners when it comes to printing color RA4 with leds. Either you have to engineer your own solution from the ground up, or you have to be prepared to invest a fair amount of money into the Heiland system. A third option of course is to see if you can get someone to do this for you as a hobby project, but be warned: it's not an easy task. Most people with sufficient electronics knowledge won't be sufficiently aware of the requirements of RA4 printing, and vice versa.
Great explanation on how to cut the paper rolls, thanks! Personally unless I'm just not seeing it I don't have the black issue with the Fuji Crystal Archive paper but my main gripe with it is as you said the weight of it being so thin and flimsy it's almost see through. I'd like to in the future try a slightly heavier more weighted paper.
Thanks, and yeah, it's nice if a paper is a bit stiffer IMO. Do give it a try!
what a great tutorial! i think i might actually give it a go, now.. i´ve been printing black and white for years and always wanted to try color but i just found it a bit daunting. Thank you for doing this video!!
As you can see, it's not very daunting at all! If you can do b&w, you can do color!
Really good explanations. Your info on the replenished chemistry is helpful. Cheers
Thank you Karl!
Thanks for this tutorial! Very useful video! I have made already a few dozen color prints so I already know the basics. I really enjoy the color printing and the results. What is problem to me that I still can not control the chemistry(what is the correct replenishing rate, also what is the correct replenisher ratio; I can obtain locally Tetenal minilab chemistry for reasonable price level, but unfortunately can not get a data sheet how to mix and replenish it..). At the moment I am struggling with a slightly reddish brown stain on the papers white surface after developing+bleachfixing. If I only develop the paper or only bleachfix the paper then the whites stay white. Any tip what can cause this?
very very useful!!! thanks, i develop at 20℃adn 2min, blix 1min, fine~~~ but i add rinsing after developing 15secs
Yes, that sounds good!
I studied printmaking in college nearly 50 years ago, when we used a lot of toxic chemicals. I'm hoping to start up again, this time using less dangerous tactics. I have some copper plates I've prepared for etching, and I'm wondering about using photopolymer film on these. I would think it would work fine. My one big issue is how to expose the plates. I don't have the cash to invest in an exposure box, nor the expertise to build one. Any advice as to the cheapest light I could use? I do have a UV nail hardening apparatus I've bought for this purpose, but not sure how much time to give it. My plates are small enough for that (3x5 and 5x7). Advice? Thanks for the great tutorial and your willingness to interact in this way!
Thank you for your kind words! It's nice to see you're about to pick up printmaking once again, I hope you succeed! I haven't tried photopolymer in combination with copper plates, but I know of others who worked this way and the results were very good. So it can be done, that's for sure. As to exposure: the nail hardening apparatus may actually work fine for smaller plates. An affordable alternative is a (second hand) face tanner placed at a reasonable distance (let's say 1-2ft) from the plate. The photopolymer doesn't require very intensive exposure, so there's no need for the very high-powered exposure units you'd want for some other printmaking processes (e.g. carbon transfer or salted paper prints). The main concern is collimation; e.g. a face tanner is essentially a rather diffuse light source, and combined with the thickness of the photopolymer film, this makes it hard to accurately expose very fine patterns. Hence my recommendation to allow for considerable distance between the light source and the plate, so that the light is at least collimated somewhat. A true point-source would be preferable - something like a single high-power UV led at a fair distance from the plate should work nicely. But that would probably push you into DIY territory (unless perhaps you can find someone willing to fashion something for you).
@@koraks9939 thank you so much! I am inspired to give this a try!!
I spoke to you before. I have tried this. I did a plate last night and a strange thing happened. It turned out NEGATIVE. I couldn't understand it, as I said I have done it before and this never happened. Where the dark should be was smooth and vice versa. Any ideas?
Is this in the print? I have had this inversion happen with plates that didn't have a good intaglio pattern. The most apparent issue was so-called 'foul biting' - the dark areas not having enough intaglio pattern to hold the ink. This leads to a partial inversion of the image that is very similar to solarization in silver gelatin prints. The problem in that case can be traced back to exposure or development of the photopolymer, such as insufficient exposure of the photopolymer, too much diffusion of the light source and/or overdevelopment of the photopolymer plate.
@@koraks9939 No its not in the print. I haven’t printed yet. Its on the plate. All the dark areas are shiny and vice versa. I’m gonna print it tomorrow. But it looks like all the dark area are gonna light and all the light areas are gonna be dark. The prints I did before didn’t have this problem, it was lines, but this is more tones, not line, more light and shade.
@@juljos9343 Ah, that's interesting. I don't recognize the issue off the bat, but printing the plate will probably make the situation clearer. What I also used to do was inspect a freshly made plate with a loupe. The pits and valleys are pretty easy to see under the right light, and with a little experience, you can figure out if a plate is likely to print well, or what the possible causes for any problems are.
Do you have an Instagram?
Hi, and thanks for your earlier compliment! No, I don't have instagram and I rarely post any of my photos online. If I do, it's mostly examples/illustrations. I have nothing against instagram etc, but there's too many other things that I like too... ;)
@@koraks9939 No worries! I bought some Kodak paper in rolls so this has helped me with your little contraption roll off and cut so I'm going to build something similar myself! No problem hahah I rarely post online either to be honest, you just seem like a cool honest dude hahah
hi Korak, found your video so useful. I was looking at the best way to cut rolls in the dark myself so it was great to see your set up. Very smart! One question. How high is your paper holder? Thanks a lot!
Thank you! I measured the most critical dimension of the holder, which is the distance between the central axle and the lower brace, which dictates the maximum roll diameter that can be accommodated. It's 20cm, which is sufficient for the 88 meter rolls that I use.
@@koraks9939 thanks a lot! Very useful to know!
Great video. I watched in other videos that some people don't use stop bath between developer and blix. Is It necessary?
Thanks! No, a stop bath is not necessary, but it prevents the pH of the blix rising too much as developer is carried over into the blix. Usually this shouldn't be a problem if the blix is replenished sufficiently. I'm a bit sloppy with replenishment, so I prefer to use a stop bath to ensure good blix life.
Wow! What a great video! One of the most detailed videos on color printing that I've seen so far.
Thanks! That's what I set out to do!
Hi.. great video. I have some problem with the developer. One day diluted developer gives me red prints. No greens, no blu.. only reddish. I've tried with the cyan maximum filter and no yellow and no magenta. My prints don't change. is it possible? What do you think?
Hi Flavio, thank you for your comment! The problem you describe is often/usually caused not by the development, but during exposure. Many enlargers such as the Durst types have a switch that allows you to remove the filters from the light path. Without filtration, RA4 prints tend to come out the way you describe: entirely red/magenta with no other colors. Changing filtration doesn't help because the filters aren't in the light path, so it looks like the problem isn't related to filtration, while in reality, it is. So the first thing to check is if your enlarger has this kind of switch/lever and ensure that it is in the correct position.
@@koraks9939 Thank you very much. Filtration was ok because I use the gelatin filters. The strange thing is that when the developer is just mixed I have good prints with the same filtration.
@@flavioserci6046 Okay, that makes things a little clearer yet. What's the pH of the developer when it is fresh and after a day? How do you store the developer in the meantime? Do you replenish it, and if so, by how much?
@@koraks9939 I've just found my mistake. I was following a old guide about cibachrome printing..and... It's the opposite technique about filtering!
@@flavioserci6046 ah, that explains a lot! Hopefully it all works now!
This is great thanks so much!
Thanks, glad to hear!
Hello. I am a Korean subscriber. Nothing else, I'm using a Bristol watercolor and 240g of paper, but when exposed to UV rays, the image is partially invisible. I think it's a problem when brushing the paper. What paper do you print on?
Thank you for your message! I'm sorry to hear about your troubles getting an even coating. I personally print mostly on etching papers because they have only modest sizing and therefore just the right degree of absorbance to liquids for good coating. Also, I found it impossible to get a perfectly even coating with brushes, at least for the step where the silver nitrate is applied on top of the already present salt coat. As soon as the silver nitrate solution comes into contact with the salt, insoluble silver chloride is created, and when brushes are used, this silver chloride is effectively brushed around the paper, making it end up in an uneven pattern across the paper. I know that some get good results when e.g. brushing with balls of cotton wool (e.g. Borut Peterlin seems to be doing this), but I prefer a puddle pusher/coating rod. This gives me the best/most even coating with good density. For best results, I pick a paper with a fine surface texture, but not too shiny. The paper needs to have a bit of 'tooth' to it, without being coarse in texture.
Excellent tutorial; super helpful, thank you Koraks!
I tried it. I'm having problems getting the right mix of the soda solution. Any advice?
Can you give some more information on what problems you're running into? The soda concentration is not very critical, as long as you use the same concentration for all your plate development and adjust the development procedure to it.
@@koraks9939 The problem is, I can't get the same concentration every time. Every time I make a new mix its slightly different. I have no way of measuring it. Anyway Once that's done, I don't know if its right until I go to the inking part, then I can see where the ink will take or not.
@@juljos9343 ah well, then the answer is simple: get a scale and a graduate. Both can be had for little money. Very high accuracy isn't required, so a cheap digital scale from the internet and a plastic graduate from the store will do fine.