Equipment for Black & White Printing

It supplies a negative image from which a subsequent positive print is made. Film processing, as already indicated, is a purely mechanical process demanding no skill, artistry or other abilities or qualification. Printing is a very different matter. Just as anybody can develop a film anybody can make a print but very few can consistently make the best possible print from a given negative. The printing procedure is relatively straightforward and nobody need think that it is beyond them. All that is necessary is to project the negative image on to a base coated with an emulsion similar to that on the film (the printing material) and to develop the resulting latent image. In black and- white printing the image can even be seen building up. The photographic printing is now virtually synonymous with enlarging, owing to the small image size of most popular films. So the basic item of equipment for those who wish to do their own printing has to be an enlarger. The enlarger consists of a baseboard on which is mounted a vertical (or occasionally angled) column, with a sliding mount for the lamp house, film carrier and lens. The light from the lamp is spread evenly over the film by a condenser or pair of condensers.