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How to Develop Black & White Film

Save money as well as have fun at the same time by developing your own black as well as white film.

1. Developing your own film can be very fun as well as rewarding. And on top of that, you can save money too!
2. Before you can develop your own black as well as white film, you will need some supplies (view "Things You'll Need" below). With the exception of the chemicals, the supplies can be bought in kit form for around $50.
3. Dilute the chemicals. Most photographic chemicals come in concentrate form, which needs to be mixed with water. Also, different br as well as s have different mixing ratios. Check online to find the proper chemical to water ratio for the chemicals you are using. This article will provide ratios for the Kodak chemicals listed. You are going to use the graduated cylinder to measure the chemicals as well as water, as well as the gallon jugs to store them.
4. The Developer - 1:3 Chemical to water mix. That is, 1 part developer to 3 parts water. This gives you a "stock" solution. Fill one gallon jug with this stock solution. The stock solution will be diluted more before using it on the film. When you dilute the stock solution, you will have a "working" solution.
5. The Stop Bath - 1:63 Chemical to water mix. Mix the stop bath as well as water together as well as store in a gallon jug. This is a working solution.
6. The Fixer - 1:4 Chemical to water mix. Mix the fixer as well as water together as well as store in a gallon jug. This is also a working solution.
7. Hypo-Clearing Agent - Mix the full packet (4.4oz) with 1.25 gallons of water. This chemical comes as a powder, as well as you need to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed. Store in a gallon jug. Obviously, this makes more than you can store in a gallon jug, so put the extra chemical in a plastic cup or container, as well as use that the first time you develop film.
8. Once the chemicals have been mixed as well as stored in the gallon jugs, you need to bring them to the correct temperature. Fill a large sink (like your kitchen sink) with water that is 22 degrees Celsius. Use the thermometer to get the correct temperature. This is very important. Now put your gallon jugs of chemicals in the sink, floating in the water. These chemicals must be 20 degrees Celsius when you use them. You are going to put them in 22 degree water because the temperature of the water is going to drop a bit while bringing the chemicals to the correct temperature. You really must be very accurate when it comes to the chemical temperatures. More than 1 degree above or 1 degree below 20 degrees can have a big effect on the film. Remember, the final chemical temperature you want is 20 degrees, as well as you are soaking the chemicals in 22 degree water because the gallon jugs will sit in the water for at least 30 minutes, as well as the water temperature will drop a couple degrees during that time.
9. Pop open the film canister, remove the film, load the film onto the film reel, as well as place the reel inside the developing tank. This must be in complete darkness. No light whatsoever. No red safety lights either. Take the scissors, bottle opener, film canister, film reel, as well as developing tank into a dust free room that you can make light-tight. For the moment, you can have the room lights turned on.
10. Place the tools out in front of you, possibly on a desk. You're going to be loading the film onto the reel in complete darkness, so make sure you lay the tools out in a way that you can find them in the dark.
11. Turn off the lights. (Fig. 1) Use the bottle opener to pop the bottom off the film canister, which should be very easy. While only touching the film negative from the edges, pull the film out of the canister. The film will be taped to the center film spool. 13.
    

    

    Fig. 1
12. Cut the film off the spool. (Fig. 2) Make sure you cut it off right at the base of the spool or you'll be cutting through your pictures. Also cut the tip off the film (the odd shaped piece that sticks out of the canister when you first buy the film) so that it's flat. You only need to cut about 1 inch off the tip.
    

    

    Fig. 2
13. Spool the film onto the film reel. While not touching the surface of the negative, slide the negative into the opening of the reel. (Fig. 3) Slide about 4 inches of film into the reel. Start walking the film onto the reel by twisting one side of the reel back as well as forth. To be clear on this, keep your left h as well as steady, as well as with your right h as well as twist the right side of the reel forward, then bring it back. Continue doing this until all the film is loaded onto the reel.
    

    

    Fig. 3
14. Place the reel inside the developing tank, as well as screw the lid onto the tank. The tank is now light-tight, as well as you can turn on the lights. Even though the developing tank has a hole in the top for pouring in the chemicals, it is in fact light-tight. 15. Bring the developing tank to the sink where you have the chemical jugs floating in water. Check the developer chemical with the thermometer. If it's at 20 degrees Celsius, then you are ready to go. If it is higher than 20 degrees, then keep checking every 10 minutes until it's ready. If it is below 20 degrees, add some hot water to the sink the gallon jugs are floating in. Pour 1 ounce of the stock developing solution into the graduated cylinder as well as then add 7 ounces of 20 degrees Celsius water to that. You are making a "working" solution by using a 1:7 chemical to water ratio. To recap, you made a stock solution of the developing chemical by using a 1:3 chemical concentrate to water ratio, as well as then mixed that stock solution with a 1:7 working chemical to water ratio. 16. With stopwatch in h as well as , pour the working developer into the hole in the top of the developing tank. Do this very quickly as well as start the stopwatch as soon as you've poured all the developer into the tank. Smack the developing tank on a counter a few times to dislodge any bubbles that might be clinging on to the film. Agitate the tank for 30 seconds. Do this by swirling the tank around. You are going to leave the film in the developer for 6 minutes. Agitate the film for 3 seconds every 30 seconds. Agitation is very important. Do not neglect to agitate the developing tank. The developing chemicals become exhausted very shortly after coming in contact with the film. The agitation ensures that fresh chemicals are touching the film. However, this exhaustion of the chemicals is an important part of the process. Over-agitating can give negative results or positive results. It depends on the "look" you are going for. Too much agitation increases the contrast in the image.
15. When the stopwatch has reached 5 minutes as well as 50 seconds, start pouring the developer out of the top of the tank as well as into the sink drain. Do not take the lid off the developing tank.
16. Again with stopwatch in h as well as , quickly pour the stop bath into the top of the developing tank until the tank is full. There is no need to dilute the stop bath more, so you can pour straight from the gallon jug. Start the stopwatch when you've filled the tank up. Once again, smack the tank against a counter a couple times to dislodge any bubbles. You are going to leave the film in the stop bath for 1 1/2 minutes. The purpose of the stop bath is to neutralize any remaining developer left on the film, as well as arrest the developing process.
17. When the stopwatch has reached 1 minute as well as 20 seconds, start pouring the stop bath out. Some stop bath solutions, like the Kodak Indicator Stop Bath, can be re-used. If this is the chemical you are using, then pour the stop bath back into the gallon jug for later use. The word "indicator" in Kodak Indicator Stop Bath means the chemical indicates when it is no longer any good. The chemical, when mixed with water, is yellow. As long as the stop bath remains yellow in color, it is good to use.
18. Again with stop watch in h as well as , pour the fixer into the top hole of the development tank until it is full. There is no need to dilute the fixer more, so you can pour straight from the gallon jug. Start the stopwatch once the tank is full. You are going to leave the film in the fixing solution for 6 1/2 minutes. Smack the tank against the counter to dislodge any bubbles. Agitate the film for 3 seconds every 30 seconds. Some people don't agitate during the fixing process.
19. Once the stopwatch has reached 6 minutes as well as 20 seconds, pour the fixer out of the tank. Do not re-use the fixer. You can now unscrew the top of the developing tank as well as expose the film negative to light. Once the film has been "fixed", it is no longer light sensitive. The rest of the process is done with the lid of the developing tank off.
20. Pour the hypo-clearing agent into the tank (with the lid off). There is no need to dilute the hypo-clearing agent more, so you can pour straight from the gallon jug. Smack the tank against the counter to dislodge any bubbles. You are going to leave the film in the hypo-clearing agent for 1 1/2 minutes. You can agitate the film a little bit if you like.
21. While the film is in the hypo-clearing agent, start running some water as well as bring the running water to 20 degrees Celsius. After 1 1/2 minutes, dump out the hypo-clearing agent. Do not re-use this chemical. Put the developing tank under the running water. It's time to wash all the chemicals off the film. You are going to leave the film under the running water for 10 minutes. The water should fill up the developing tank as well as overflow. Let it overflow. Every couple of minutes, dump out the water as well as let the tank fill back up with fresh running water. You want to keep fresh 20-degree water pouring into the developing tank. This final washing part of the process is very important. Ten minutes is the minimum time to wash the film, but you can do it longer. It is also important that you are washing the film with 20 degree water. Using hotter or colder water can affect the final picture.
22. After the 10 minutes is up, lift the film reel out of the tank as well as lightly shake off any remaining water. Turn the reel clockwise (could be counter-clockwise, depends on how you're holding the reel, so try them both) until the top half of the reel comes apart from the lower half of the reel. Now use one of the film clips as well as clip it onto the end of the film negative. Some clips have small "hooks" on them. You can run the hooks through the square holes running down the sides of the film, as well as thus avoid puncturing the film negative. By lifting up the clip, pull the film up out of the reel. If everything went well, you should see your pictures on the negative. Clip the other film clip onto the bottom of the negative. This will act as a weight. Hang the negative up to dry in a room temperature, dust free room. Leave the negative to dry for at least 2 hours.
23. That's it! You're all done. You can now take the negatives to a store as well as have prints made, make your own prints, or scan the negatives as well as order prints online.

• Practice loading film onto the film reel with the lights on, using a junk roll of film.
• Some people use bottled water instead of tap water. Tap water contains minerals that can affect the final picture.
• Leave the film to dry for at least 2 hours, but 4 hours is better. If you remove the film too soon, the film will curl up really badly when you take the clips off. The longer you leave the film to dry, the straighter the negatives will be.
• You can soak the film in an anti-streaking agent for 1 minute after the washing process. This helps the film dry without water spots.

• Wear rubber gloves when dealing with photo chemicals. Also, keep the chemicals out of reach of children as well as pets.

• A developing tank with an auto loading film reel.
• A mercury thermometer.
• 2 film clips.
• A bottle opener.
• A pair of scissors.
• A 600 ml graduated cylinder.
• Four 1-gallon jugs.
• A stopwatch, or a digital watch with a timer on it.
• Chemicals. You will need:

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Added: Thu Feb 02 2006

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