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How to Print With a Hansa Enlarger

Digital photography has made film photography technically obsolete. While digital photography has the advantages of speed and convenience, it cannot always match techniques and effects used with film photography. Unlike digital cameras, which store light information directly on storage media, film cameras use light-sensitive film, which is used to make prints on light-sensitive paper. This type of printing requires an enlarger, such as those made by Japanese photographic supplier Hansa. With some basic techniques, you can print photographs with a Hansa enlarger.

Things You'll Need

Darkroom light
3 water trays
Developer
Stop bath
Fix
Hansa enlarger
Film negatives
Photo paper

Instructions

- 1
  Install a darkroom light in a light-tight room. This light will provide you with light to work by without exposing your film or paper.
- 2
  Prepare one water tray full of developer, one filled with stop bath and one filled with fix mixed according to the manufacturer's instructions. The developer will activate the chemicals on the photo paper and expose the image, the stop bath will stop the reaction and the fix will make the print permanent and insensitive to light.
- 3
  Plug the cord coming from the top of the enlarger into a power outlet.
- 4
  Slide the negative tray out from the front of the enlarger.
- 5
  Line up a film negative in the hole of the negative tray and insert the tray back in the enlarger.
- 6
  Flip the power switch at the top of the enlarger to turn on the light.
- 7
  Loosen the locking knob on the shaft of the enlarger, slide the enlarger to the height at which it projects the desired size of print and tighten the locking knob.
- 8
  Turn the locking knob by the enlarger's lens until the negative image appears in focus on the printing surface.
- 9
  Adjust the ring around the enlarger's lens until the light reaches the desired brightness. Start with a medium setting and increase or decrease the setting based on the resulting print.
- 10
  Turn off the enlarger.
- 11
  Place a piece of photo paper centered underneath the enlarger on the printing surface.
- 12
  Turn on the enlarger. The longer you expose the paper, the darker the image you will produce.
- 13
  Turn off the enlarger and immerse the paper in the developer, then stop bath, then fix according to the manufacturer's instructions to produce a printed image.

Photography