​Lauren E. Johnson Fine Art 

The Gelatin Silver (Dark Room) Printing Process:

Gelatin silver prints are made in the dark room from black and white film negatives or digital negatives.

The process to make gelatin silver prints takes a lot of time, effort, and precision. After the images are captured on film, the film is transferred into a light-safe container to be developed. The three main phases of the film development process are the development (which reveals the images), the stop bath (which stops the developing), and the fix (which makes the images permanent). The film must be thoroughly rinsed and dried once it has been developed and fixed.

The resulting developed negatives are used in the dark room to make prints. A Light-sensitive paper coated with silver salts in gelatin is exposed at an enlarger (which enlarges the image from the negative onto the paper), and then the paper goes through a development process not unlike the film developing process. The paper first goes into a tray of developer, where the image appears within seconds. Then the paper goes into the stop bath, the fix, and a water rinse. The print is dried and ready to be viewed.