Most of the private darkrooms in the lab are equipped with colorhead enlargers for color printing from either negatives or slides. The lab is also equipped with a Colenta color processor capable of processing Ektacolor RA prints from negatives up to 30" wide and an Ilfochrome processor capable of processing Ilfochrome materials up to 16" wide. The Colenta color processor is maintained by the lab assistants and the chemistry is provided by the lab. Should you want to print Ilfochrome prints from color slides, you will need to supply your own chemistry and learn how to fill and clean the machine yourself. Most students printing color in the lab are working from color negatives and are using the Colenta machine.

Color film developing:

Although color film developing kits are available at local photography stores and by mail order, there is no practical advantage to developing your own color film. It can quickly and easily be developed by taking it to a local drugstore or supermarket equipped with an on-site photo lab. Usually the cost of developing the film is only a few dollars per roll if you request the lab not to provide prints, or you can use the 3"x5" prints as proofs in place of making a contact sheet.

Your instructor will give you a complete demonstration of the Colenta machine before you begin printing color. No students is permitted to use the machine until they have attended this demonstration. Start-up and shut-down procedures are especially important and they posted above the control panel of the machine. A few general do’s and don’ts:

• After turning on the machine, wait 15 minutes before putting the first print through in order to allow the chemistry to warm up to operating temperature. If the machine has a sign on it indicating that "the water tanks is empty", wait 45 minutes to allow for the wash tank to fill completely.
  
• Stagger the insertion location of successive prints so that they are not all running through the same part of the roller assembly. This will help to keep the rollers clean all the way across the width of the machine.
  
• If clean-up sheets are available, run a few through the machine before sending your prints through it.
  
• If more than one person is using the machine at the same time, knock on either door to the light trap before opening it to signal to anyone on the other side that you are coming through.

• put through any sheet of paper smaller than 8"x10" inches in order to avoid paper becoming jammed in the machine.
  
• put through another sheet of paper if your last one has not come out. (It takes about 5 minutes for the paper to making the trip through the processor.)
  
• tear the paper, if cutting pieces from a larger sheet (i.e., 8"x10" from 16"x20"), but rather it cut it with a scissors. The fibers from torn paper can clog the filters in the machine.
  
• put through any paper other than color paper that is marked "RA", even as an experiment. It can do serious damage to the chemistry in the machine, or the machine itself.
  
• open up the machine. If you encounter any problems in printing, first see the troubleshooting chart on p. 00. If prints fail to come out of the machine, or if they are excessively dirty, stop printing and report it to your instructor, to a lab assistant or to the cage manager in Rm. 289.

 

The prints coming out of the Colenta machine have received only a brief wash. In order to improve the archival stability of the prints that you want to keep, it is recommended that you give them a final wash in a tray with a hose in it (lukewarm water - about 90° F) for about 10-15 minutes and then hang them up by a corner to dry on the line strung across the private lab.