processing black and white film

The fist thing you need to do is put the film onto a reel and place it in the tank. you will have to learn to do this in the dark but until then you will need some tools:film cassette ,can opener,film reel,tank and tank cover;you ll need to memorize where they are..and you're ready.
step 1:in complete darkness you need to remove the film cassette,then you need to pull the flat end off the 35mm canister with a can opener,unwind the film and take the end out of the film from the spool by peeling off the tape that hold it together.
step 2:Load the film onto either a metal or plastic film reel. For beginners, plastic might be easier to learn . With plastic, you just slide one end of the film into a slot on the outer part of the reel and "walk" the film in until its loaded. Metal needs more experience, which might not be that easy to load into a metal reel in the dark.
you should try to do this process a couple of times with a film roll in light so you can get the hang of it...after you feel good about doing it with your eyes open try doing it with your eyes closed ( because that is how its going to feel when you're in the dark room )..once you're really confident then you can actually start the process( but make sure the film doesn't have nothing that important so that if you mess up you wouldn't mess something up that meant a lot.)
step 3: Place the loaded reel in the film tank ad cover it as you were instructed to. now that the film is in a container which no light can seep thrugh. You can turn on the light.
now youre ready to process the film.
step 4:
you have to make sure that the temperature of the chemicals is controlled ( especially the soup ). Development time is directly affected by two things: the speed of the film and the temperature of the developer. Most people suggest 68-70 degrees as the best temperature for processing the film, but you can develop at different temp. as long as you make adjustments in other things.( depending on what kind of brand you use..you can have different temp.)


Most film is processed between 65 and 75 degrees. Higher temperatures could lead to "reticulation". that can be something fun to play with but not if you're a beginner and trying to get the best negative.
step 5:
Pour developer into the open part of the closed film tank, (a.k.a.) the pour spout, and then cover it. Dont open the tank itself!!!! To keep fresh chemical on the film surface, agitation is essential throughout the process. To agitate, just turn the tank upside down once a minute. When it is upright again, tap it several times against your table to take off any air bubbles that might form themselves on the film during agitation. if you don't the bubbles will leave marks.
step 6:
Pour running water into the pour spout for a minute to stop the development. or you can mix a small amount of glacial acetic acid with water and let the film sit in that for 30 seconds to wash off the developer. Either method is known as a stop bath.
step 7:now its time to fix the picture so you can see it in light. make sure to use a fixer with hardener since that will help protect the negative from getting scratched easily. Fixing takes 5-10 minutes, depending on if you used a normal or rapid fixer. At the end of the fixing time, you could actually look at the negatives although you'll probably want to wait until everything is finished.
step 8:
Since you dont have to worry about exposing the film , remove the tank cover completely and let the film sit in cold running water for 5 minutes. You can pull out a bit of film to look at it and make sure your negatives are there.
step 9:
now you need to remove any kinds of traces of white stains. Pour in a tankful of Hypo Eliminator (also called hypo clearing agent ) and agitate for two minutes.
step 10: you need 1 final wash to finish( for 5 min. )
step 11:
carefully pull the film out but dont touch it because you will mess it up. Use washing pins or film clips to hang the film to dry in a dust-free area.
step 12:
In about 1-2 hours, the film will be dry. Use scissors to cut the film into 6 negatives long. be careful when you cut so you dont cut youre picture. Store the negatives in clear glassine envelopes or PVC plastic negative pages.
and then youre finished!!!!!