After you have exposed a print (of any sort), place it in the developing tray, as quickly as possible without hurting anyone. The developer is what makes your picture "come alive". For RC paper, leave in tray for 1 minute. (Fiber paper= 2 min.) Any time you have a print in any tray during the developing process, you need to agitate, as with the film developing process. Unlike the film developing agitation, however, we DO NOT invert the developing trays. Agitation in the next few steps must therefore have a different definition. For developing prints, agitation= gently lifting a corner of the tray to make the liquid therein GENTLY "swoosh" across the print. Do not lift the tray high enough to splash liquid out.
2. Drain
After soaking in each tray, every print must be lifted with tongs and allowed to "drip dry" for 10 sec. This prevents contamination of the following trays and the holding bath. This step must be followed after each chemical, and will therefore be repeated on this sheet, mostly for the sake of redundancy.
3. Stop Bath
In developing prints, the stop bath is an actual chemical (a rather nasty one, in fact.) For RC paper, leave in tray for 30 sec. (Fiber paper= 1 min. See a pattern here?) The stop bath is a very complicated process, and therefore hard to understand. It stops the developing process in the print. (Okay, I lied.) Don't forget to agitate. (See above definition.)
4. Drain
Lift print carefully with tongs and allow the liquid to drip off for 10 sec. This does not mean SHAKE the print, which not only contaminates the other trays, but also any other people who happen to be around. In fact, shaking of any sort is just not tolerated in the dark room. Don't try it.
5. Fixer I
Yes, there are TWO trays of fixer. This is done on purpose, not just to make your life more difficult. The existence of 2 fixer trays enables us to recycle the fixer. Leave print in first fixer tray for 1 min. (RC paper) or 2 min. for Fiber paper. (Again, that pattern.) With Agitation. The fixer does exactly that, it "fixes" the image on the paper and prevents it from further developing. After soaking in this first fixer tray, you can now take the print out (in a tray) to look at it in "normal" light. (Soon, you will realize that the "normal" light of fluorescents is only normal in a subjective sense. Darkroom light will eventually become a new norm.)
6. Drain
We realize that this step may seem somewhat ridiculous, since you are moving the print from one tray of fixer to another tray of fixer, but this is, again, to keep the old fixer from contaminating the new fixer. Just do it, and don't ask why.
7. Fixer B
Leave print in this newer fixer for 1 min. (2 for Fiber paper.) Agitate.
8. Drain
Allow fixer to drip off print for about 10 sec.
9. Holding Bath
Place print into big black tub full of running water. *THIS IS NOT A WASH!* The holding bath, get this, holds your prints until you are ready to wash them. It keeps them from drying up and shriveling. You can leave prints in here as long as there is room.
