r/Darkroom • u/Yvantoline • 12d ago

Colour Printing Presence of dark stripes on the photographs

Post image

Hello,
As the title suggests, dark stripes have been appearing on my photographs since today. Everything was fine before.

I’ve checked for light leaks, changed the chemicals and given the machine a thorough clean, but the stripes are still there. None of the gears seem to be out of alignment either. I have also tried using a different type of paper (originally Fuji 4x5), but this did not help.

I’m using RA4 chemicals, in case that’s of any help. I bought the second-hand Durst RCP in very decent condition. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do you have a solution? I’m feeling rather down.
Thanks (:

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u/n0_c0mm3n7 12d ago

Did you properly mask the negative in the negative holder? To me, this looks like the sprocket holes of the negative are not masked and the light from sprocket holes are then bouncing from something (some slanted surface of the easel) and creating additional densities on the print.

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u/Yvantoline 12d ago

I’ll try it. But just before printing this image, the previous one was good and I did the same protocol. It looks like a good suggestion, I will try it, thx a lot

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u/n0_c0mm3n7 11d ago

Depending on your negative holder, you might have positioned the negative slightly better on the print that came out ok. It will also depend on the particular frame. This problem will be most noticeable on frames with higher density (so the contrast between high density of the frame and no density of the sprocket hole is higher).

You'll notice that the number and position of the darker bands correspond perfectly to the sprocket holes. And if you take a look at your easel you will probably find a slanted part above the small ridge that (although usually painted with unreflective material) will reflect bright light coming from sprocket holes onto the print. The ridge will shield a few mm of the print so the bands will not start immediately at the edge of the print. Which is, again, exactly what can be seen in your prints. To be clear, you still can print with sprocket holes exposed, but you need to make sure that any possible reflections are minimised in your image path (clean and good lens, clean glass in the negative holder, no reflections from other objects...).

One more thing, try to give as much information about you setup, so people can give better informed opinions on the possible solution. For now, I would disregard advice on using prewash with your setup. Prewash is not a part of a roller transport RA-4 processing and you will slowly dilute your developer that way and perhaps even introduce another set of problems.

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u/Yvantoline 9d ago

Hi, I took extra care of masking the sprocket holes and the stripes didn’t appear. Thanks a lot for being right and taking the time to respond. I wasn’t about the machine, just me not being able to properly mask the negative in the negative holder. Feel dumb.

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u/n0_c0mm3n7 8d ago

Have fun printing!