Paper grades and filtration for Black & White



Black and white papers are available in different grades from soft (low) to hard (high) contrast as well as variable contrast types. Contrasty papers produce much wider tonal range and give less grays between black and white. When working with a low contrast negative, using a hard-grade paper eliminates some of the grays which will broaden out the tonal range. A soft-grade paper reduces a contrasty negative and gives more grays than a hard-grade paper. 0 grade paper is considered the softest, 2 is considered normal, and 5 the hardest.

When working with a normal contrast negative for example, softer grade papers produce most gray tones and hard graded papers giving few grays. You need to match paper grade to negatives. Low contrast negatives look very flat and has limited tonal range. By using a hard grade paper such as 3 or 4 you can produce a print with richer blacks and cleaner whites. Normal contrast negatives have good range of tones and gives the best result on grade 2 paper.

You can use softer or harder grade papers to lower or increase contrast if you like with a normal negative depending on the effect you want to achieve. Very contrasty negatives show a big difference between the lightest and the darkest tones. A soft or normal grade paper can produce the best prints. Instead of using graded papers, you can buy variable contrast (multigrade) papers. With variable contrast papers, you can use filters to alter contrast. You can buy a set of filters or use a color head enlarger. Without any filtration variable contrast papers print as grade 2 normal. By adding filters you can lower or increase contrast. For example, with a color head and a normal contrast negative, setting filtration to 50 yellow will reduce contrast.

25 yellow produces a more contrasty print than 50 yellow, 50 magenta adds much more contrast while 150 magenta produces a very contrasty print. If you are using a set of enlarging filters, lower numbers produce lower contrast images. Number 1 for instance gives a very low contrast print from a normal negative giving most gray tones, while number 6 produces a very contrasty print with few grays between black and white. You need to use a calculator disk to see exposure corrections required for different brands of paper when changing filters.

Before making any prints, examine your negatives carefully and make a contact sheet. This will help you decide which paper grade to choose or which type of filtration might be required. You may need to make several test prints to achieve best result.
 

Recommended Filters Ilford Multigrade Filters 6x6 The twelve MULTIGRADE filters are numbered 00-5 in 1/2 steps, with the lowest filter number corresponding to the softest contrast. Filters are available in sets of filters 8 . 9x8 . 9cm (3 1/2x3 1/2 inches) and 15 . 2x15 . 2cm (6x6 inches). They can be used above or below the lens and can be cut to fit the enlarger filter drawer. Filter sizes 30x30cm (11 . 8x11 . 8 inches) are available to special order. MULTIGRADE filters are very easy to use: no complicated calculations are needed when changing from one filter to another. The exposure time for filters 00-3 1/2 is the same; that for filters 4-5 is double.