Introduction: Making a Pinhole Positive

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  • These steps will help you make a POSITIVE out of your pinhole NEGATIVE.
  • You will need a good pinhole negative and your photo paper.

Step 1: Set the Height and Focus

  • Turn on the enlarger by pressing the FOCUS button on the timer.
  • Move the red safety filter out so you can see the light clearly.
  • Lay your negative under the light. You should not have any other photo paper out at this point.
  • Adjust the HEIGHT of the enlarger so the area of light is a little bigger than the negative.
  • Adjust the FOCUS so the edges of the light are crisp all the way around.
  • Sometimes you have to go back and forth between the height and focus to get them both adjusted correctly.

Step 2: Set the Aperture and Time

  • Set the APERTURE to 3.5 (the brightest setting).
  • Set the TIMER to 5 seconds (5.0).
  • Also, make sure the CONTRAST FILTERS are turned off (on the Beseler) or not inserted (on the Omega).

Step 3: Make the Test Strip

  • Place the red SAFETY FILTER under the lens and take out one piece of 4x5 photo paper.
  • Place the new piece of paper shiny side up under the light and the negative face down on top.
  • Place a clean piece of glass on top of the papers and a piece of cardboard to cover everything except for about an inch of the papers.
  • Press the FOCUS button on the timer to turn off the light.
  • Move the safety filter out from under the lens.
  • Press the RUN button to make the first exposure.
  • Move the cardboard over to expose another inch of the papers and press RUN again.
  • Continue making 5 second exposures all the way down including one with no cardboard covering any of the paper. You should be able to do 4-6 exposures, each about an inch wide.

Step 4: Develop!

  • Develop the newly exposed piece of paper for the same times as when you developed the negative.
  • Test strips do not have to wash for a full 5 minutes, but at least put it in the washer for a few seconds to wash off some of the Fixer and squeegee it.
  • You will then have a positive image that will have multiple exposures to determine the best time for your image.

Step 5: Make the Final Positive

  • Once the best time has been determined you will make the final positive.
  • Set up for the exposure with a new piece of 4x5 photo paper, setting everything up the same way, but without the cardboard.
  • Do the exposure for the determined time with no cardboard and develop.