Photography chemicals are a key ingredient to developing prints whether you are creating them yourself in a darkroom on your own and/or operate the commercial print lab machines at the nearest development location. Traditional style photographic chemicals will give you or your clients a permanent record of your image for archive or distribution.
Chemicals used in photography vary based on what spectrum of the photography world you are tapping into. Developing black and white film differs from developing color film, which differs from the chemicals used to put digital prints to paper, and purchasing the chemicals needed for photography can be a costly endeavor if you are ill prepared.
To find the right photographic chemicals for you:
1. Determine what type of photography you develop. Is it film? Is it digital prints? If it's film, is it black and white film? Is it color film? Is it some sort of specialty film like a sepia tone?
2. Have a basic knowledge of the chemicals you are looking to purchase.
3. Purchase your photo developing chemicals in bulk for your business to help save on costs.
4. Make sure your photographic imaging chemicals are compatible with your darkroom or processing set-up.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Buy film developer photographic chemicals
Purchase concentrated film developer photographic chemicals. The developer is the chemical that turns your latent image to metallic silver on the film.
I recommend: Purchase concentrated developer from
Adorama. Look for Kodak developer products from
Calumet Photographic, Inc. Discover discount photo chemicals from
Camcor, Inc.
Follow-up with wash aids and fixer photo chemicals
Purchase your additional chemicals in photography from reputable suppliers to complete your dark room film processing needs. The stop bath halts the action of developer, and your fixer makes the image permanent as well as light-resistant by dissolving any remaining silver halides on the film.
I recommend: Purchase Ilford and Kodak brand developing products from
Ritz Camera. Find even more photography chemical supply choices from
WolfCamera.com. Look for Ilford Universal Wash Aid products from
PhotoAlley.com.
Purchase bulk photo chemicals
Purchase your photo chemicals for greater cost savings. Bulk stocking up is a cost effective commercial way of watching your budget.
I recommend: Purchase chemicals in bulk, and receive a 25% discount on single batch quantities of 10 pounds or more from
Photographers' Formulary. Buy bulk black and white raw photographic chemicals from
Tech Chem.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Make sure that you provide you and your employees proper ventilation when working with photographic chemicals. Chemicals used in photography are hazardous materials that should be transported and utilized with caution.
- Color film processing is slightly different from that of black and white processing. The key difference is the combining of your bleach with the fixer for a bleach-fix mixture (blix).
The official source of Photography Chemicals is the Photography Chemicals page at Business.com
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