Collection: Hand Printing Services
An original negative is used to create a hand-crafted print with our black and white hand printing service.
Our skilled printer creates prints in our darkroom the old-fashioned way from either 35mm or 120 monochrome negative.
Ilford Multigrade resin coated (pearl finish) or Ilford Multigrade Classic fibre based (gloss finish) papers are available for all black and white hand printing.
Traditional darkroom printing remains exceptional in the digital age because it offers a hands-on, artistic process that produces uniquely crafted, archival-quality prints with a depth and character digital methods can’t replicate.
Why Black and White Hand Printing is Better Than Digital
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Tonal Depth and Subtlety
Hand printing can produce richer tonal gradations, especially in highlights and shadows, due to the continuous tone nature of analog silver gelatin prints.
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Material Quality
Traditional photographic papers (like fiber-based paper) used in hand printing often have a superior tactile and archival quality compared to most inkjet prints.
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Unique, Handmade Quality
Each hand print is crafted individually, making it unique—adding artistic value and a personal touch that mass digital prints lack.
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Archival Longevity
Properly processed black and white silver gelatin prints can last over 100 years without significant degradation, often outlasting digital prints.
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Artistic Control
In the darkroom, dodging, burning, and chemical adjustments provide a different kind of creative control, often seen as more intimate and tactile than digital editing.
How to place a order:
- Select the print size and paper type options that you require. Type the frame number, cropping preferences and any further additional information in the appropiate fields before you click on add to cart.
- Finish the payment process.
- When mailing your order, write down your order number and enclose it with the package you send to us.
- We will email you to let you know we have your negatives when we receive them in the mail
