After a few years of 4x5 and a Combi tank, I have just started shooting 5x7. I have tray developed two sets of exposures (4 and 6 sheets) so far. The first set I did emulsion side up and had only a few scratches. The second set I did emulsion down and had no scratches on the emulsion side, but had some good ones on the other side. I have not done any printing yet on the second set so I do not know if the scratches will show or not. All negs came out evenly developed.

What I am looking for are any tips, tricks or best practices that other tray developers have found usefull to eliminate scratches, obtain even development, keep track of time, agitation etc. I am trying to improve my process and get up the learning curve a little sooner.

Thanks for your input.