Building my Darkroom What color should I paint the walls?

[GabrielSeri]

Hi,

I'm building my darkroom in my parents garage. What color should I paint the walls? In school the walls were flat black, is this still the norm? Maybe a dark grey? I was thinking about painting this weekend.

Thanks

Gabriel

[cowanw]

If you can handle it , red.
Any reflected light will be safe (ish).
Flat black around the enlarger is traditional.

[jp]

It's not necessary, but I used black, and it sure looks purposeful.

[Terry Hayden]

If your safelights are safe - then white works great. As was mentioned, black around the enlarger is a must.

[GabrielSeri]

Red might be interesting.. a dark red?

[Merg Ross]

Flat black around the enlarger, the rest of the room flat white.

Here is an old thread with more ideas:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=32048&highlight=color+darkroom+walls

[Ari]

Paint your walls as light as possible, white is good. When the safelight is on, all sensitive materials will be safe in that light, and you can actually see them. Don't fumble around in a red-coloured room with black walls.
All you need to do is make sure it's light-tight, then you can paint it any colour you wish.
But definitely go as light as possible.
You could go with black around the enlarger, but only if your enlarger spews light in all directions.

[GabrielSeri]

Oh cool thanks Merg. I apologize I did a search but it didn't seem to get the topics I wanted. I'll take a look right now, why should the rest of the room be flat white?

[GabrielSeri]

Paint your walls as light as possible, white is good. When the safelight is on, all sensitive materials will be safe in that light, and you can actually see them. Don't fumble around in a red-coloured room with black walls.
All you need to do is make sure it's light-tight, then you can paint it any colour you wish.
But definitely go as light as possible.

Genius! I get it, that makes a lot of sense.

Thank you.

[Leigh]

White

http://www.mayadate.org/pix/Darkroom1.jpg

Install a Thomas Duplex safelight (upper right here, just out of the photo) and you can read the small print on any chemical bottle anyplace in the darkroom.

Back is just an excuse for not fixing light leaks.

- Leigh

[aduncanson]

As the originator of the thread that Merg referred to, I can update you that in the end I did paint the walls Kodak yellow (gave the store part of a film box to match.) The color is not terribly annoying. I do use strong direct white lights for evaluating prints so the wall color does not greatly influence my judgment either in exposing or toning prints.

I have decided that the theory that reflecting off of a yellow-orange wall will render safe any white light that spills out of the enlarger, is probably only partially true, not absolutely true. Even a red surface can reflect some blue. With two 25 Watt amber globe safe lights on the ceiling, the room still has some dark corners. I think that brighter walls would make the room easier to work in. Were I to do it again, I would probably go for a significantly brighter yellow, if not white, and consider using black near the enlarger, as is frequently recommended.

[ic-racer]

Gray for me.

[GabrielSeri]

All great advice. I think I will paint a flat off white and flat black behind the enlarger. I will also look at any light leaks.

Funny story.. when my parents first moved into the house in the 80s this room was a darkroom! The previous owner was a photographer.. my dad threw away or recycled the sink. I wish I still had the sink, since I'm going to be using a work bench with trays instead. It's a work in progress, I'm sure I'll get a sink one day.

Thank you.

[cowanw]

Nothing wrong with white (mine is) but just to make the point that if it is red and you use a red safelight then the illumination will be exactly the same as if the walls are painted white (white can only reflect what is being beamed onto it). and red walls have the advantage of absorbing more of the bad wavelengths (should there be any) than white does (which doesn't absorb any colour)

[Juergen Sattler]

Mine is 18% gray:-)

[Ron McElroy]

Mine is painted gray. To do is again I will use white paint.

You mentioned needing a sink. You can build one out of plywood or MDF. There are lots of threads here discussing how to finish them.

[BetterSense]

When I was trying to copy a print last fall, and was having a heck of a time keeping the camera reflection off the glossy print surface, I sure wished I had painted the room black.

[Scotty230358]

My enlarger wall is painted flat black. The same goes for half the ceiling. Everything else is flat white.

[Jay DeFehr]

One more for flat white. I use a cheap red spiral fluorescent bulb for a safelight and my darkroom is both bright and safe.

[Fred L]

White around the wet side and close to 18% gray around the enlargers. None of the newspaper labs I've visited or printed in had black around the enlargers, most were a mild,creamy yellowish colour scheme throughout.

[Brian Ellis]

Regardless of what color you end up with when you're finished be sure to do a real test to make sure your safelight is really safe and that you have no light leaks. By "real" test I mean a test such as the one described here. http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/k4/k4TestSafelite.shtml, not one where you just plop a coin on a sheet of paper and process the paper.

A good test is important because the degradation caused by an unsafe safelight or light leaks isn't always apparent. Some people think that if their paper isn't turning an obvious shade of gray everything is fine. That's not true. Unsafe safe lights often take the form of a subtle degradation in the highlights, so subtle you don't even notice it unless you happen to compare your prints with ones made by others and notice that they're getting nice sparkling whites while you're not.

I've always been dubious about Thomas safelights after finding that the one in the student darkroom where I taught wasn't in fact safe and listening to John Sexton suggest not using them. I wouldn't use one myself, I never found a need for a real bright darkroom. If you make color prints you work in total darkness, why b&w darkroom workers think they need a bright darkroom has always been something of a mystery to me. But to each his or her own.

It's also important IMHO to test your enlarger for light leaks by putting the lens cap on the lens, turning all the lights in the darkroom off including the safelight, waiting ten minutes, then turning on the enlarger light. Look all around the enlarger, especially up at the lens from the easel position to check the edges of the lens board. You'll likely find light leaking at various places, especially around the lens board and at the negative stage. Use black tape or something else to cover up the leaks. Your enlarger won't look pretty but you'll have a safe darkroom.

[Allen in Montreal]

Flat black around the enlarger, the rest of the room flat white.....

I had an all flat white darkroom for many many years,
but have recently been converted and agree with Merg, a flat black around the enlarger.

It is not just about safe light color on the wall, but also slight amounts of enlarger light splashing around during longer exposures and larger enlargements.

I never had an issue making little 9x12 images on 11x14 paper on my V35, but when I started making 16x20 and 20x24 prints on the 138, I suddenly saw the value of flat black walls around the enlarger.




......

It's also important IMHO to test your enlarger for light leaks.........

Very good advice!!!

[Andrew O'Neill]

All walls in my darkroom are middle gray. The walls in the darkroom at the school I teach at are middle gray. Some people paint the wall in the dry area black or gray, and the wet side white.

[joselsgil]

I'v decided to paint my darkroom like a Jackson Pollock painting. I just need to paint it before I install the enlarger and trays :)

[GabrielSeri]

Sunday is paint day. I'm going for middle grey, then black around the enlarger and will also check for light leaks.

Thanks

[Louie Powell]

White - always white.

Light from your safelights will bounce around, making it possible to see better.

I did paint the area immediately behind my enlarger flat black to minimize reflections from the unavoidable light leaks from the enlarger.

[Rick A]

My vote is for Kodak yellow, They used it in all their darkrooms and labs. Not a bright shade, but a flat mild yellow. White ceiling and flat black next to the enlarger.

[nolindan]

The stray light during enlarging isn't from leaks in the enlarger but from light reflecting off the white photographic paper.

Try an experiment to see the effect:


Put down a white sheet of paper;
Turn the enlarger on (and safelights off) and look around the room at the illumination;
Now cap the lens on the enlarger - bit of cardboard, your hand, doesn't matter - and compare the illumination.


In my darkroom the illumination from the paper isn't confined to the area around the enlarger. My vote is for a safe OC orange color for the walls.

OTOH, the small amount of general flare contributed by white darkroom walls may improve the highlight contrast by serving the same function as paper flashing.

[ROL]

http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/SupportPics/DarkroomPix/DR1.jpg
A Darkroom Portrait (http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/pages/a-darkroom-portrait)

[Ric Johnson]

18% grey

[Allen in Montreal]

http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/SupportPics/DarkroomPix/DR1.jpg
A Darkroom Portrait (http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/pages/a-darkroom-portrait)

Nice darkroom!
I am envious of the drying screens. :D

[GabrielSeri]

Very nice darkroom! I wish mine looked as good.

[Jim Ewins]

Gray will not give color casts. Lack may not show soiling. No light, no reflections. Enjoy your Jackson Pollock (sp?) look alike

[ROL]

Nice darkroom!
I am envious of the drying screens. :D

There are 10 fiberglass 35"X50" screens stacked to fit 3" apart, on the dry side, sized large enough for my largest prints.
8 more 32"X45" are stacked to fit under the wash sink – all supported by aluminum "c-channel" slides (below).
http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/SupportPics/DarkroomPix/DR4.jpg
They were made custom to fit the cavities created in the lab, by a regular "window screen guy" (discounted for multiples of the same size). Some of these guys will actually come to your location – at least to litter my courtyard with their flyers!

[sirclipse]

The paint can be any color you wish. There is no real need in a true darkroom to paint the walls black. Some people do take some precautions by wall painting (http://www.homeqn.com/paint-walls.html) a strip of wall in line with the enlarger or just the neg carrier in black.

[neil poulsen]

I decided I wanted my darkroom to be a pleasing place to work, so I coordinated the colors. (Whatever that means.) My walls are a cream-yellow, a nice tan-yellow sheet-vinyl with a brown pattern on the floor, dark brown enlarger and sink stands (the enlarger's black), etc.

I'm probably remiss in not having a dark color around the enlarger and may use the same color dark brown in a flat paint.