Film photos and always developed on special photo paper. Digital photos can be printed or also developed like film on photo paper. Developing a photo on photo paper is a multi stage process.

Film photos are developed in two stages. First the film is taken from the camera and is developed into what is known as a negative. In a nutshell the process removes the light sensitive layer from the film and fixates the captured image. Negatives are also known as those reverse small photos that you can look at against the light. In the second stage negatives are printed on photo paper to create the final photo print product. There are many photo paper types and they also come in many sizes.

Digital photos on the other hand only involve one stage which is the printing of the photo on the photo paper. Since there is no film there is no process for creating a negative.

The process of printing a photo either from digital or from negative is complex and takes a few stages and chemicals to complete.

The first stage is know as the Developer stage. The photo paper goes into a chemical bath sensitive to light. A consistent light sensitive layer is coated on the paper. The coated paper is then exposed to the printed photo using a high intensity projector that projects the negative or the digital photo.

The next step is known as the Stop step. The idea here that after the photo is captured on the light sensitive layer the light sensitivity needs to be removed so that the photo can be fixed. The photo paper is put into a bath of chemicals that create a reaction that negates the light sensitive chemical. After leaving the stop chemical bath the photo paper is no longer sensitive to light.

The next step is known as the Fixer step. The photo paper goes into a bath of chemicals that fix the photo. This is in essence a continuation of the stop bath step. The fixer stager removes any leftovers of the previous chemicals and guarantees the photo is fixed on the photo paper and will not change.

The next two steps are called Washed and Dried. The photo paper is first washed to remove any chemicals. If chemicals are left on the paper they can create stains and imperfections in the photo. After the photo paper is washed it has to be dried. The chemicals bath are wet and the photo paper at the end of the process is wet. Drying out the photo paper can be done the old fashion way by hanging the photos. Modern developers use machines to quickly dry the photo paper prints.

The chemicals used in the different stages are usually used again and again for the development of a large number of photos. They do not need to be replaced too often although over time their quality is degraded. Modern development machines can track the quality of the chemicals and can set the exposure and other parameters accordingly to compensate on aging chemicals.

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Jacob Georgeson is a business and Internet writer. This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Jacob Georgeson writes business and Internet. Find more on this subject on printing