Author: Steve Anchell
Brand: Focal Press
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$41.95~~
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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

11 reviews
Sales Rank: 683206

Media: Paperback
Pages: 193
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6 x 0.5

MPN: F454
ISBN: 0240802594
Dewey Decimal Number: 771.49
EAN: 9780240802596
ASIN: 0240802594

Publication Date: December 30, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.

Also Available In:

•	Digital - The Variable Contrast Printing Manual

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Once you have become a proficient darkroom printer, there comes a time when you must take the next step toward printing excellence. This well-researched guide is packed with useful information on everything you need to know about maximizing variable contrast papers. It includes sections on types of papers, calibrations, printing techniques, using multiple filters, split printing, enlargers and light sources, fixing and washing for permanence, toning and much more. 192 pp., b&w illus. and charts, 6 x 9 1/4 , Softbound.

Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Worthwhile. November 3, 2006
F. A. Fuller (SEATTLE, WA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

For anyone getting into or going back to photography, this is a very helpful book. Easily read and workable.

4 out of 5 stars

Useful Darkroom tool August 24, 2003
Stuart Murdoch (Melbourne Australia)
1 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book is useful if you are trying to dig deeper in your understanding of how Multi contrast papers work, however given the explosion of digital and inkjet printers in recent years, I wonder how much longer this excellent book will remain relevant?

3 out of 5 stars

Not so usefull for me July 9, 2003
1 out of 12 found this review helpful

Many charts and graphs of enlargers and materials which I cannot reach here, in the Russia.

5 out of 5 stars

A great history & current very usable information. February 12, 2003
Shock Writer (Knoxville, Tennessee United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I bought and read every page of all three of Steve Anchell's black and white photo information books: The Variable Contrast Printing Manual, The Film Developing Cookbook, and The Darkroom Cookbook. Why? Because he gives a mix of an historical view plus tells what to pick of the best current chemistries. He does this without bogging down in the actual complexities of a college chemistry course keeping it at a usable technicians level. Since he also tells you why you are using various chemicals or paper his books do not dumb down but instead give you fascinating useful information. Anyone serious about darkroom work will appreciate his insights and commentary about chemistry use. He lists so many historical and current B&W chemical formulas and their use that any B&W experimenter will find the books useful.

4 out of 5 stars

Substance and Clarity March 8, 2002
D. Johnson (Palo Alto, CA United States)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful

I could have written this book, but I am glad Anchell did it and did it so well. There is an introduction for beginners here that is just enough to set them off on the big adventure. There is some well presented thought on advanced techniques that will keep the advanced cases focused on the essentials and help expand their skill.

The author touches on how and why various approaches to Variable Contrast work and why you need to know. He compares the most readily available materials and suggests where they should be used.

He gives some direct and pragmatic recommendations about development and fixing. He also presents some practical examples of how to use multiple filter techniques where appropriate. He discusses pre-exposure and some other tried and true techniques that help manage contrast.

This book is a very good top-down, goal oriented approach. It is easy to read and remember because it never gets wound up in technique for its own sake.

If you are already competent this book will keep you moving in the right direction. If you are not yet competent you will have no excuses after you read this book.

This author needs a better publisher. I'd like to have an edition with test negatives and a coupon for a discount on the next edition. A better publisher could make this book a classic, must have.