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Before printing , it is important to understand the basics for handling negatives , photographic paper or prints.

Avoid damage from light , by following all light-tight procedures , when handling unprocessed film or photographic paper . 

Take care nor to scratch the emulsion o leave fingerprints . One easy way to avoid damage is to wear cotton gloves , whenever handling negatives , photographic paper or prints . 

Dust is an important problem , because it can cause poor quality prints and even permanent damage by scratching the negatives . 

Regularly vacuum the laboratory area , wash the floors and counters to reduce dust problems .

In addition , follow all recommended cleaning procedures fro printer  and processor maintenance .

 How to find the emulsion side of the film or paper .

To get proper results in routing processing or printing , it is important to know which is the emulsion side , so that the film or paper is correctly positioned on the process or printer . It is also important for quality control testing . Otherwise , test results could lead misleading .

The duller side of the processed film is the emulsion side. The lighter side of the unprocessed film and the colored side o the paper are the emulsion surfaces . The other side is the base side . 

With film processed taped to a leader card , the emulsion side of the negative is easy to find. The area of the negative strip underneath of the tape will be light brown on the emulsion side . The area under the tape on the base side will apperar dark brown where the attaching tape has been removed . 

Another method of determining the film emulsion side is to look at the numbers along the edge. If you can read these border numbers , you are looking at the base side . If the number appear backwards , you are looking at the amulsion side .

Inside the dark box , when taking 110 and 126 film from cartridges , you will find that the film curls naturally toward the emulsion side . 

Another way is to make a scratch in the tip end of the film or paper . The emulsion side scratches off easily , while the base side does not .Be very careful to scratch only the very end , so that no damage is done to the negatives .

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