The utensils used in the final part of the photographic process are very elementary, but no less important. Once the negative has been projected on paper, it is necessary to develop, fix and wash our image, so a set of trays or trays that can be made of plastic or fiberglass is necessary.
If these containers are made of plastic, they must be resistant to the chemicals that will be used for developing. An excellent plastic for this use is polypropylene.
The size of the trays should be proportional to the size of the copies made in a laboratory, a very large tray for small copies only facilitates waste of chemicals.
The only tray that is recommended to be wider is the one intended for washing, as this allows the contents to be agitated and better results to be obtained.
It should be a little deeper; so that a fine-tipped rubber hose can be inserted to create a steady, gentle stream of water.
Chemicals adhering to the copy are thus loosened and dumped into the spillway or basin.
Each tray should be marked and used with only one liquid at a time to avoid contamination.
To be able to manipulate the copies inside the different trays and move them from one bath to another, special bakelite, wood or stainless steel tweezers are required, as well as the trays.
A small rubber sweeper is useful for removing excess water from the prints.
These tools are very similar to the window dryers, but the rubber used to make them is softer to the touch.
It is also possible to dry the copies using two special papers for photography (there are special papers used in other activities of the chemical industry that are very rough).
There are other drying systems that do not damage the copy, for example, a small rack with wooden or metal frames that allow the photographs to be air-dried.