Minilab

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that Digital minilab be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

A minilab is a small photographic developing and printing service, as opposed to the extremently large centralized photo developing labs that had been common previously.

Now that digital photography has arrived there is a decline to the number of films which are processed and printed. This means that the larger labs capable of processing 30 or 40 thousand films a day are going out of business. This has left the floodgates open for the high street minilab who can offer a personal service, with most films processed and printed in under an hour.

In the Kodak minilabs films are processed in C41b and the paper processed in RA4. Using these chemical processes films can be ready for collection in just 30 minutes.

The two main machines in the minilab set up are a film processor and a printer/processor. 35 mm films are pulled, this means they end of the film is pulled out of the cassette, this can done by hand or by using a small machine. A twin check number is put onto the film and the matching number onto the film processing envelope, so that after processing this film can be married back to the customers envelope. Films are spliced on the leader cards one or two at a time, to do this the end of the film is cut square, special Permacel tape is used to attach the film to the leader card. The leader cards is posted into the front of the film processor, sprockets in this card are driven through the machine, the films follow the leader through the machine. The film goes through a developer, bleach, fix and stabiliser then through a dryer. After the film is processed it is cut from the leader card and put with the processing envelope containing the customer details, from here the film goes forward for printing.

Most printer/processes are computer controlled. The front of the film is fed into the printing gate. Sensors see the film and forward the film to the first frame. DX codes on the edge of the film are read by the printer and the film channel is selected accordingly to give the optimum result. Each frame is printed one at a time, the photographic paper is advanced each time and when there is sufficient frames printed the paper automatically advances into the paper processor. The paper passes through a developer, bleach/fix, a wash and then dried. The prints are then cut up and are collected in a bundle. From here a smaller machine is used to cut the neagatives into fours and sleeved to protect them.

The final job is the put the negatives with the prints into a wallet and into the processing envelope. The order is then priced and placed into a rack or draw waiting for the customer to collect.

The price of a digital minilab can reach up to $250,000. The most popular brands are KIS, Noritsu, Doli and Fuji.. Recently, by the end of 2005, two manufacturers, Agfa and Konica went out of business. Gretag on the other hand was bought by KIS Photo Me Group during the early part of the year 2000.