Silver Halide Darkroom Tools & Reference
3D Studio
Interactive 3D tool

Enlarger Simulator

Focus, stop down, filter for contrast and expose — see the print appear.

Enlarger Simulator Interactive All 3D tools
Lamp idle
Drag to orbit · scroll to zoom
An enlarger projecting a light cone onto paper on the baseboard

This device cannot render WebGL, so the 3D enlarger is unavailable. The paper preview below still responds to every control, so nothing is lost.

Educational simulationThe print preview is a simulation of a silver halide paper response, not a prediction of your actual print. Exposure, contrast and dry-down all depend on your own paper, chemistry and enlarger.
The paper preview

Below the 3D view is a live print preview. It applies the contrast curve of the selected grade, the paper's toe and shoulder, a defocus from the focus slider, and a lens vignette — then darkens progressively as you expose.

Test strip output

Press Test strip to generate five exposures a third of a stop apart around the computed time — the same sheet you would make in a real darkroom, in the same increments.

Judge the strip by the highlight, not by the overall tone. Choose the step where the brightest textured area just separates from paper white.

Keep going

Other interactive tools

Interactive 5–8 min

Film Loading Simulator

Load film onto a reel inside a changing bag, step by step, in 3D.

3D / interactive
Interactive 10–20 min

Developing Tank Simulator

Pour, agitate, drain and fix — with real chemistry colours and timings.

3D / interactive
Interactive 6–12 min

Zone System Visualizer

Analyse a photograph, place it on eleven zones, and get a suggested EI.

3D / interactive