To consistently produce the highest quality photographic products possible and to prevent chemical processing defects, you must monitor the photographic processes. From a hand-processing system to a sophisticated, computerized processing system, process monitoring is necessary to achieve high quality on a consistent basis. When it is performed routinely, process monitoring can detect minor problems before a major casualty to your imagery results as well as aid in the proper replenishment of your processing system.

The area of quality control and process monitoring can be very complex. Some Navy Photographer's Mates earn an NEC and specialize in the field of quality control for photographic processes. It is not the intention of this training manual to provide you with the information necessary to become a specialist in photographic quality

control; however, you must learn the appropriate steps to monitor the process.

The production of high-quality photographic products requires control over all the factors that affect light-sensitive materials. Film exposure and processing are the most important of these factors. Negatives or positives that have not been uniformly and correctly exposed and processed may provide unusable results. By monitoring the process and providing high-quality products, you can save time and operating costs by reducing waste and retakes.

Any monitoring system for the photographic process requires a reference or standard, and comparison of daily production to this standard. Visual comparison of the reference to the standard is very subjective and limited in accuracy because of personal opinion. A more accurate method is to measure your production against the standard. Two means of making

Courtesy of EG&G, Inc.

Figure 10-24. EG&G sensitometer.

these measurements are through sensitometry and densitometry. When sensitometry and densitometry are used, variations from the standard and the corrections recommended are expressed in numbers, not in terms of personal opinion.