I’ve had no problem, except when making one, one-time, obvious mistake. That was to dig the edge of one sheet into another. Never again.
The unremarkable system is this.
A tray one size larger than the film size. This keeps the sheets together while giving space to get your fingers underneath. The film lies in landscape mode while the tray is portrait. Thus, a 5x7 tray for 5x4 film and 10x12 for 10x8. Do not imagine that “plenty of room” is an advantage. It allows the sheets to become unruly and damage each other.
I have found that trays with raised ridges rather than the more common Paterson grooves are easier to use and minimise contact between film and base. As film is virtually weightless in water, there is no significant increased pressure on the reduced area of the ridges.
A batten under the far edge of the row of trays, to give a gentle slope towards the operator. This keeps the sheets organised automatically without any extra handling.
Trays laid out thus: water bath, developer, stop (I use another water bath), fix and if you have space, another water bath.
Almost needless to say, but the trays must be clean, your hands must be clean (that is, freshly washed, extensively dried) or clean latex-type gloves.
Don’t overfill the trays. Enough is enough and you will just make a mess.
Look at your arrangement. Put a hand on where the film will be when you open it.
Now switch on the darkness. Look around you for light leaks. Do this every time.
It’s best to have unloaded the film holders and put the film into a light-proof box. Take it out and arrange it neatly, fanned out so you can grasp individual sheets without fumbling. Propped crosswise in the open box seems to work. By now, the film will have realised that it’s going to be murdered and will be devising ways to escape. In the dark, it’s cleverer than you.
For the next operation you need both wet and dry hands. Three hands would be useful, but we compromise by having two dry hands and a wet finger.
Take the first sheet and place it emulsion-side up on top of the first water bath. The long side of the film against the short side of the tray. Emulsion side up so that all contact is with the back of the film. Put the near edge down first and swipe or roll it onto the surface. Do not slide it in as you would with a print. Just place it lightly onto the surface, near edge first. If it helps, touch it against the near edge of the tray. Keep that hand dry.
Now, with just the tip of your little finger on the other hand, push it under the water and let it sink. Gently.
Now, in a very leisurely way, take the next sheet and do the same. Gently. Don’t press the sheets together, ever. If the film is properly wetted, it won’t stick together. If it isn’t, it will and it will be both tricky and damaging to get them apart.
When all are in the water, slide all your fingers under the stack and slide the bottom one away from you and out. Place it gently on the surface as before and push it gently under. Keep count, so that each sheet gets the same amount of movement. Soak for your preferred time.
You do the same for each stage of development. You must transfer to the fix (or stop) one at a time, because the abrupt change in pH makes the emulsion contract and the sheets can stick to each other.
Each cycle of agitation is one shuffle through the deck. As a starting point, use the standard times (or your own tested times) as though for ordinary tank development. That is, shuffle continuously for thirty seconds at the beginning, returning to the same order in the stack, then one shuffle every thirty seconds. Naturally, you will be making your own adjustments. Stand development is not possible as far as I know.
It is possible to lift out the whole stack if it’s 5x4 film, propping it between two fingers and a thumb without touching the surface, but not for 10x8. The film is never grasped, but lies flat on your open fingers. Wet film is very slippery indeed.
If you are proposing to re-use your developer (But why? Developer is cheaper than film and film is very much cheaper than your time.), you may need a water-bath, rather than stop, because of the possibility of backwards contamination.
Some people like to turn the stack around during development, so that the sliding is in different directions. Around - not over. I’ve not seen any difference and the extra handling is another scratching hazard.
It would also be possible to process one sheet at a time in a tray, by pouring the successive stages directly in and out of the tray, but one of the tanks mentioned above would be much more convenient. Agitation would be by lifting one edge at a time.
That’s all the precautions I can think of. My apologies for the simplistic tone. Other members may have more detailed and better advice.
