how does a photo negative get resized?

Question

I looked up the process for developing pictures yourself, and I’m confused on what part of the process takes the negative from the roll, which is like what, an inch or so, and then enlarges it to become a 4×6 picture.

So how does it happen? What part of the developing process makes this happen?

In: Other

Answer 1

In a darkroom, it’s done with a tool that’s quite literally called an enlarger. The negative is placed into a holder, inserted into the enlarger, a light shines through the negative and onto the photo paper below using controllable timing and exposure levels appropriate for the specific negative, and that photo paper is processed with chemicals to bring out the image.