It
is important to fix your negatives fully, this will ensure their longevity.
Fixing
removes the last of any light-sensitive material from the negatives stabilising
and securing the images so they can be viewed in day light. The temperature of
the fix should be the same as the developer and stop bath, 20 degrees C.
Most fixers
nowadays are rapid fixers supplied in liquid concentrate form and will complete
the fixing process in about two to five minutes. (always check the instructions
on the bottle) over fixing will start to bleach the negative. These fixers are
usually suitable for film and paper. There is a chance in the case of warm tone
papers that they may suffer from bleaching of their warmth with rapid fixers,
it would therefore be better to use a more traditional fixer made up from a
powder to ensure no loss of tone.