Digital film processing: a comparison of wet and dry processing methods

Traditional film-based imaging has always relied on film processing that uses liquid chemicals--a method sometimes referred to as wet film processing. As digital imaging has become available for modalities ranging from radiography to magnetic resonance imaging, however, a digital-based processing method called dry film processing has been devised. Dry film processing transfers digital information to film using heat or a combination of heat and light, and the images are processed by the films themselves. In this article, we present an overview of each film processing method, along with a comparison between the methods as they are used by laser imagers and other imager types.