A photographic printing or developing machine has a station for processing bands of photographic material. The processing station has an inlet side and an outlet side. A first station provided with several receiving areas for wheeled take-off cassettes carrying coild bands of photographic material is located adjacent to the inlet side. A second station provided with several receiving areas for wheeled, empty take-up cassettes is disposed adjacent to the outlet side. The first and second stations each have a mechanism for conveying and guiding bands of photographic material between the processing station and the various receiving areas. Furthermore, a detecting mechanism is located at each receiving area and the detecting mechanism, as well as the conveying and guiding mechanism, are connected to an electronic control unit. In operation, a loaded take-off cassette is positioned at each receiving area of the first station and an empty take-up cassette is positioned at each receiving area of the second station.