1 / 18

Making a Contact Sheet

Learn how to create a contact sheet using a B&W enlarger and photographic paper. Follow step-by-step instructions for exposing, processing, and analyzing test strips to achieve correct exposure and contrast. Now you can edit and print your film images with ease.

rweems
Download Presentation

Making a Contact Sheet

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Making a Contact Sheet

  2. Equipment & Materials Needed • B&W Enlarger and Lens • B&W Photographic Paper (RC ONLY for print machine) • Contact Frame • B&W Negatives

  3. B&W Enlarger

  4. B&W Photographic Paper (RC)

  5. Contact Frame

  6. B&W Negatives (Cut into Six’s)

  7. Step 1 • Ensure both the enlarger’s negative carrier (top) and enlarger lens (bottom) and correctly place in the enlarger at all times • Both must remain in the enlarger whilst the enlarger is switched on.

  8. Proof Printer • Open the Proof Printer. • Insert your negatives into the contact frame. • Negatives must be placed shiny side up towards the glass so that when you close the Proof Printer your negatives are the right way up. • Close Proof Printer firmly.

  9. Place the Proof Printer under the enlarger onto the baseboard • Turn on the enlarger and raise the head so that the light covers the entire area of the Proof Printer. • Set the enlarger lens to f4. • The knob on the right hand side of the head is your contrast control, Grade 0-5 (Set this to Grade 2).

  10. Inserting the paper • Using the paper trimmer in the darkroom trim a sheet of paper to about 3”x10”. Strips thinner than 3” will get stuck in the machine. • Open the contact frame and place the strip of paper underneath a strip of negatives. Close the contact frame firmly.

  11. Timer • Set the timer to 5 seconds.

  12. Expose the paper • Press the expose button on the timer. This will expose the whole strip for 2 seconds. • Using a sheet of card cover 1/5 of the paper and expose for another 2 seconds. • Cover a further piece of the paper and expose for another 2 seconds. • Repeat this action two more times.

  13. Process the Test Strip • Remove the paper from the Proof Printer and take it over to the print machine. • Open the flap at the front of the machine and insert the photographic paper SHINY SIDE DOWN. • Close the flap. Your print will come out dry in about 2.5 minutes.

  14. View the Test Strip outside for correct exposure (1) • Your test strip should look something like this. • The exposures on you test strip will be : 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 seconds at Grade 2.

  15. View the Test Strip outside for correct exposure (2) • Decide which exposure is correct. From this example the final stage (far right) would be the correct choice (10 seconds). • If the test strip is too light or too dark increase or decrease the exposure time.

  16. View the Test Strip outside for correct contrast (1) • Contrast = the density of the print. • Grade 0 = Very Low contrast. • Grade 2.5 = Medium Contrast. • Grade 5 = High Contrast. • Depending on how well your negatives are exposed and processed will determine the contrast available on the negative. • Increase the grade on the enlarger to increase contrast or vice versa to reduce the contrast.

  17. Final Contact Print • Once you have determined correct exposure and contrast grade expose a whole sheet of photographic paper for that amount of time and at that grade setting on the enlarger. • Process the paper as before in the print machine.

  18. Your correctly printed Contact Sheet • You now have a contact sheet which will show you exactly what is on your roll of film. • This can now be used to edit your images for printing. You can mark the contact sheet to remind you which images you have chosen to make individual prints from.

More Related