MAKING A CONTACT SHEET

Too Dark. 11 seconds

Passable. 6 seconds

Too light. Acceptable. 3 seconds

Acceptable. 11 seconds

This is a positive print of all the frames on the film and made by exposing the whole film in contact with a single sheet of print paper.  Each print will be the same size as the negative.

As well as being an easy to file source of reference, a good contact proof shows 'at a glance' which images are not worth printing.  Close inspection through  magnifying loupe will repeal the quality of the negatives.

A fill 36-exposure roll of 35mm film will fit onto a 10" x 8" sheet.

• Use it to gain all the information you need to make the best print from each negative.
• Use an old slide mount or a magnifying loupe to view each frame, undistracted by and in isolation of the rest of the frames.
• Mark up the contact proof with wax or chinagraph pencils and circle the best images.

To expose the black and white negatives

• Under the safelight illumination, insert a sheet of printing paper - shiny-side up - onto the enlarger's baseboard.
• Make sure the light is as bright as possible.
• Raise the column to obtain a good spread of light.
• Focus the light.
• Lay the strips of negative on the paper - matt side down.
• Hold the negatives flat so that they come into contact with the paper.
• Place a sheet of clean glass on top of the negatives.
• Stop the lens down three stops.
• Set the enlarger lens to an aperture of f/8.
• Make sure that the enlarger head is high enough for the light from it to cover the sheet of negatives.
• Expose the paper - try an exposure of six seconds.
• Process the print.