Now that you
have your negatives safely stored and indexed, you need to sort
out which negatives you are going to print. Trying to judge this by
holding them up to the light or by laying them on a light box can be difficult. The best
way is to produce a contact print showing all the frames on one sheet
of photographic paper.
There are special
frames that allow you to do this. You can buy contact print frames
which consist of a glass top with film holders attached and a solid
base with foam on that clips shut. For 35mm or 6x6 (medium format)
which hold seven rows of six for 35mm or four row of three for medium
format negatives. The frame holds the negatives so you can see the
frame numbers on the print, you place them with the shine side up and
put a soft grade light-sensitive paper on the base. Then shut the
frame to bring the negatives in contact with the photographic paper,
hence contact print.
Another method of
contact printing is if you use clear plastic negative holders, you
can place these directly onto the photographic paper. The problem
with this method is it does not hold the negative completely flat to
the paper which means that some of the pictures may be distorted. A
way round it is a clean sheet of glass that is big enough to place
over the negatives.
