Contact printing - some basic advice would be welcomed

moggi1964

moggi1964

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So I am a couple of weeks away from actually taking some pictures on my almost fixed (I would not dare say restored) half plate camera. Given I do not have the setup for enlarging the negatives (it will be film) I would like to try contact printing. The price of the specialized papers is far too much of an expense at this stage so I'll likely use Ilford RC Deluxe papers to learn with.

A few questions:

I have some 8x10 plates of anti-Newton ring glass, is this okay to hold the negative against the paper?

The enlarger I do have is not one that uses 'above' filters (which I have a box of) but 'below' filters of which there is one attached (it's a deep red). Will I need to use filters when I am using the enlarger as a light source? If so, are the Ilford ones the go-to choice?

Would you go for the 5x7 paper or go for the next size up so you can create a larger border around the image? I appreciate this is purely personal taste (I think).
 
The deep red filter below the lens is to allow focus or positioning of the image/paper without exposing it. A bit like a safelight and gets swung out of the way before exposure.

If you plan to use Multigrade paper, then you will need to "colour" the light passing through the film since thats how the contrast is achieved in the final image. Use a set of Multigrade filters or a dichroic head with the correct colours dialled in for the contrast you want.

Mike
 
In reverse order…
Yes, bigger paper. Make a mask to place the neg in the right place and you will have something that can be exhibited straight away. Two masks in fact - one portrait and one landscape. The reason for this is that if the image is geometrically centred, it doesn’t look quite right. If it’s slightly above centre it looks much better and if you want to sign it, there’s some space.
The glass sounds fine. I spent a couple of years doing only contacts with ordinary glass. Perhaps my mask (see above) avoided extremely close contact between neg and glass. Dunno.
Any filters will do. The light should be moderately unfocused so any defects vanish. You only need filters if you want to manipulate contrast.
Choose a height for the enlarger that gives a pool of light a little bigger than your neg/paper/glass assembly. Choose an aperture that gives convenient exposure times and remember these settings. A piece of masking tape on the enlarger column?
You can do rudimentary dodging and burning but it’s a little trickier as you don’t have such a clear sight of what you’re doing.
You will need to do test strips in the same way as for projection prints.

Weston, E, managed with just a naked light bulb - a particular one he kept for printing. I don’t think he had the luxury of AN glass, but he did do dodging and burning (which he recorded for repeat prints).
His house and darkroom are preserved and inhabited by his descendants. (Grandson?)
 
mpirie said:
The deep red filter below the lens is to allow focus or positioning of the image/paper without exposing it. A bit like a safelight and gets swung out of the way before exposure.

If you plan to use Multigrade paper, then you will need to "colour" the light passing through the film since thats how the contrast is achieved in the final image. Use a set of Multigrade filters or a dichroic head with the correct colours dialled in for the contrast you want.

Mike
Click to expand...

Ahh, that makes sense. Thank you Mike.
 
David M said:
In reverse order…
Yes, bigger paper. Make a mask to place the neg in the right place and you will have something that can be exhibited straight away. Two masks in fact - one portrait and one landscape. The reason for this is that if the image is geometrically centred, it doesn’t look quite right. If it’s slightly above centre it looks much better and if you want to sign it, there’s some space.
The glass sounds fine. I spent a couple of years doing only contacts with ordinary glass. Perhaps my mask (see above) avoided extremely close contact between neg and glass. Dunno.
Any filters will do. The light should be moderately unfocused so any defects vanish. You only need filters if you want to manipulate contrast.
Choose a height for the enlarger that gives a pool of light a little bigger than your neg/paper/glass assembly. Choose an aperture that gives convenient exposure times and remember these settings. A piece of masking tape on the enlarger column?
You can do rudimentary dodging and burning but it’s a little trickier as you don’t have such a clear sight of what you’re doing.
You will need to do test strips in the same way as for projection prints.

Weston, E, managed with just a naked light bulb - a particular one he kept for printing. I don’t think he had the luxury of AN glass, but he did do dodging and burning (which he recorded for repeat prints).
His house and darkroom are preserved and inhabited by his descendants. (Grandson?)
Click to expand...

David, thank you once more for quickly jumping in with your advice and ideas. I hadn't considered the positioning yet it is something I do consider when framing a print. I just didn't think of this in the same light yet it is exactly the same. Duh!

I am wondering if I can rig up a holder for the Ilford over filters that will hold them under the light otherwise I'll see what is believable online or at the Wolverhampton show.

What a rabbit hole I have crawled (fallen) into - I love it.
 
Any old bit of cardboard or coat hanger will do to hold your filters. It’s nicer to have something properly designed, but the neg won’t mind.
 
I've ordered some 8x10 paper which gives me space to create some nice framing.

I'll think about the negative holder and try a few ideas. Wasn't able to get away form my work desk today to test out the GG but maybe tomorrow.
 
I acquired some Multigrade paper, filters, and a homemade holder, about three weeks ago. It's the three filter set, pale, medium, and dark yellow - I think these are for the earlier 3rd generation while the paper is the 4th :D I do have two sets of the correct filters

Anyway, the frame holder is simple to make, a wire frame attached to a Bulldog clip. I can bring it to Coven on Sunday.

Ian
 
Ian Grant said:
I acquired some Multigrade paper, filters, and a homemade holder, about three weeks ago. It's the three filter set, pale, medium, and dark yellow - I think these are for the earlier 3rd generation while the paper is the 4th :D I do have two sets of the correct filters

Anyway, the frame holder is simple to make, a wire frame attached to a Bulldog clip. I can bring it to Coven on Sunday.

Ian
Click to expand...

Wonderful! Would love to see it Ian and more importantly say hello and thank you.

Will there be an 'official' meetup of the 5x4 group or will it be a case of asking everyone 'Are you Ian?' :)

I'm thinking I should put the topbox and panniers on the bike just in case I get tempted to buy an accessory or two.
 
I do have this which was part of the auction lot I bought with the enlarger. Looks like a good hodler for the 8x10 paper with the mask on top. Is that how this works?
 

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That’s a masking frame, normally used for holding paper. The blades are adjustable for different-sized paper and to create borders. There will be an adjustable stop under the rigid corner.
It would certainly hold your neg/paper/mask sandwich in place, but the glass would have to be a little smaller to sit inside the blades. It only needs to be a little bit bigger than the neg. No problem otherwise.
A dedicated printing frame looks like an ordinary picture frame. The neg/paper sandwich is pressed against the glass by a spring-loaded back. (Usually leaf springs.) This is commonly divided in two and hinged, so that one side can be lifted, while the other stays clamped, and the progress of the print can be examined.
In some processes the paper changes visibly during exposure. These are printing-out papers, rather than the more common developing-out papers of today. They still need some form of fixing.
A little curiosity revealed that commercial printing-out paper is still available, but it’s cyanotype.
 
Fascinating, thank you David (I'm getting to say that a lot).

I love that I am learning so much and also that some of these processes are still being supported in some way.
 
There are other people on the forum who know much more than me. My own principal experience is in making mistakes and I’m pretty good at it.
 
I have a local printshop/framer who of course makes mounts for prints that he frames.

He would make me a mask to fit the 8x10 with a hole in it to fit the half-plate negative. My question is, if half plate is 120x165mm should he make a hole that has a tiny bit of overlap (say 2mm) in order that there is no chance of light getting to the paper except where we want it?

Thanks.
 
Aha! We’ve all seen those big Polaroids with all the drips exposed. Some people like it. This depends on whether you want to see the unexposed bits at the sides i]of the neg. These can be seen as an enhancement with historical methods and apparatus.
It’s not difficult to cut a mask yourself. Take thin black card and mark where the neg is to go. Now place a scrap or dud neg in place and with a scalpel, mark where the corners will be. That will be two stabs at each end of each side. Remove the neg and cut an exact hole for your neg.
If you want to mask the edges, do the same again, but this time mark an eighth of an inch or whatever is needed to give a-neat edge to the image and cut that out.
Now you lay down your print paper. Put the neg-sized mask on top and carefully put the neg into its space. If you’re using the masking frame you showed, do this on the frame, tucking each layer into the corner as you go.
if you’re using a proper printing frame, you have to do it backwards.
Clean the glass, then examine it in slanting light and clean off what you’ve left behind. Now put in the mask with the smaller hole (if you’re using it), then the neg-fitting mask, the printing paper, emulsion side towards the glass, and finally the hinged back. Depending on the exact frame you have, you might put in a piece of thicker black card or a piece of felt or other padding. Both black, naturally, to avoid reflections back through the paper.
I made contacts with a slightly different device.
Take a scrap piece of Contiboard (ready-made shelving) that’s a bit bigger than your paper. It helps if you have too many books and are putting up shelves. Now put in two screws along the long edge and one in the short edge. Leave half an inch protruding. Anything you put in will now nestle its long edge against the two screws and its short edge agains the the single one.
Is this clear? I could do a diagram, but not just now. I might even be able to find it and post a snap.
You slide each layer against the screws. Then I used a very thick piece (1/2“) of ordinary glass, with polished edges to hold everything in place. It needs careful handling but it’s not tricky at all. Some rubber feet under the plank make it easier to pick up.
Is this any help?
 
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Now that sounds like some proper DIY thinking or MacGuyvering I think they call it in the US.

I like the first bit, seems straightforward and I do straightforward whenever possible (he says, trying to renovate a 1900 half plate when he could have bought a new 5x7) :)
 
One piece of fundamental advice I forgot. When contact printing, the neg and paper are sandwiched emulsion-to-emulsion. With a modern thin base negative and a relatively small light source, like an enlarger, where the size or the light source is the stopped-down lens, it should make little difference.
With glass plates it’s much more important. When the two emulsions are separated, you are approaching the condition for making an unsharp mask.
 
Thank you David, it was a thought that had occured to me but I figured I would ask more questions when I have the setup ready to work.
 
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