Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28
Camera Angles
Camera Angles
Contact Printing Is Easily
Mastered by Amateurs
BY Alexander J. Wedderburn
The Smithsonian institution

The Smithsol
The quickest way to get a
picture from one of your films
is through contact printing.
Contact prints are easy for
anyone to make and a very
small investment will get you
started making your own
prints.
Best Of all you won't have
to wait to see the results Of
your camera work and you will
save money by doing the work
yourself. Some time back we
pointed out the way to get
started with your own dark
room with the advice that it
is a simple matter to develop
and process a roll of films in
an inexpensive daylight-type
film tank. In this and the
succeeding column We will dis
cusS the ways and means Of
Transforming your films into
disable pictures by doing it
yourself.
Some Size as Neeotive
The contact print Is the
same size as the exposed mega
tive. 1t is made by placing a
sheet of sensitized paper in
contact with the film and
passing light through the film
to form a latent or invisible
image on the paper. The paper
is then developed to bring out
the image and the print is
fixed and washed much in the
same manner as the film. The
doing is just about as fast as
the telling for contact printing
is a fast and painless process
that anyone can pick UP In q
matter of minutes.
There are many uses for
contact prints. First. they are
ideal for album mounting.
Then, because of the small
size. they can be kept in
large numbers in a very small
space. And they are just right
when you want to give a snap
shot of yourself or one Of the
children to friends and rela-
tives. Large pictures are not
always appreciated by the re-
cipients. On the other hand.
If yours is a 35-mm. camera or
smaller. we don't recommend
the contact print. It would be
too small to be of much value
except as a means of quickly
identifying a negative. Many
people paste a 35-mm. contact
print to the negative jacket to
save handling of the film.
Frome ond Printer
The actual printing is done
with either a so-called print
ing frame" or with a contact
printer which is a simple ma
chine which accomplishes the
same purpose. The frame will
do just as good a job and will
cost you less. All 1t amounts to
is a wood or metal frame that
is faced with a sheet of glass
and fitted with a hinged back
that can be quickly removed.
In practice the film and paper
are sandwiched between the
glass and the back while the
exposure is in progress.
When purchasing a printing
frame be sure to get one that
will take care of the largest
negative you are likely to use.
A ski inch frame is ideal be-
cause it will handle not only q
ski inch film. but any Of the
smaller sizes as well. The
smaller films are fitted in the
larger frame by use of masking
strips that can be fitted to q
given film size.
Other Needed Items
If you are a beginner and
have never done any darkroom
work before you will also need
to obtain a few other reason
ably priced items. Three or
four trays will be required for
processing the prints. Enamel
trays will do but we suggest
rubber or stainless steel for
there will be no danger of rust
stains from either of the lat
ter. Enamel trays chip when
dropped or handled carelessly
and the barred metal is quick
to rust with resulting stains on
the prints that later pass
through them.
The development of prints,
unlike negatives, need not be
done in total darkness and
therefore you will want a safe
light. This is q necessity as
you will want to watch the
images as they develop on the
paper SO the prints can be
removed at just the right
moment of development. Equip
the safelight with an o or GA
filter. Ordinary white light
will fog the paper. II you
HEADQU ARTERS
FOR CAMERA FANS
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