Contact prints aren't as sharp as the neg looks

[Robert Skeoch]

I'm making contact prints of my 8x10 b&w negs. The contacts do not look as sharp as the negs do. I'm taking the neg out of the neg sleeve. My contact printer is a wood board, with an 11x14 size piece of regular glass on top. I place the paper on the board, put the neg on, and put the glass on top. I don't hold the glass or touch it during the exposure. I have no foam or padding on the wood board.

Open to ideas.

Also, do those contact printers with the wood frame like Zone VI used to make work better?

Thanks.

-Rob

[Mike Troxell]

Rob

I bought one of the Zone VI 8x10 contact printers years ago and have never used anything else for contact printing since then. Its not that the Zone VI contact frames are special, although I like the design. Any good, well designed wooden contact print frame will work.

The only question I would ask you about your setup is if you are certain the board is perfectly level.

[Robert Musgjerd]

For 8x10 you really don't need a print frame. The glass does need to be heavy and larger than 8x10 11x14 would be fine also make shure the surface you are placing the paper on is smooth Good luck

[Michael Kadillak]

Also make sure that your negative emulsion is facing the printing paper. If you have it in reverse by accident, it will be unsharp by the thickness of the negative. Not really that much, but it will take a bit of the punch out of your contact.

Just a thought.

[Donald Miller]

The only thing that I would question is whether you are placing film emulsion to paper emulsion. If that is the case then the print must be as sharp as the negative as is possible.

[Conrad Hoffman]

Most glass is pretty flat. Most wood boards aren't. Check it with a good straightedge in a couple directions, or get a thick piece of MDF- that's usually quite flat. Heavy plate glass works best if you aren't going to clamp it down.

[Sidney Cammeresi]

When I moved up from making 4x5 contact prints to making 11x14 contact prints, I found that I had a lot of trouble getting the whole print sharp. I was using a normal 16x20 sheet of window glass, but try as I might, I could not get the whole paper-film assemblage flat. I eventually decided it was time to dust off (literally) and test out some very old contact printing frames an LF friend had given me to borrow some time before, and that solved my problem instantly.

You might try making a print while pressing down on the glass on the glass to see if that improves your sharpness.

[Steve Sherman]

New to 7X17 contact printing 2 years ago I used an older 16X20 contact frame and recently purchased a vacuum frame. The vacuum frame had a dramatic effect on print sharpness. When using long lens on large film with and employing camera movements there is always the fear that some part of the image maybe compromised due to plan of focus problems. The vacuum frame put to rest any thought of plan of focus issues. The vacuum frame is the single best investment I have made in many years. Cheers Steve

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'd also recommend getting a spring back contact print frame. I like frames that are larger than the size I'm printing. The ones from Fine Art Photo Supply are oversized, or you can just get another type in a larger format than you are printing.

A vacuum easel is even better if you have room for it and can set up the compressor somewhere where the noise isn't too bothersome.

[Paul Schilliger]

What about the light source? A specular light source placed far enough might produce sharper prints than a diffuse light if you are not exposing under the enlarger.

[mark blackman]

Rob, replace the lower board with another piece of glass, it will be much smoother. There's no harm in using a spirit-level to ensure your film is exactly parallel to the light source.

[Sal Santamaura]

What paper are you using? I've found considerable variation in the sharpness of different paper types.

[John D Gerndt]

I have read that a good deal of pressure is needed to assure you are getting the best possible sharpness out of a contact print. The trick is to apply the pressure well; best is to apply it first to the center of the negative/paper sandwich and spread it out from there in all directions, maintaining it there after for the length of the process. You can tell from this description which devices will work best.

That said, a standard (hinged-back with strong springs) contact printer works pretty darn well. You can use thicker glass if you need to beef up the pressure.

Cheers,

[paulr]

these are just ideas ... i've never done side-by-side comparisons.

-something that can help you get even pressure over the whole surface of the negative is a thick, dense, high-quality felt. a friend who makes beautiful contact prints gave me some--it's made for use in lithography presses, and might be available from art supply stores that cater to printmakers. this stuff, in conjunction with a spring back frame, will help guarantee contact over the whole area of the neg.

-i'm curious about the effectt of the light source, also. i've always used difused light from my enlarger, but i wonder if you'd get sharper looking results from a source that columnates the light (a condenser head, or the sun).

[jantman]

Black high-density foam on the board. It will provide a flatter surface thereby bringing the paper and negative in closer contact, and will also cut down on halation.

[Tim Curry]

A contact print on paper with a textured surface will not be as sharp as a print on a glossy paper. The minute surface indentations can't make a good contact. I use a layer of black neoprene gasket material to provide a cushion which allows all of the paper and film to compress against the glass.

Paper does not have the resolving power of film. Film has more ability to "see" fine detail than does paper. This is why a 4x5 contact print will not show the detail available in the film and why an enlargement from 4x5 will reveal more detail. I'm not saying that an enlargement is sharper, just that fine textures are more evident in an enlargement simply because film "sees" more than paper. Just my $0.02 worth.

[Sal Santamaura]

My earlier comment about paper types referred to various graded vs. VC emulsions, not surface textures. In fact, sharpness has not been the greatest challenge for very smooth glossy papers; newton rings between film and paper emulsions proved most troublesome.

[Robert Skeoch]

Thanks for all your help. I'll give these ideas a try. I'm mostly using either Ilford RC glossy for proofs or Ilford FB glossy for good prints.

[simon tempo]

Last but not least, clean your bifocals ...