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Thread: Soft Contact Prints

  1. #1

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    Soft Contact Prints

    Last night I was making some contact prints from some 4x5 negatives. I was very unhappy with how they appeared soft compared to ones that I had done months ago on someone elses enlarger. It was with the same paper. The only thing I could think of would be that my paper is old, which it is. Does paper do this when it gets old? Also, could certain glass cause contact prints to appear slightly soft? I'm not contacting through pages or sleeves. I'm taking the negative out and lying it right on the paper.

  2. #2

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    Soft Contact Prints

    Are you sure you have enough pressure between the glass and the negative?

  3. #3

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    Soft Contact Prints

    I don't think it is the paper. I've used 10 year old paper, and it prints sharp.... the highlights may be fogged a little, but it's still sharp.

    It may be the glass. Have you printed through that glass before?

  4. #4
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Soft Contact Prints

    Brian- Conventional silver paper will go soft gradually, (and pick up a fog), but not appreciably over a period of a few months, unless it was left in a hot environment, (in a car on a hot day...) Perhaps your developer was not as robust as the earlier one? Or, if you're using a variable contrast paper, a different wavelength lightsource could change the contrast. Just quick thoughts...
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  5. #5

    Soft Contact Prints

    I'm assuming that you're using some sort of contact printing frame...if not, the weight of the glass alone probably won't hold the negative tightly against the paper. You can improvise with weights and/or binder clips, but a contact printing frame is best.

    A few other things things that come to mind: Is the glass clean (if not, softness could results), is the negative being held tightly against the paper (any gap between the paper and the negative will introduce softness), and what developer are you using (some developers are softer than others)? Also, are you contact printing the same negatives that you enlarged previously? If not, are you sure the negatives are sharp?

    Lots of things to check...but if the negatives are sharp you should find it pretty easy to get sharp contact prints as long as the negative and paper are held tightly together.

  6. #6

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    Soft Contact Prints

    condenser vs. cold light/diffused source?

    Grasping at straws here... I doubt it would make as much difference on this end of the enlarger, but I'm just looking at the only known variables.

  7. #7

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    Soft Contact Prints

    If the negative itself is sharp and the glass on your contact printing set up is normal clear glass without any defects and is kept clean, and if the glass maintains good contact with the entire negative and holds it and the paper perfectly flat, I can't think of how it would be possible to make an unsharp contact print.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  8. #8
    Michael Jones's Avatar
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    Soft Contact Prints

    By any chance did you place emulsion next to the glass rather than the paper?

    Mike
    “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”

  9. #9

    Soft Contact Prints

    Hi there,

    Soft?? soft contrast or fuzzy image? Emulsion to emulsion, right? Spent developer?

    Just a thought.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    Soft Contact Prints

    Adding onto Ellis' good points, consider the temperature of the light source and the condition of the developer and triple-check the grade of the paper.

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