localized test strips in contact printing

[mgeiss]

I have just started contact printing my 8x10" negs.

When enlarging, I'm doing what Ralph Lambrecht in Way Beyond Monochrome calls "localized test strips", which means every strip is made from the same portion of the image. I'm trying to adapt this method to contact printig, bit I'm having a hard time figuring out a convenient way of doing so.

For enlargements, I'm using the DIY test strip printer from the book: http://www.waybeyondmonochrome.com/WBM2/TOC_files/TestStripPrinterEd2.pdf

This obviously doesn't work so well with contact printing. Has anyone here found a good method for doing localized test strips in contact printing?

[ic-racer]

I have just started contact printing my 8x10" negs.

When enlarging, I'm doing what Ralph Lambrecht in Way Beyond Monochrome calls "localized test strips", which means every strip is made from the same portion of the image. I'm trying to adapt this method to contact printig, bit I'm having a hard time figuring out a convenient way of doing so.

For enlargements, I'm using the DIY test strip printer from the book: http://www.waybeyondmonochrome.com/WBM2/TOC_files/TestStripPrinterEd2.pdf

This obviously doesn't work so well with contact printing. Has anyone here found a good method for doing localized test strips in contact printing?

I found this aspect of contanct printing a little bit of a challenge. Once I had the negative and glass free of dust I did not want to disturb that. I taped the negative at the edges to the glass. That way I could lift it and put each piece of paper where I wanted it with safelight illumination. I also used the red light under the enlarger light source to aid in positioning the strips. Eventually I gave up because too much dust was getting in there and just put the negative in the negative carrier and project the image at 1:1.

[Daniel Stone]

ruby lith tape on the contact frame's glass(non-film contacting side) works well. Mask out the area you're looking to "test> If you can't get lith tape, then use electrical tape. Just don't leave it on the glass too long, cause it might get sticky, and therefore leave residue when removing it.

I don't to test strips on contact prints. I know that saving materials is usually at the top of people's priority list, but unless your negatives are the same density all over, testing the contrast of a portion of a negative won't yield you the "whole thing" that a full contact print will.

Dust: get a HEPA-approved air filter, and run it continuously in your darkroom space. If you can't do that, run it on high for an hour before printing, and then turn it to low whilst printing. Almost every print needs some spotting, I just look at it as the "final touch" before mounting.

For enlarging big prints(16x20 and bigger) I use test strips, but it usually takes 2-3 pieces of full size paper to get me in the ballpark if its a new negative I haven't printed before.

-Dan

[mgeiss]

Taping the negative to the glass is what I do for now. Dust is a problem though, and good alignment for each strip is another... I'm thinking of building a dedicated contact printer, which could make things a little easier, as the paper is on top.

[John Bowen]

Personally I've found a vacuum easel to be the cat's meow for contact printing. No glass surfaces to deal with and much more efficient than a contact print frame. They occasionally show up on EBay.

[Jay DeFehr]

John, I understand how a vacuum easel holds the paper to the easel, but how does one hold the negative to the paper?

I don't do test strips, either. I can usually guess well enough to get within two or three iterations of test prints for exposure and contrast, and I like to see the whole print.