Contact printing 5x7 negatives on 5x7 paper, with white border

[Larry Kellogg]

I know this has been discussed before, and I have read a bunch of threads, but I need a good solution. I want to contact print 5x7 negatives on 5x7 fibre paper, with an even white border around the edge. I cut a mask with Rubylith, slightly smaller than the image area on a 5x7 negative, but I'm having a hard time getting everything lined up perfectly in an 8x10 glass contacting frame. Of course, fibre paper has a curl to it, so everything shifts around when I close the frame.

Is there an easy and fast way to contact print 5x7 negatives and get a perfect white border?

Thanks,

Larry

[Vaughn]

Scotch tape neg into hole of the rubylith -- the tape is transparent to visible light and should not show. With a sharpy, mark the rubylith exactly where the paper should go.

If your contact printing frame has a hinged back, you should be able to place the paper precisely, put the back on one half while holding the paper in place, then fold down the other half.

[Larry Kellogg]

Scotch tape neg into hole of the rubylith -- the tape is transparent to visible light and should not show. With a sharpy, mark the rubylith exactly where the paper should go.

If your contact printing frame has a hinged back, you should be able to place the paper precisely, put the back on one half while holding the paper in place, then fold down the other half.

Well, that's the problem, I only have a contact printing frame with a hinge on one side, so that I can't fold down half and then the other half. Perhaps I need to get a contact printing frame for 5x7. Does someone make a nice contact printing frame that would do the alignment for me for 5x7 negatives? It is also tedious to always have to scotch tape my negatives.

Larry

[vinny]

Tape four pieces of black construction paper to the glass (inside) of your frame. Tape a white L shape piece to two opposing corners of that for a paper guide. Not perfect but i've done it for 4x5's into 8x10 paper and it worked great.

[Vaughn]

A bit of tape to hold the paper in place should do the trick, also.

I use a very small piece of tape (two corners of the neg is all you need to tape) with part of it folded over so it is easy to grab and remove. A dedicated 5x7 contact printing frame would be nice...check antique stores, etc. for old ones, though you probably need to have a piece of glass cut for it. or put a "Want to Buy" notice in the the buy/sell forum...or check out ebay (there are a bunch on there now).

[DannL]

I have used a printing frame with a pre-cut mat board installed first. Then the glass is installed, followed by the negative, the paper, and then the printing frame back. If the mat board opening is cut with clean and straight edges, the border will also be clean and straight. You can also print 5x7 on 8x10, or 4x5 on 8x10, etc; for example, giving a large wide boarder. But a printing frame I find, works best.

[BetterSense]

I used to have a 5x7 enlarging easel that made a white border. Could you use something like that and just sandwich your paper and neg together in one of those

[Larry Kellogg]

I used to have a 5x7 enlarging easel that made a white border. Could you use something like that and just sandwich your paper and neg together in one of those

I thought about that, but the negative needs to be held flat with a glass plate. I have some 5x7 speed easels but am wary of sliding the paper and my negative into one of those.

[Daniel Stone]

you can also get (2) 1/4" pieces of plate glass, then make a "sandwich. Or use a piece of 3/8"(most glass shops won't have this as a stock item, but some might) for the top, so you get some considerable weight/downward force.

I made my own contact frame from a piece of 3/4" baltic ply(usually very flat) w/ a sheet of 1/4" plate glass, and a layer of the thin ~1/4" felt-backed open cell foam(from the Fabric shop) glued to the plywood. Very simple, and total cost to make was ~$15 or so, including glass. I still use it to this day, and it works very well for general contact printing, or even just making proof sheets from roll/sheet film.

-Dan

[ic-racer]

Is there an easy and fast way to contact print 5x7 negatives and get a perfect white border?

Thanks,

Larry

I don't think there is an fast/easy way to contact print like that. There is, however, a fast easy way to print 5x7 negatives on 5x7 paper with a white border; what I do is to projection print them at about 1:1 magnification. This gives much more control over the printing process and allows one to make multiple prints without having to worry about dust each time.