my black and white photos of the Mendocino Coast: jonshiu.zenfolio.com
I frequently make "contact sheets" of newly-developed 4x5 negatives in the PrintFile sleeves, with no extra equipment (on an old Epson 4990). As posted above, just lay the PrintFile sheet (upside down) centered in the Film Area Guide on the glass, close the lid, and you're set. The alignment of the negatives inside the Area Guide is a bit finicky, the edges of the PrintFile tend to hang up on the Area Guide. Be aware that the printed area on the PrintFile sheet falls outside the area guide, so the contact sheet will not show your printed information. For a contact sheet the only control I use is to adjust contrast.
But be aware that because the scanner automatically corrects for negative density, you do not get as much information from a contact sheet prepared on the scanner as you would from making the contact sheet made the "old fashioned way" and using constant exposure settings (enlarger head height, f-stop, time). The "wet" contact will tell you if you are over- or under-exposing and whether your metering is accurate, while the scanned contact sheet will look fairly good regardless due to the automation.
thanks for all of the good ideas and direction to go in!
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