Do you use a test strip or a test sheet when you print in darkroom?

[Vaughn]

First, where any test strip is placed is far more important than its size, as Drew mentioned. If you can't a good representation of the image's values in one strip, might as well use a whole sheet.

Enlarging to 16x20 was my standard (4x5 negs) for a long time. Usually a third of a sheet for the test strip, a second if for some reason I could not pull enough info off the first one. Then a full sheet test print at the selected exposure (& contrast), sometimes called a work print, to study in order to judge what exposure, burning/dodging, and/or contrast change will be needed to attempt the first print. I had to be careful not to give up too easily on an image at this point, as there was still a lot of magic to work on it before it matched what I saw/felt.

I can see being concerned about 'wasting' paper by using a full sheet if the paper itself was rare and hard to find.

[Greg Y]

I agree with a lot of Mark S' points as well. All enlarging paper has drastically increased in price. As an example, i used to proof on RC paper & not that long ago it was $35 CAD /100 (8x10) for Ilford....now it's $135. A fifty sheet box of 20x24" Illford WT is $477 USD ($604 CAD !) I have boxes of full size large work prints from back in the day when paper cost a fraction of that.
These days i only use fiber based paper & how much i use depends on the negative. Like Vaughn said, often it's not how much of a test strip, but where you place it. I print much less on 20x24. In aiming at 16x20 (or bigger) prints, i first get an 8x10" work print. I dry & tone it and live with it to see what adjustments i'll make. Then i'll make as ideal an 11x14" as i can and that may end up as an 'artist's proof' (especially if its from a print order).... That makes it less of struggle to make final 16"x20" or 20"x24" because i have a clear sense of what it will take to arrive at the final print in terms of exposure, dodging & burning as well as toning.

[Michael R]

Maybe just me, but I don’t have any rules about this. I use what I need to make the best print I can.

[Heroique]

I might be the only one, but I keep many of my test strips with brief notes on the back about exposure intervals, dodging and burning, chemicals and paper type.

Like a detective collecting hard evidence.

Easier to solve problems the next time.

[Jim Jones]

Test strip? Rarely. When I was making a lot of prints for press releases, the negatives were often consistent and the first print was almost always good enough for that use. Guessing the required paper grade and comparing the average negative density with the rebate density help making the first print good. Experience really helps. Eventually I tried a few darkroom meters. They helped, especially for exhibition prints.

[mmerig]

For test strips, I use a sheet of 5 by 7 paper, with (usually) 1/3 stop time increments between the seven separate strips of the same portion of the negative. But I usually use an RH Designs Analyzer Pro instead of a test strip.

[John Layton]

Probably an age-related thing...but more often than not - even though I can get all of those little bits of paper to look "perfect," the first attempt at a large print typically falls short. I can usually "get it in three" (one sheet cut up, two sheets whole) - but then there are those days when I just can't seem to stop cutting various hairs and just go crazy!

But in my book...the rubber really hits the road when I've come to that great negative - and have one sheet of paper left. The question then becomes - should I risk it all and just do a full print...or pull the size down a bit so I can use part of this paper to test? My answer is usually (yup...been there more than once!) to go as close to "full size" as possible, and slice impossibly thin strips from the margins as tests. Kinda flies in the face of my entry to this post - but it really makes me dig deep! (which is a good thing...right?)

Oh...but those last few precious sheets of Forte - like walking the plank I tell ya!

[Tin Can]

As others, I buy 250 sheet boxes of 5X7 for testing

If making a BIG print, seldom bigger than 16X20, I will use them for center and corners

I keep a 30 gallon lined garbage can under my sink in between fix and wash

[John Layton]

Hey...if that works for you, great - but I've had bad experiences in using paper from a different batch for testing...and would caution against this. Just sayin'!

[Tin Can]

Yes, me too

Then I change my plan

Hey...if that works for you, great - but I've had bad experiences in using paper from a different batch for testing...and would caution against this. Just sayin'!