How to Make a Contact Sheet With an Enlarger

When printing in a darkroom, a contact sheet is a helpful tool that allows you to have a preview of all the images on your roll of black-and-white film. A color contact sheet is more complicated and it is best to leave it to a lab. After you place the negatives in a contact printer (or under glass), you should make an exposure test to figure out the perfect amount of time to give an accurate representation of the images on your film. After you use the enlarger, develop the print in paper chemistry to see your images.

Instructions

Printing with the Enlarger

1

Turn on the enlarger by switching its timer to the "Focus" mode. This leaves the light on and allows you to adjust the height of the lamp so that the light covers a sheet of photo paper. Set the lens aperture to an average amount of light. Switch the timer to "Print" and the light goes off.

2

Place a sheet of photo paper into a contact printer. Place negatives that you have arranged in a clear plastic sleeve on top of the paper and close the glass cover of the contact printer over both. If you don't have a contact printer, use a piece of glass that is heavy enough to flatten the negatives on the paper to create as sharp of images as possible. Place the negatives under the enlarger so that they will be completely covered by light.

3

Make test exposures on this piece of photo paper by setting the timer to 3 seconds. Press the "Print" button once to expose the entire piece of photo paper for this time. Use a piece of cardboard to cover a thin portion of the photo paper and press the "Print" button again. The part you covered has only 3 seconds of exposure, and the rest has 6 seconds. Continue making strips until you run out of space, creating a print that has multiple strips of exposure in increments of 3 seconds.

Developing the Contact Sheet

4

Place the print in the developer, constantly agitating the tray for 90 seconds. The image appears with the strips of different exposure times visible.

5

Transfer the print to the stop bath for 30 seconds, constantly agitating the tray.

6

Move the print to the fixer and let it sit covered for two minutes. Turn on the room light to examine the print. Look for the exposure strip where you can just barely see the edges of the film (where the sprocket holes are) as lighter than the black background. This amount of time gives an accurate representation of your roll of film, revealing whether it was overexposed or underexposed.

7

Return to the enlarger and set the timer for the accurate amount of time. If the entire test contact sheet was too light, adjust the lens aperture to allow in more light. If the entire test contact sheet was too dark, reduce the amount of light with the aperture and make another test.

---

When printing in a darkroom, a contact sheet is a helpful tool that allows you to have a preview of all the images on your roll of black-and-white film. A color contact sheet is more complicated and it is best to leave it to a lab. After you place the negatives in a contact printer (or under glass), you should make an exposure test to figure out the perfect amount of time to give an accurate representation of the images on your film. After you use the enlarger, develop the print in paper chemistry to see your images.

Instructions

Printing with the Enlarger

1

Turn on the enlarger by switching its timer to the "Focus" mode. This leaves the light on and allows you to adjust the height of the lamp so that the light covers a sheet of photo paper. Set the lens aperture to an average amount of light. Switch the timer to "Print" and the light goes off.

2

Place a sheet of photo paper into a contact printer. Place negatives that you have arranged in a clear plastic sleeve on top of the paper and close the glass cover of the contact printer over both. If you don't have a contact printer, use a piece of glass that is heavy enough to flatten the negatives on the paper to create as sharp of images as possible. Place the negatives under the enlarger so that they will be completely covered by light.

3

Make test exposures on this piece of photo paper by setting the timer to 3 seconds. Press the "Print" button once to expose the entire piece of photo paper for this time. Use a piece of cardboard to cover a thin portion of the photo paper and press the "Print" button again. The part you covered has only 3 seconds of exposure, and the rest has 6 seconds. Continue making strips until you run out of space, creating a print that has multiple strips of exposure in increments of 3 seconds.

Developing the Contact Sheet

4

Place the print in the developer, constantly agitating the tray for 90 seconds. The image appears with the strips of different exposure times visible.

5

Transfer the print to the stop bath for 30 seconds, constantly agitating the tray.

6

Move the print to the fixer and let it sit covered for two minutes. Turn on the room light to examine the print. Look for the exposure strip where you can just barely see the edges of the film (where the sprocket holes are) as lighter than the black background. This amount of time gives an accurate representation of your roll of film, revealing whether it was overexposed or underexposed.

7

Return to the enlarger and set the timer for the accurate amount of time. If the entire test contact sheet was too light, adjust the lens aperture to allow in more light. If the entire test contact sheet was too dark, reduce the amount of light with the aperture and make another test.

---

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