Contact printing paper size

[TN98]

I wonder, what size of the paper should I use to contact printing the 8x10 negative? I'm planning to order the Lodima. Should I use 8x10 or 11x14?

[photo8x10]

For my 8x10 negatives I prefer to use 8x10 paper.

Stefano

[Shawn Dougherty]

I believe the Lodima Paper is only available in 8x10 (and a few boxes of 7.5x10) during this first run.

[Trevor Crone]

I wonder, what size of the paper should I use to contact printing the 8x10 negative? I'm planning to order the Lodima. Should I use 8x10 or 11x14?

As Shawn has said during this initial print run Lodima will only be available in 8x10 plus a few at 7.5x10. I think it's Michael's intention to introduce the larger sizes next year and to also offer it in grade 3. However I think an 8x10 neg will look good on 11x14 paper.

I've ordered a box of 8x10 Lodima for contact printing 8x10 with the intention to trim off the black border and mount the print on an art paper then window mat for presentation. The window will be spaced to show a white border around the image.

[JBrunner]

Some circles say that you should print on oversize paper and trim as this is believed to enhance the archival qualities of the print. The reasoning is that chemicals penetrate the edge of the paper more readily and that it is harder to clear, and that trimming off the unused outer edges of over sized paper eliminates a possible source of contamination to the image area. The reasoning sounds plausible in theory, but I don't personally ascribe to the principle.

I print 8x10 on 8x10 and so on, and wash really well. I haven't experienced any untoward results, even with prints that have a white border that would tend to readily display this tendency if it does in fact exist.

That said, it wouldn't hurt anything to follow that procedure, except in the pocket book, and having a small extra step, providing you can print square on the paper, so trimming doesn't become onerous.

As others have intimated regarding Lomida, I don't believe 11x14 is available right now, but may be this coming spring.

[Vaughn]

I prefer to have a border around the print. One reason is so that I am not handling the paper in the image area and if I tweak a corner it is no big deal. So one could get a package of 8x10 and 11x14 (when available) -- use the 8x10 for work prints and the final one on 11x14. Another possibility is to trim a 5"x11" piece off the 11x14 for tests, and use the remainder for the print (9x11 paper size) -- with a half inch border all the way around the image.

It also depends on how you plan to display the print. Taping-hinging it behind a window would be easier with a larger border, while dry mounting works just as easy without a border. If one likes to show the black rebate area around the image, then a border make this easier.

I suppose having a border also slows down the migration of air-born pollutents from the edge towards the image area. But this is probably not all that significant (at least in our own lifetimes). Having a border with RC paper would be more significant than with fiber, as processing chemicals can enter into the cut edges and will not wash out easily (because of the resin coating on both sides of the paper)...especially with the short wash times RC papers get.

Vaughn

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I print 5x7 negs on 8x10 paper. I mask it so I have a generous rebate when I mount the print.

If you dry-mount your photographs and don't need a rebate in the over-mat, then 8x10 paper for 8x10 negs would likely suffice. To me, if I had an 8x10 camera, I would use 11x14 paper for the final print. Since I don't dry-mount, using larger paper helps keep the print flatter in the frame too.

So, I would oversize.

- Thomas

[dpurdy]

Does anyone actually try to put their signature on the front of silver gel paper. You would need a border for that.

[Vaughn]

Does anyone actually try to put their signature on the front of silver gel paper. You would need a border for that.

To get that look, I trim the print to the image area and dry mount it inside a window bigger than the image area. I then sign the matboard directly under the print's lower right corner (and within the window itself). I like to sign with a hard lead pencil, which usually does not do well on photo paper.

Vaughn

[Trevor Crone]

Does anyone actually try to put their signature on the front of silver gel paper. You would need a border for that.

If I'm writing directly on gelatine silver paper I use a Zig Millennium 0.05mm black pen (http://store.falkiners.com/store/pro...--Black-005BK/) I must thank my good friend Keith Lauchbury for the 'heads-up' on this product. For everything else I use a pencil.