Any disadvantage to contact printing in sleeves ?

Lauffray

Lauffray

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Last time I made contact sheets, I printed my negatives through the plastic sleeves because we didn't have any 8x10 glass at the lab. Fast forward a few years, I now have my own darkroom at home but still no glass for proofs. Any significant disadvantage to printing through the sleeves ?

The only real reason I'd like to print through glass is to save some space between the strips and get all the frames on 8x10, I remember printing with the sleeves slightly cropped all the frames on one side.
 
I print my contact sheets through the sleeves, but I still put a heavy sheet of glass over them to flatten things out. I suspect contact _prints_ would be sharper without sleeves, but for indexing and general exposure info, in-sleeve does the trick.

Most glass shops will make you a rectangle of thick glass with beveled edges for a few dollars.
 
Contact sheets and contact prints are two different things, though they use much the same methods. Of course, you can get a fair idea of a roll of film by contact printing through clear protector sleeves; but I'd never think of creating a fine large format contact print through such a sleeve.

~Joe
 
Thanks for the advice, and sorry for the confusion, I meant contact sheets not prints (though technically contact sheets are prints :cool:)
 
I'm not sure what's awful about it - my point is that making contact sheets through the sleeve is good enough for what I use them for, and saves not only the tedium of lining the strips up by hand but also the wear and tear, dust catching, fingerprint collecting etc.

I'd not print through the plastic for anything indented as more than an organizational tool.
 
harpofreely said:
I'm not sure what's awful about it
Click to expand...


Well made contact sheets, exposed carefully, and used with a good loupe, will give one a very clear idea of what the final print can look like.

Without a decent contract sheet you have nothing that can be shown to anyone, like a client, a pro printer, or just yourself.

Some things are better done right. :)

If one does not have a darkroom, and relies on professional printers as many pros do, good contacts are indispensable.
 
I actually am pretty careful with my contact sheets, exposure-wise, because I find that useful in printing, but the images are just too small (even with a loop) for me to have any meaningful idea of sharpness, which is the only thing the plastic effects. But, I also have the luxury of no one ever seeing them but me.
 
harpofreely said:
but the images are just too small (even with a loop) for me to have any meaningful idea of sharpness
Click to expand...

Done right with a good loupe, I think you might be surprised. Of course the neg will tell you more, a small test print even more, but still you might give it a shot.

There is no extra handling. Dry > cut > proof > sleeve 'em.

Of course they are your negatives!
 
Sleeves will work..use .25" glass..cut a bit larger than an 8x10 print..you will still lose 1 edge of the negs unless perfect aligning..
Sure you can get better results with no sleeve..
But why not just eyeball the negs..and go from there...or scan each interesting neg with full frame digital cam and Leica BEOON..ad call it a day..
Many years ago now..when I got my 1st M3..and saw my 1st contact sheet..I said...wow..these look way better than my prints do..all the tones are there..
So if I ever go back to film..its gonna be...large format contacts only..
I have a bunch of AZO left...there is nothing better than a contact print for the tones..and depth..
 
Emile de Leon said:
But why not just eyeball the negs..and go from there...or scan each interesting neg with full frame digital cam and Leica BEOON..ad call it a day..
Click to expand...

Because I don't own any digital cameras, and because I need to process 45 rolls of film. I'd much rather work from proofs because scanning is such a pita
 
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