RE: Contact printing frames

Tim,

The older print frames on eBay will work fine if they are in good working
order. I have about 15 print frames and all but 1 came from eBay. A 4x6
print frame is an historic size print frame--half plate or sometimes Carte
De Visite photos were roughly this size. There was a lot of variation,
however.

You should keep a few things in mind when buying a print frame:

1. Your print frame needs to be large enough to hold the paper you are
printing on which is often larger than your negative. I generally contact
print both 4x5 and 5x7 negatives on 9x12 paper so my print frame will need
to accommodate this size paper.

2. Your print frame needs to fit in your uv box, my uv box can handle print
frames as large as 20x24 inches.

In general, even if I'm working with a smaller negative, I like to work with
an 8x10 print frame which is usually made large enough to accommodate a 9x12
sheet of paper--print frames are rarely the exact size as they are
advertised when purchased new. Calumet used to be the exception. Their damn
8x10 print frames were in fact exactly 8x10 which was maddening.

8x10 print frames are harder to find on eBay, but I've found 11x14 plentiful
and I've never paid more than $5.00 for one. They are often miss-titled as
"picture frames" or "film holder" so I generally just search the entire
photo section with a few search stings to find them.

Good luck.

mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Eitniear [mailto:timeitniear@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 3:13 PM
To: alt-photo-process
Subject: Contact printing frames

Hello,
    I am trying to determine the best route to pursue in contact printing.
Currently my neg size id 4x5. While shopping in eBay I have found many 4x6
printing frames that I assume since these are old, they are really for 4x5?
I have also found frames with light sources and masks for different size
negs. I am concerned that the frames with masks will be difficult to use
because I may not be able to very if the neg is registered properly. Any
suggestions are helpful!

Thanks

Tim
Received on 06/08/06-04:47:34 PM Z