Contact sheet.

Or “contact proof sheet.” A quick way to see the results of a roll of film without printing individual pictures.

You take the negatives, lay them down in contact with a sheet of photographic paper, cover the negatives with a sheet of glass to keep them flat, and expose the paper to an appropriate amount of light for a few seconds. The result is a sheet of paper containing tiny positive images of each frame; each image being the same size as the negative.

You don’t have to print all the negatives, in fact. Any print made in which the negative is in physical contact with the paper is a contact print. (as opposed to a print in which the negative is held some distance from the paper in an enlarger of some kind)

cf. enlargement, negative.

Entry last updated 2002-04-03. Term 263 of 1487.

Previous term: contact print.

Next term: Contax.

 

This document is copyright © 2002-2008 NK Guy, PhotoNotes.org. This information is provided with neither warranties nor claims of accuracy or completeness of any sort. Use this information at your own risk. All trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

You may copy and print this document for your own personal use. You may not, however, reprint or republish this work, in whole or in part, without prior permission from me, the author. Such republication includes inclusion of this work in other Web sites, Web pages, FTP archives, books, magazines or other periodicals, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM compilations or any other form of publication or distribution. Please do not frame this site within another.

Please send comments or error reports using the feedback form.