Contact print

Failure to adhere precisely to this process will result in a poor-quality final image with a variety of issues.

In medium and large format photography, contact prints are prized for their extreme fidelity to the negative, with exquisite detail that can be seen with the use of a magnifying glass.

A disadvantage to using contact prints in the fine-arts is the laboriousness of modifying exposure selectively, when the use of an enlarger can achieve the same purpose.

However, the exposure value (EV) range, the variation from darkest to lightest regions, is inherently greater in negatives than in prints.

When large format film is contact printed to create finished work, it is possible, but not easy, to use local controls to interpret the image on the negative.

Dodging can be accomplished by placing fine tissue paper on the intermediate glass stages between the light source and the negative/paper sandwich to modify the exposure locally.

The benefit to such time intensive techniques is the ability to then make multiple prints with negligible variation, at full production speed.

Intermediary products such as internegatives, interpositives, enlarged negatives, and contrast controlling masks are often made using contact exposures.

A permanent image (negative, positive film or transparency, or translucent original) is not used, instead the light sensitive material is exposed directly to the display device in a dark room for a controllable duration.

Selection is usually made using a loupe — a special magnifying glass with a transparent base — to examine the tiny prints, still aligned as they are on the negative strips.