Making Notecards in the Darkroom

Introduction

During the last few days as I have been making and toning images on Ilford MG Art 300 paper I got the idea that the paper has such a nice weight and feel it could make good note cards. Pursuing this idea I started with the Gradient Birch image I have been using lately. Needless to say I like the image a lot. It is also easy to print as it doesn't require any manipulations like burning or dodging. Since I plan to make a lot of these I didn't want an image that is complex to produce.

Blog Post Cover Image

Card Layout: Deciding on a Size

I started out with the 12 inch x 16 inch dimensions of the paper I have. A reasonable card size is 4x6 inches folded from 4x8 inch paper. I can get 4 of these from a 12x16 sheet. At £3 a sheet it is less that £1 cost for each card. I then have to figure the image size and aspect ratio and borders. I doodled on paper starting with the 3:4 ratio of the 4.5 x 6 cm negative. Not surprisingly 3x4 inches works nicely with fat borders. These are 3/4 inches on the side and an inch top and bottom.

Cutting the Paper

I setup my easel and tried to dial in the new exposure. I calculated the ratio of areas and came up with 2.565:1 which I figured to be about 2 3/4 stops. So I adjusted the aperture and times with 2 stops aperture (f11 to f22) and 3/4 stop lower exposure in timings. My automated enlarger setup worked well for this project as it has 1/4 stop increments. Also the ability to repeat the final split filter timings makes repetitious printing simpler. However the first print was very light and I increased the exposure 1 stop to get it right. I am puzzled why my math(s) was wrong. 

I ended up with 3 nice cards from this batch. While developing them I thought it might be better to rebalance the borders and so made 4 more cards from the next sheet of paper with 3/4 inch top border and 1 1/2 inch bottom border keeping the symmetrical sides at 3/4 inches each. 

Drying and Flattening the Cards

When drying fiber-based prints I employ a system I developed for 8x10 through to 16x20 sheets using simple Perspex/acrylic pieces and bulldog clips.  Each print size needs its own custom made setup. Since I haven't dealt with any prints so small before I had to fashion a new drying frame. Also because I wanted to make many cards I wanted to make it dry multiple prints at a time. I had some white sheet plastic I used for another project and was able to quickly cutup the pieces I needed. 

I based it on the same tried and true method I use for larger prints. I expanded it to take two 6x8 sheets on one side. I also decided to take advantage of the back side as well. This allows 4 sheets per frame. I can't use bulldog clips to clamp the paper edges in the center so I use a pair of screws with washers to provide pressure in the center and bulldog clips for the ends. 

Drying frame (one of two sides)

 

Short Video Showing both Sides...

My dimensions for the drying frame were to leave 1cm around the card edges for the baseboard and the clamp strips are 1.5 cm wide so the clamp area is .5cm on each edge. Below is a simple diagram of what I built. The yellow areas are the cards. 

Drying Frame Dimensions

It is possible to dry a full sheet and cut it after the fact but my easel is not flexible enough to get the image in the correct quadrant in the right orientation for the fold. There are easels that do allow this and with one of those that may be a better way to proceed. 

Results

I made more of the Gradient Birch image and then another set using my Holme Fen Fern image as well. I think it was a success. I plan to make more from other images.