How to create borderless darkroom prints?

[FujiLove]

I’ve got a couple of picture frames which only just fit a 16 x 12 sheet of paper so I would like to print right to the edge of the sheet, but I’m struggling to work out how to do it. My two blade easel creates a minimum 6mm (ish) border. I suppose the paper could be stuck down to the base of the enlarger (rather than using the easel) with some sort of double sided, low tack tape…but that seems a bit messy and may be prone to leaving horrible residue on the base board. I’m also not sure how I would go about aligning the paper after focussing if I did that.

Any ideas?

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Simple fix...

1. Draw the edges of your paper on a piece of wood pained white,
2. Spray the surface of the wood with semi-sticky adhesive (AKA moveabable adhesive)
3. Focus on the surface of the wood.
4. Place paper within the lines you drew at step 1
5. Expose and develop as usual.

Worked for me for several years.

 

[FujiLove]

Simple fix...

1. Draw the edges of your paper on a piece of wood pained white,
2. Spray the surface of the wood with semi-sticky adhesive (AKA moveabable adhesive)
3. Focus on the surface of the wood.
4. Place paper within the lines you drew at step 1
5. Expose and develop as usual.

Worked for me for several years.

Thanks, that’s a great idea.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

One other tip... let the edges of the negative overlap the lines on the board 2 or 3 millimetres all round, unless you want to leave a hint of the negative's edges on your print (which some people like).

 

[zx9]

Commercially they would have used a vacuum easel to suck the paper flat, if you had lots to do it would be worth trying to find a used one or improvising something with pegboard and a vacuum cleaner.
For a one off Andrew's suggestion is good, certainly cheaper than to use the next size up paper and trim to fit with a straight edge and knife.

 

[Ian Grant]

I always used a plain black painted board, with two inch wide, 1/4" thick, strips of wood screwed to it at 90º on the left band top edges. Someone made it for me in the mid 1970s, he painted the board black, could just as easily be white. Cheap and easy to make,

Doesn't work for FB papers, which is all I use, as they tend to have a natural curve, and I usually print on 16" x 12" paper.

Ian

 

[Nod]

Recently had to clean some old SprayMount off a hard surface. StickyStuff Remover (available from the big river among other places) did the job perfectly. A wipe over with an IPA (isopropyl alcohol) wetted paper towel finished the job.

 

[joxby]

I don't think I can recall a time when I have found this to be an issue with RC paper, mebbe mine is just stores flat I dunno.
Fiber is a different animal altogether, right pita but RC, especially 16 x 12 has always been pretty good straight on the baseboard for me.
I have seen double sided translucent tabs used though, they are a mounting/framing aid and just slip off the baseboard with a little water.

 

[FujiLove]

I don't think I can recall a time when I have found this to be an issue with RC paper, mebbe mine is just stores flat I dunno.
Fiber is a different animal altogether, right pita but RC, especially 16 x 12 has always been pretty good straight on the baseboard for me.
I have seen double sided translucent tabs used though, they are a mounting/framing aid and just slip off the baseboard with a little water.

I was looking at some RC paper on the easel last night and it definitely wasn't flat. I'd say it was about 2–3mm off the surface in the middle...but is that enough to lose sharpness when the lens in stopped-down three or four stops?

 

[StephenM]

The answer is yes, it is. The real question is "will you notice". When I first started enlarging, the advice that I was given was to focus on a sheet of paper of the same thickness as the printing paper to ensure it was sharp.

I'd recommend a simple test. If the centre is 2-3mm up, then focus on the base level, and then check having raised your focus finder by 2-3mm and see how sharp it is.