I thought I would follow up on my recent post where I discussed revisiting your proof sheets. What made me think about this were some questions that arose this past week during a darkroom demonstration I gave for my Delaware Valley University Center for Learning in Retirement students. All are digital shooters, but several are thinking of giving film a try and many have actually started making black and white pictures … damn!!!!! They were very concerned about cropping and image size decisions. How did I make them and how should they? I told them that’s what a proof sheet is for!

Now I hope most of you make proof sheets, but for those that don’t, it’s time to hop on the bandwagon! First of all, the most important reason to make proof sheets is to catalog your negatives and know what you actually have. Duh! If you don’t have proof sheets you are setting your self up for a lot of wasted time. Forget about making printing decisions based on viewing your negatives on a light table, or worse by holding them up to the light. Of course that is if you can find what you’re looking for! And if your negatives are properly developed they’re all going to look good. So what you need is more information!

I have a simple filing system that works for me, and you might find it works for you. I have all my negatives contained in clear archival Print File Negative Preserver Pages that are stored in three ring archival closed box binders to keep any dust out. Separate binders for each film size. Each page is numbered and has the same numeral as its matching proof sheet contained in a separate but corresponding loose-leaf binder. With each proof sheet are print recipes and other notes for each image printed from the particular roll of film or set of large format negatives. Now that is simple and sure makes things easer to find!

What else is the proof sheet good for? Well several things. After knowing what you have, the next important thing to determine is what you actually want to print! By carefully studying my proof sheet, I first decide if it contains anything worth printing. If I think it does I take my marking pen and draw a rectangle around the image(s). That’s a time saver too because I usually print images sometime after the proof sheets have been made. Why have to go back and do the same thing all over again? Another thing the proof sheet tells you is whether your negative exposure/development was good or not. Depending on how bad things look, you may not want to try to print that negative (truth be told … I have made many successful prints where the proof indicted exposure issues).

Finally, as mentioned above, there is the matter of cropping and image size consideration. Looking at the proof sheet really helps me here and saves me a lot of time later when I’m in the darkroom. I think the worse thing you can do is try to make cropping decisions based on what you see projected onto your easel. Less so with image size decisions, but the proof sheet does help me to get a good idea of what I want to do here. So in addition drawing a rectangle around any pictures I want to print, I mark any cropping to be done. Now when it is time to print I know exactly what I am going to do and get right down to the task of making a successful image!

So there you have it. Some very good reasons to make … and use proof sheets! If your not making them, start doing so! Trust me on this!