Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Notices

Go Back   Film and Darkroom User > General discussions > Photography in general

  ***   Click here for the FADU 2015/2014 Yearbooks   ***

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11th February 2015, 07:07 PM
gsingh gsingh is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 88
Default How do you crop a negative?

I've been trying to find some material on this but I can only find information on digital images.

I'm looking at cropping but not sure how to do that from a negative. A lot of the material I have seen does not really answer the question. When they refer to "negatives" they instruct you to scan the negative and do the cropping with software. If I'm not mistaken cropping was done pre-Photoshop so I wanted to know how it is done without using digital software. I'm planning on taking some shots on an upcoming wedding next month so wanted to do the testing before the big day.

I won't be developing the negatives myself, not yet anyway, so how would film developer know what to crop?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11th February 2015, 07:20 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Daventry, Northants
Posts: 8,968
Default

I don't think they would know what to crop unless you were to issue very detailed instructions and you have to be sure that what you ask them to do and what they think you are asking them to do are exactly the same

Normal cropping is via the print where you crop with a negative carrier in the enlarger and/or use the size of the enlargement to crop unwanted elements

Maybe there is a hybrid way of scanning the negative and cropping via that scan. You might be able to scan the negatives and send the print processor the scans which it then matches up with the negatives in its possession to do the same on its digital enlarger?

Mike
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11th February 2015, 07:24 PM
vincent's Avatar
vincent vincent is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Co. Kildare Ireland
Posts: 876
Default

You don't actually crop the negative, but when it is being printed you only print the portion that you require. This is done by raising the height of the enlarger or moving the blades of the masking frame so that you print what you want.

In your case you may have to get small prints and mark them up to the finished picture that pleases you.
__________________
Cheers

Vincent - Not afraid of the dark
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11th February 2015, 07:53 PM
cliveh's Avatar
cliveh cliveh is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: West Coornwall
Posts: 937
Default

How do you crop a negative?

You don't.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11th February 2015, 08:22 PM
Tony Marlow Tony Marlow is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,282
Default

Ithink the best way for you is that suggested by vincent. Get the negs printed onto small prints say 6x4, mark on the print where you want them cropped and send the prints with your negatives to your processer. Some processers may have available in their order forms a way of showing where you want to crop. You can usually get a CD of all your shots as well as a set of prints. You may be able to load this CD on to your computer to view the photgraphs you have taken and even crop them to show your processer what you want. I guess the best thing to do is to talk to the processer you intend to use for developing and printing your films.

Tony
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11th February 2015, 09:35 PM
big paul big paul is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: benfleet essex
Posts: 2,284
Default

the best way to get control of your negs is buy a enlarger and DIY




www.essexcockney.com
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11th February 2015, 11:03 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is online now
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Glasgow, Scotland.
Posts: 2,668
Default

If, and when, you do your own processing and printing, it will be much easier to understand what is involved, and the various methods of cropping prints.
Are you intending to crop the images so that they fit a particular album or mount? If so, you will need to adjust for that in the framing when you actually take the picture. On the other hand, if you are just anticipating a need to crop to remove unwanted elements in your pictures, you should try to frame them as best you can at the time of taking the picture, allowing you to use prints of the whole negative. I would think that to get satisfactory cropped images, or selective enlargements, from a commercial processor, you would need to be dealing with a professional quality lab. If you have access to a negative scanner, you could adjust the images on a computer and send them to a commercial printer on a disc, or via email, but that's not really a FADU subject.....
Alex
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12th February 2015, 12:12 AM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: West Midlands/Aegean
Posts: 1,988
Default

I print full frame and very rarely crop.

For over 35 years I printed for a friends father, I would crop where it was very obviously needed but you don't know what the photographer wanted included.

If you are getting prints made for you get a contact sheet and use a china-graph pencil and mark where you want an image cropped to.

Ian
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 12th February 2015, 12:51 AM
Jimmy Jimmy is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 34
Default cover

just cover the image where you want it cropped when printing?
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 12th February 2015, 02:07 AM
Argentum's Avatar
Argentum Argentum is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Sceptred Isle
Posts: 3,066
Default

If its a pro lab that is used to doing wedding prints you can just give them instructions to crop to whatever the print format you've chosen is and they'll use their judgement. That's part of what you're paying for. They should know what they're doing.
If its your local supermarket dev and print service then good luck.
Reply With Quote
Reply
Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Calibration negative ? Alan Sleator Darkroom 32 5th November 2019 09:40 PM
negative viewer big paul Equipment miscellaneous 0 5th February 2014 02:07 PM
BBC2 - First negative SimonNOTTS Photography in general 2 24th January 2014 11:54 AM
Negative cleaning Hughes Darkroom 9 15th January 2012 09:54 AM
Negative carrier PeterMcC Darkroom 11 23rd August 2011 10:01 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 03:06 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.