THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE

which improves the effect.
Leave the rest of the trim edge
intact for now. Do not cut it off.
You'll need some space to number
the strips, and it's handy to
have some blank area to work
with when you assemble the
composite.
4. Cut each print into narrow
strips.
All the strips (for both prints)
should be the same width, about
3/8". Narrower strips work well
too (down to about 1/4"). Wider
strips are generally less effective.
It is very important to keep
track of the sequence of the strips
as you cut them. You can either
number them in the borders as
you go, or measure where your
cuts will be and number the strips
before you cut them.
It is also important to keep the
strips from each print separate.
You may want to use different
colored pens; or use "A "for one
print and "B" for the other (i.e.
Al, A2, A3, etc. and Bl, B2, B3,
etc.); or use numbers for one and
letters for the other; or number
one along the top and the other
along the bottom . . . whatever
works for you.
5. Re-assemble the strips on a mat
board, alternating one strip from
one print with one from the
other.
The easiest way to do this is to use
the tacking iron on the borders of
the strips to stick them to the
mounting board. Get a bunch of
strips (about 1/4 of the total)
tacked in place, press them, tack
another bunch, press them, and
so on until the whole composite
print is assembled and pressed.
258 The Photographic Eye
(Note: Do not place uncovered
dry mounting tissue in the press.)
High Contrast
A high contrast print (often referred
to as a line print) is simply a photograph
that is all black or white, with
no gray tones at all. A photograph of
this kind has a very dramatic, graphic
quality. Special "lith" film and
developer are used that are not at all
responsive to gray.
For best results, select a negative
that will still make sense when all the
grays turn either white or black.
(Light grays will turn white, dark
ones will turn black.) It should be
fairly contrasty to begin with, so the
lith film won't get "confused."
Generally, a simple image (one subject
against a plain background)
works better than a complicated one.
Elaborate patterns can, however,
make very effective high contrast
prints.
(Note: You can save a few steps if
you have a suitable color slide to
work from. In this case, your first lith
film will be a negative. If the contrast
looks right, you can then go directly
to your final print.)
• Tools
Lith Film: Normally used to
prepare photographs for printing, lith
film has a very narrow contrast range
(essentially black-and-white, with no
gray tones) and fine grain structure.
Lith Developer: Though a high
contrast print can be produced without
using any special chemicals, lith
developer is specially formulated to
accentuate the high-contrast tendencies
of lith film. It will convert a normal
negative to a high contrast positive
in one step or "generation." With
ordinary film developer, you will
have to make several "generations"
(positive and negative copies) of a
photograph to achieve the same
effect.
Most lith developers come in two
parts (A and B). Once they are mixed
together, the resulting solution tends
to deteriorate quickly. So, be sure
that you have set aside enough time
(and negatives) to make good use of
the entire batch before you mix it up.
Opaquing Compound: Once you
make copies of the original negative
on lith film, you can paint out
undesirable effects. The "paint" you'll
use is opaquing compound (generally