The ferrotype and how to make it - The Grian Press

142 THE FERROTYPE.
seconds the slide is replaced, the holder withdrawn
to the dark chamber, and the plate de-
veloped. This process offered a little more cer-
tainty than the former, but was never generally
adopted, although applicable to the negative as
well as to the positive picture.
The plan generally adopted, and that which is
in use in all the best Ferrotype galleries, is to cut
an oval or other suitable shaped opening in the
center of a sheet of white card-board, the edge
of the opening to be serrated or toothed, so as to
cause the ground to blend softly with the por-
tions of the figure and drapery. The card-board
is commonly placed on a frame (made and sold
by stock dealers for that purpose), and being
placed between the sitter and the camera, at a
sufficient distance from the camera to cause the
proper softening of the outline, the exposure
is made as usual, and upon development the
card-board will be found to have blended beau-
tifully with the white back -ground, softening the
edges where it covers the clothing and drapery
of the sitter.
This process has the further recommendation
that many sittings may be made consecutively,
and all will be equally good at the same time.
The Vignetter may be adjusted to produce the best
possible effects, as it shows plainly on the object-
glass of the camera. When at the proper dis-
tance from the camera, and when showing the
proper portion of the shoulders, changes may