What is a thumbnail contact sheet (photography) and how do I make one?
A contact sheet is a sheet printed directly from your negatives with no enlarging. The purpose is so that you can see thumbnails of all the “reversed” negatives to identify which negatives are worth making into enlarged prints. You make one very easily. Simply take your roll of developed negatives, and cut it into sections of about 6 frames each (or however many frames will fit across one piece of photo paper.) Arrange the cut negatives on a fresh piece of photo paper, put a piece of glass over it, and use an enlarger to expose the paper to light for a few seconds. Develop the paper, and there’s your contact sheet. It’s merely a reference guide, the print doesn’t have to be perfectly exposed or developed in order to see what frames contain what images.
