How to get good borders?

Hi, I am currently taking a film class and need help with my final prints. Every time I make a final print, my borders seem to always mess up even though I have made a template and use it. I need all the help I can get because I want to perfect it for future prints I do. Thank you!

Some Easels are worse than others. Some suffered over the years. Some folks worry more than others about borders and without details / examples its hard to help.

Do you have an easel? Most people don't call them templates.

 

An easel has either an adjustable or fixed size space for printing paper, and covers

the borders, which makes them white. (Except for reversal paper, where they

come out black.).

 

One easel that I used to have, had a spring to help hold down the paper.

I found out that the spring would move as the frame was lowered, moving

the paper, and giving a crooked border. Otherwise, make sure the paper

is against the stop on two sides, and slowly lower the frame.

 

Or trim the print after drying to make it look right.

Do you have an easel? Most people don't call them templates.

 

An easel has either an adjustable or fixed size space for printing paper, and covers

the borders, which makes them white. (Except for reversal paper, where they

come out black.).

 

One easel that I used to have, had a spring to help hold down the paper.

I found out that the spring would move as the frame was lowered, moving

the paper, and giving a crooked border. Otherwise, make sure the paper

is against the stop on two sides, and slowly lower the frame.

 

Or trim the print after drying to make it look right.

 

Yes I have an easel. I made a template so i could use it to adjust the easel but after it take the template out of the easel it somehow moves around. Never thought about trimming my prints though, thank you!

OK, I wasn't sure what you meant by template.

 

You can take a sheet of ordinary paper, cut it to size, and draw a line where you want

the border. Then adjust the easel for that line. The easel I have has inch markings,

so I can set it to the appropriate size. Usual is 1/4 inch, but some do more or less.

 

The fixed corner is adjustable enough to allow for a little more or less.

Then the others adjust based on the desired size.

 

If the paper moves when you close the easel, you should probably get a new one.

It isn't supposed to do that!

 

In the light, and with ordinary paper, try opening and closing, and see

if the paper moves, when, and then why.

 

You might also try Speed-Ex-El:

 

Ganz Speed Ez-El - 5x7"

 

thought they tend to be a little expensive, even used, unless you are lucky.

(I got one from Goodwill for a low price.)

 

With these, you can only go wrong in one direction, and then usually fix

it trimming after drying.

Is it the paper moving, or the adjustable arms of the easel ? If the paper, try a little bit of 'Pritt Stick' on the back of the paper at the edges where the 'fixed' arms are (only a little smear) - that should suffice to retain the paper in the required position. Whether you are using single-weight, double-weight or RC paper (which have differing thicknesses) may also affect things, especially if it is an old easel not designed for modern papers. Good luck, anyway, and experience will always help - sooner or later you'll hit on an approach that works for you.

Here's a page that offers a number of Speed-ex and Ganz easels used. I have an old Premier I need to upgrade, so thanks for the suggestions.

 

Vintage A.J. Ganz Speed Ez El Photography Darkroom Easel Yellow Metal 8 x 10 | eBay

Make a dedicated easel...

 

I've been marketing my Photography for 30+ years and found adjustable easels to be clumsy and slow.

For years, I used the reliable 1/4" fixed border "Speed-Ezle", but I wanted something a bit more distinctive.

Horsing around with a massive 4-blade contraption was too big and interfered with production...

 

I settled on a print format that featured a thin black line adjacent to a wide white border.

I designed and made dedicated easels to make the black line/ wide white border format.

Simple, fast, consistent, and reliable. Especially in a production environment.

 

Here's my well used 8x10 version (1/16" black line against a 1/2" white border).

I've made similar ones for 5x7, 11x14, 16x20, and 20x24" paper sizes.

 

Details here... http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=10784&highlight=reinhold

 

Reinhold

Not seen the OP for a month - maybe she has the problem cured ?