How negatives are cut and sleeved
After developing, a roll is cut into strips and stored in archival sleeves, and a contact sheet shows those strips side by side. The number of frames per strip depends on the format and the sleeves you use. These are the common arrangements:
| Format | Frames per roll | Typical strips |
|---|---|---|
| 35mm | 36 (or 24) | 6 strips of 6 |
| Half frame | 72 | 6 strips of 12 |
| 120, 6 × 4.5 | 15 or 16 | 4 strips of 4 |
| 120, 6 × 6 | 12 | 4 strips of 3 |
| 120, 6 × 7 | 10 | 3 to 4 strips of 3, or 5 of 2 |
| 120, 6 × 9 | 8 | 4 strips of 2 |
| 4 × 5 | 1 per sheet | 4 sheets on 8 × 10 paper |
Method 1: a darkroom contact print
You need an enlarger (or any even light source), a sheet of clean glass or a contact printing frame, 8 × 10 inch photographic paper and the usual developer, stop bath and fixer.
- Raise the enlarger head so the light covers the whole 8 × 10 area, and stop the lens down a couple of stops for even light.
- Under safelight, place a sheet of paper emulsion side up and lay the negative strips on it emulsion side down, so they read correctly.
- Press everything flat with the glass. Any gap between negative and paper softens the print.
- Make a test strip in a few steps of 2 to 3 seconds to find the exposure where the clear film rebate prints just black.
- Expose the full sheet, then develop, stop, fix and wash as usual.
The "rebate prints just black" rule gives a standard exposure, so dense and thin negatives show up honestly instead of being flattered by the print.
Method 2: a digital contact sheet from scans
If you scan, you can make the sheet from the scans. Either scan whole strips on a flatbed with a film holder and use those images directly, or scan each frame and lay them out as strips. The second gives sharper, more consistent frames and lets you add frame numbers and notes.
The film contact sheet maker does the layout for you: drop in the scans and choose the format, and frames snap into strips with sprocket holes, frame numbers and edge printing, on black or white, at 8 × 10 or any paper size. There are templates for 35mm, half frame, 120 and 4 × 5.
Keep frames in roll order
Name scans with the roll and frame number, for example R023-F14, so they sort correctly and the sheet matches the negatives in the sleeve. If a frame is missing because it was blank, leave a gap rather than closing up the sequence, so frame 14 on the sheet is still frame 14 on the film.
Mark the sheet and file it
Mark selects with a red grease pencil or a fine marker, circle the frames to print or scan at full resolution, and note the roll number on the back. File the sheet with the negatives. A printed index is still the fastest way to find a frame from ten years ago.