1. Choose the paper size first
Everything else follows from the paper, so decide it before the layout. If the sheet will be printed by a client on an office printer, use their paper: Letter in North America, A4 almost everywhere else. If you print it yourself on an inkjet, larger paper gives each frame more room.
| Paper | Size | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Letter | 8.5 × 11 in | Client selects in the US and Canada, any office printer |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | Client selects everywhere else |
| 8 × 10 | 8 × 10 in | Film contact prints and the classic darkroom look |
| 11 × 14 | 11 × 14 in | Editorial review on the wall or table |
| A3 or Tabloid | 297 × 420 mm or 11 × 17 in | Dense archive sheets, large takes in one view |
2. Pick a grid that stays readable on paper
The most common mistake is fitting too many frames on a page. On Letter or A4, 4 or 5 frames across keeps faces readable without a loupe. Six or more across works for reviewing a take you already know, or for an archive index.
| Layout | Frames per page | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| 4 across | About 20 to 28 | Client selects, portraits, faces |
| 5 across | About 30 to 40 | General proofing |
| 6 × 8 | 48 | Editorial review of a long take |
| 8 × 10 | 80 | Archive index, frame numbers only |
Rows depend on whether the shoot is mostly landscape or portrait, so let the layout set them automatically unless you need an exact count. Big shoots simply continue onto more pages, each with page numbers.
3. Make the captions big enough to read
Captions under 6 pt become hard to read once printed, especially on matte paper. Keep frame numbers bold and at least 6 to 7 pt, and only add the fields people will use. A client needs a frame number and maybe a filename; exposure data is for you or an editor.
4. Export at the right resolution
300 dpi is the standard for print and is right for almost every contact sheet. 150 dpi is fine for a quick review on an office laser printer. Use 600 dpi only for small frames that will be inspected with a loupe, such as a film contact print. Higher resolution does not help beyond what the printer can resolve, and it makes the file much larger.
If you export a PDF, the frames are resampled to exactly the size they print at, so a 300 dpi PDF of a 500-frame shoot stays a manageable file to email.
5. Set up the print dialog
- Choose "Actual size" or 100% scale. "Fit to page" shrinks the sheet slightly and changes every measurement.
- Match the paper size in the dialog to the paper in the tray.
- Turn off borderless printing. Contact sheets have margins, and borderless mode enlarges the page to bleed off the edge.
- Set the paper type (plain, matte, glossy) so the printer lays down the right amount of ink.
- Print one page first and check it before printing the rest.
Which paper to use
Plain office paper is fine for a working sheet that will be scribbled on. For a sheet you hand to a client, a matte inkjet paper of around 170 to 230 gsm feels substantial and takes a pen or marker well. Glossy paper looks rich but shows fingerprints and does not take pen marks. If you want the look of a darkroom print, the fibre paper and black background presets in the contact sheet templates come close on a matte stock.
Why is my printed sheet cut off at the edges?
Most desktop printers cannot print the outer 3 to 6 mm (about a quarter of an inch) of the page. If the sheet has very small margins, the outer frames or the footer get clipped. Keep margins at 0.3 in (8 mm) or more, and check that the print dialog is not scaling the page.
Printing at a lab
Labs prefer a PDF at the exact paper size, or a JPEG per page at 300 dpi. Tell them it is a contact sheet so they print it at 100% and do not crop it to a standard photo ratio.