How to Make a Centering Guide

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Here's a handy guide for centering your negative on
hand coated paper inside a split-back contact printing frame.
If you're printing on commercially coated paper, you will
probably want to add a mask to get nice borders, but
for hand coated papers, this will help get that negative
to hold still long enough to get the clamps on.

Using regular 4-ply mat board, cut a rectangualr piece to fit inside
the width of your printing frame. Make it a little smaller than the
inspection side of the split back. Place the mat inside the frame
and position a negative on top. Make sure the negative is centered
in the frame then mark the sides, corners and top of the negative
on the mat. Using these guidelines, cut an opening out of the mat
to fit your negative.

With the back of the frame removed, place the centering guide on
the glass. Insert the negative in the opening - emulsion side up.

Next, place the paper - coated side down - in the frame*.

With the centering guide, negative and paper in place, secure the
lower half of the split back. Lift the paper and...

Remove the centering guide.

With your negative and paper held in place by the lower back, you
can close up the frame and go printing.

* If your paper is also smaller than the frame, you can make
a second centering guide. Just stack the two guides
for perfectly centered prints every time. If your paper
guide is too narrow to hold up on its own, you can
glue it to the negative guide.

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Thanks to APUG user's group members Donald Miller and Alex Hawley
for this "killer design" idea.