ABSTRACT
The introduction of digital negatives for contact printing in 1992 and their continued popularity has meant image size is no longer determined by the size of sheet film. For those that do not, there are instructions on how to create a large format film negative with Pyro-Metol-Kodalk developer and a basic digital negative. There are a number of different systems available to create a fully calibrated digital negative. Advice on the use of a transmission step wedge to determine the appropriate density and exposure time is explained, in addition to the benefits of masking negatives. A transmission step wedge is a useful tool that indicates what density range the film or digital negative should be to match the paper and emulsion combination. Digital negatives are created directly from digital capture or by scanning and enlarging film negatives. In most systems a curve is needed to adjust the mid tone values to enable a linear tonal scale to be produced.
