PRINTING ON A LARGE SCALE.
The routine of printing in a large estab lishment is as follows. The albumenised paper is first. floated, and then hung up to dry in a separate room, the floor of which is kept a little damp, every precaution being taken to avoid dust. Proof nega tives are put out first of all. Full instruc tions are issued to the printer as to whether the picture is to be vignetted, masked, or printed plain. It is usual, after the frames have been fitted up, for this work to be repeated by lads whilst the printer attends to the frames which are actually being exposed. The expert printer can attend to a great number of frames. by working systematically. He arranges the negatives into groups—thin, medium and dense—and can frequently tell to the moment when the print is clone without examination. The advantage of this expertness lies. in the fact that there
is no fear of degradation of the lights liable to occur from examination of the print in the light of day. Where nega tives require dodging, however, frequent examination must be made, and the care ful operator will have at hand a box full of pieces of cardboard cut into shapes, together with a few uncut sheets and a pair of scissors. If he finds the printing proceeding too rapidly in any part, he covers it with a piece of card. thus allowing the denser parts to . go on printing and catch up in tone. it is per haps in this direction, more than in any other, that excellence in printing is to be found. When the prints are removed from he frames, they are placed in boxes under ressure until the afternoon, when the lay's toning and fixing is clone.