COPYING The making of good copies is considered by many to be the most difficult branch of commercial photography and forms a large portion of the work, yet it is the custom, in some studios, to turn the copying over to apprentice boys and cheap help. This means, as a general rule, that the copies are stuck up in a careless manner, no real attention paid to exposure, lighting, and other important details with consequent indifferent results.
Good copies are hard to obtain and the best operator, apparatus and materials possible should be employed. The reason is that no matter how much latitude the plate or film may have, the exposure has to be absolutely correct— not a little over nor a little under, but correct. This is necessary if you are going to preserve the gradations in the copy print that are found in the original.
While it is true that, with the four degrees of contrast in paper, one may obtain a print from almost any negative, it will not be a true copy in every sense of the word if the exposure of the copy negative is "off." That, of course, applies to good originals.
There are many occasions, such as in copying old documents, pictures that are soiled or naturally a little flat, when it is desirable to add a little contrast and, at other times, equally desirable to get a little softer result, but the copies the commercial photographer is the more often called upon to make are those where a true copy, both as to contrast and gradations, are wanted.
The kind of light to use in making copies is somewhat important. In shops where copies are a major portion of the work, it is the custom to copy entirely by artificial light in some form or other and is by far the best and easiest method to pursue. With daylight, the conditions are constantly changing every hour and every day and you will be troubled by reflections, so it resolves itself right down to artificial light for real results. Some operators use arc lamps, one placed on each side of the copy board, and which are all right with the exception that they take considerable current, thus entailing too much expense. Others use mercury tubes placed upright, one on each side of the board, and while the first cost is considerable, the amount of current consumed is negligible.
Illustration, No. 63, shows an apparatus which is very handy for lighting small copies. It can either be worked with incandescent gas mantles or electric
bulbs, and gives good results, while clear bulbs of the Mazda or Nitrogen type of 500, 750 or 1,000 watts, on stands on each side of the camera, make a very effective way of handling various sizes of copy.
Illustration, No. 64, represents a type found in some studios and known as a "circle light." This is exceptionally convenient, as the light is all around the copy—a big factor in copying drawings or other copy that is patched, as there are no shadows from the lights and absolutely even illumination is obtained easily.
However, if one uses daylight for copying, it is always well to have a black screen directly in back of the camera, if possible, to do away with reflec tions. This applies more particularly to copy such as oil paintings or copy placed under glass. Some operators, in copying oil paintings by daylight in museums and art galleries, where they have mostly top light, place a black screen directly in front of the painting to be copied with an opening just large enough to accommodate the lens. In that way, reflections are cut down to a minimum.
If artificial light is used in copying, in the ways mentioned hereinbefore, there will be little trouble with grain, but if there is trouble despite the artificial light, it can always be eliminated, even in the worst cases, by copying under glass and making, for instance, a half reduction of the original and then, for the finished print, enlarge it up.
The kind of plates to use will be governed, of course, a good deal by the original to be copied. For instance, a black and white line copy should be photo graphed on a process plate or film and should never be photographed on a single coated plate without backing, as halation is just as bad here and destroys just as Malty negatives as it does on the most trying interiors. Prints that have a good many dark and middle tones and very little white can be copied on a single-coated plate, but they would be better on a film or a double-coated plate, at that. When operators complain that they cannot get good copies, nine out of ten times that is the reason. They are getting halation, only it is a little different form from that to which they have been accustomed.