Contact prints for Heritage Documentation Programs

Introduction

Contact prints were originally made by directly printing a negative against photographic paper wet photo lab. The National Park Service allows both traditional and digitally-generated contact prints, but they must follow archival standards.

The following is a summary of select portions of NPS’s “HABS/HAER/HALS Photography Guidelines” (November 2011, updated June 2015).

Heritage Documentation Programs Standards & Guidelines (NPS)
Heritage Documentation Programs Standards & Guidelines (NPS)

Visit NPS’s guidelines portal for more detailed HABS/HAER/HALS guidelines, including specific film recommendations.

General standards

What does NPS want from included prints?

Required

  • Contact print size, regardless of whether they are printed digitally or in a traditional wet photo lab.
  • Uncropped. The entire negative, including the edges of the film itself, must be visible.

Acceptable

  • Double-weight paper. NPS preferred single-weight but few, if any, manufacturers continue to make this.
  • Contact printing paper.
  • Enlarging paper.
  • Digital contact prints to NPS standards.

Avoid

  • Resin-coated papers, the type used for typical consumer photo prints. They are not archival.
  • Negative-only submissions.
  • Negatives with digital-only contact prints.
  • Negatives with digital-only individual scans.

Digital print cards

NPS developed the following process for creating digital print cards.

Hardware/software requirements

  • Flatbed film scanner with Anti-Newton glass
  • Inkjet printer designed for archival photographic prints
  • Adobe Photoshop or a similar photography-oriented image editor
  • Disk space for generating multiple sets of large images

HPO recommends using the highest optical resolution available for your film scanner. Your scanner’s manual will show the manufacturer’s recommended “film” or “transparency” scan resolutions.

1. Scan negatives

  • Have the emulsion side face the light source.
  • Include the film margins in your scan. Do not crop the film frame.
  • Scan in grayscale and save as an uncompressed TIFF.
  • For 5×7 negatives, NPS recommends scanning at 5,000 pixels across (approximately 800 ppi).

The digital images generated in the remaining steps are for printing and PDF-generation purposes only. They should not be used for negative scan requests!

“HABS-like” mitigation documentation that will not be submitted to the NPS Heritage Documentation Programs can omit the HABS/HAER/HALS number.

2. Create a digital photo mount card with the image

  1. Save a new set of images at 400ppi for printing.
  2. Choose a slightly larger canvas size (ex: 5″x7″ for a 4.75″x6.76″ negative) for uniformity, then digitally “mount” all images against this larger canvas.
    • Black background
    • 400ppi
    • Flatten all layers when finished
  3. Create a new letter-sized canvas and put the black-bordered images from the previous step on these canvases.
    • 8.5″ x 11″
    • 400ppi
    • NPS recommends not flattening layers in these images in case you need to make changes. When generating digital files for HPO, layered images with editable text will also be easier to convert into PDFs than flattened images.
  4. Copy the black-bordered images to the center and at actual image size.
  5. Using a text tool and overlay grids or guides, create a text box in the upper right-hand corner.
    • 12pt. Times New Roman
    • Right-aligned
    • All caps for full words
    • Use the following format (no brackets):
      • Line 1: [Full name of heritage documentation program]
      • Line 2: See Index to Photographs for Caption
      • Line 3: [HABS/HAER/HALS] No. NJ-[document number]-[plate number]
    • Sample, referencing the first plate in a HABS document numbered NJ-999:
      • Historic American Buildings Survey
      • See Index to Photographs for Caption
      • HABS No. NJ-999-1

3. Print archival copies from the mounted letter-sized images

  • Only use inkjet printers and inks intended for archival prints.
    • Pigment or carbon inks.
    • Permanency rating of 150 years or greater by an independent rating organization, not the printer manufacturer.
  • Only use 100% cotton acid-free matte paper.
  • Print each page individually.
  • Set your printer to the highest available quality.
  • Use neutral monochrome settings unless reproducing color content.