Trimming Prints.

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 12, 2 October 1911, Page 829

Trimming Prints.

There is more art in print trimming than meets the eye at the first glance. It is not sufficient merely to cut off the edges evenly,, so as to include everything there was on the plate, or to place a cutting shape upon it and trim it round. There are two main considerations in print trimming. First, that the sides of the print are cut true with the horizontal or vertical lines of the picture. If your picture is a sea view, cut the top and bottom of the print parallel with the

horizon line. If you have no horizon line to go by, take the side of a house, or anything else in the picture, which must of necessity be vertical. Use this as your guide, and cut the sides of your picture parallel with it. Of course in both cases the other two sides will be square with the first two treated. Secondly, trim your print down if it can be improved thereby. In the majority of cases the appearance of a picture will be improved by cutting off a little of the foreground, reducing the amount of sky by about half an inch or more, or cutting off more or less of either or both ends. Get four pieces of white cardboard, and cover up different portions of your print and see

whether you cannot improve its appearance by excissiou of superfluous parts.