Stereoview Construction Instructions
December 30, 2000
Les Gehman
This document describes the method I use to create contemporary stereoviews. Many of the techniques described here were taught to me by David Lee and George Freeman. Without their help, I would never have learned how to create cards as professional looking as these.
Wherever possible, I have included the sources I use
to purchase the equipment and supplies required for the method. These sources are listed in the footnotes to
this article. Other sources are
available for most of these supplies, I’m just listing the places I used.
This method produces professional looking
stereoviews for under $1.00 per view.
While it is somewhat equipment intensive, once the equipment is
purchased, it becomes very easy to produce a large number of stereoviews
quickly and easily.
Equipment required:
-
a
dry mount press[i]
-
a
24” Rotatrim Mastercut II[ii]
-
a
book press or suitable vise[iii]
-
a
film scanner[iv]
-
Stereo
Image Factory[v]
-
any
decent photo editing software[vi]
-
a
computer
-
a
printer
-
a
tacking iron[vii]
Supplies required:
-
two-ply
museum mat board[viii]
-
8
½ X 11 dry mount tissue[ix]
-
acid
free 24lb. printer paper[x]
-
3M
568 positionable mounting adhesive[xi]
-
4
X 6 prints[xii]
I use two primary cameras for stereo photography, a
Realist and a Canon Elan for hypers. By
shooting slide film in the cameras, I’m able to scan the film and produce
prints from the scans, and still mount the slides as a stereo pair. I have the slide film processed[xiii]
and sleeved from the Realist and processed and mounted from the Elan. The HP Photosmart S20 scanner that I use,
can take both mounted and unmounted slide film (along with prints).
1.
Scan
the slides. Before scanning Realist
format slides, I cut the film into 40-perf strips. This is the equivalent of 5 full frame (8-perf) images, or 8
realist (5-perf) images. Set the
scanner to panoramic slide strip mode, and scan at the highest possible resolution. On my scanner, each 40-perf strip scanned at
2400 dpi produces a 125 Meg tiff file.
2.
Pull
the left and right images from the strip.
I load the tiff file of the strip into Picture Publishervi
and save each individual left and right image to separate tiff files.
3.
Clean
up the scan. No matter how clean you
keep your scanner and slides there will be dust on the scan. Load each individual image into your photo
editor and using the clone tool, get rid of all the dust spots, and re-save the
tiff file. They are mostly a problem in
the sky areas.
4.
Align
and crop the stereo pair. Load each
left and right tiff image into Stereo Image Factoryv and align and
crop the stereo pair. Be careful to
ensure that neither image goes off the end of the image into the adjacent
image. When done, save off the left and
right images separately.
5.
Create
the stereo print in your photo editor.
Open the left image and re-size to allow room for the right image and a
black septum between the two images. If
the stereoview will be a standard 3 ½ X 7 card, add black area under the images
to fill out to a 4 X 6 print size. Save
the final stereo pair as a jpeg file.
6.
Upload
the jpeg file to the print service of your choice and order prints.
7.
In
your photo editor or other software[xiv]
create a page of stereo card front images and a page of stereo card back
images.
8.
Print
the stereo card front and back images onto your acid-free printer paper.
9.
Build
a stack-up of your front and back images and mat board as follows:
-
front
image
-
dry
mount tissue
-
mat
board
-
dry
mount tissue
-
back
image
and align this 5-layer stack
and temporarily hold with spring clips.
10.
Using
a tacking ironvii, tack the front and back of your 5-layer stack-up
and remove the spring clips.
11.
Place
the stack-up in your heat seal press between two sheets of release paper and
two scrap mat boards for about 1-2 minutes.
(You’ll need some experimenting to find the proper time and
temperature. I use 180° F for 2
minutes.)
12.
Remove
the laminated stack-up and allow to cool.
13.
Cut
apart the card blanks using the Rotatrim cutter.
14.
Apply
3M positionable mounting adhesive to the backs of the photos.
15.
Position
the photos on the card blanks and bond them with the brayer.
16.
Place
the finished cards in sleeves, stack them up and clamp them in a book press for
24 hours.
17.
Join
APEC III[xv],
and trade your views with other stereoview makers.
[i] Dry mount presses are very expensive to purchase new. Suitable presses such as the Seal 160 cost about $1000 new from B&H. I picked up an older Seal 150 on eBay for under $200.
[ii] Yes, you really need a Rotatrim. And, yes, you will most likely need the 24” model. I bought mine from B&H Photo, http://www.bhphotovideo.com 1-800-606-6969.
[iii] New book presses are expensive and difficult to find. I use a Zyliss woodworking vise to clamp my views. It’s also fairly easy to build your own book press from some blocks of wood and clamps.
[iv] I use an HP Photosmart S20 scanner purchased from buy.com, however any scanner capable of scanning slides or negatives at 2400 dpi or greater will suffice.
[v] Purchase from SOFTreat Co., http://members.aol.com/threedr/ has a downloadable demo. The software, version 2.50, costs $99.00 and may be ordered online.
[vi] I use Micrografx Picture Publisher, http://www.micrografx.com/mgxproducts/picturepublisher.asp. A demo is downloadable from their web site. Picture Publisher 8 lists for $49.95 and earlier versions may be picked up cheaply on eBay.
[vii] I use a Seal Sealector III tacking iron available for $51.49 from B&H.
[viii] I purchase Westminster 2-ply mat board in 22” X 28” sheets from Light Impressions, P.O. Box 22708, Rochester, NY 14692-2708, 800-828-6216, http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com. (Item # 3612, 25 sheets/package, $83.15/pkg, $66.55/pkg for 2 or more) (Each sheet is then cut down into six 8 ½ X 11 sheets.)
[ix] $17.88/100 sheets from Film Source, http://www.film-source.net/drymount.html, 1158 Carmel Circle, Suite 140, Casselberry, FL 32707-6457, 1-888-241-7775.
[x] Xpedx Paper Store, 106 S. Santa Fe Dr., Denver, CO, 303-777-6688.
[xi] Freestyle Sales Co., http://www.freestylesalesco.com, 5124 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027, (800) 292-6137. (Catalog # 17029, 11” X 50’, $30.89/roll)
[xii] I use a variety of on-line photo print services. Many of them offer a number of free 4 X 6 prints for signing up. My favorites are http://www.shutterfly.com for their very nice cropping and border options, http://www.dotphoto.com for their prices (as low as $0.19/print), and http://www.ofoto.com.
[xiii] Markham Photo Lab, 204 N. Link Lane, Fort Collins, CO, 80524, 970-221-9429.
[xiv] I use Microsoft Vision 2000 Technical Edition, but many programs are available that work equally well.