The Craft

trimming, steps 5 - 9

What you should aim for		Size, corners, tools
		Now the prints you just aligned and taped need to be trimmed to fit a standard 3 1/2 x 7 inch "Holmes format" stereocard. There are several ways to do this. By a happy coincidence, my way is the best, so I'll tell you about that. Size I trim the stereo-halves for my Holmes cards to 3 1/4 " high by 3 1/8 " wide. That's big for a 3 1/2 " high card, so I cut my cards 3 3/4 " high. Who cares? Nobody. You should pick a size you like -- but be aware that you'll be cutting stereo-pairs just a fraction of an inch smaller than the card you'll glue them to. Which brings us to... Corners You're going to have to fit the stereo-halves you're about to cut on a stereo card. The card has square corners. The card has parallel sided. Your trimmed stereo-halves better have square corners and parallel sides. If they don't, the finished stereograph will look sloppy. And what's worse, you'll find it surprisingly difficult to align the stereo-halves on the card. So, for the love of God, cut your corners square. Which brings us to... Tools Grandpa Kane used to say, "A good woodsman never blames the ax." Presumably good woodsmen own good tools. The right tool for trimming stereo prints is a matte cutter. A matte cutter makes square corners and parallel edges quick and easy. Unfortunately an adequate matte cutter will set you back $130 or more.   Reality check It's a couple days later and I've reread this text block. I overstated things: you should make your corners as square as you can, but you can have plenty of fun without getting totally anal. Steps 5 - 9 give you some great tips on how to trim your prints with a matte cutter. If you don't own a matte cutter, don't worry; pay attention to the general tips and work a little harder to cut corners square your own way. .

Step 5 trim the top
		What Trim the top of your taped-together prints. Why  Be careful -- this first cut defines the framing of the final stereograph. If there's a horizon in your picture, be sure to make this cut and the horizon parallel. Matte cutter tip Because your stereo halves are a fixed height, this cut defines both the top and bottom of the image. Set your cutter to 3 1/4 " (or whatever final image height you use); as you align the prints for cutting pay attention to the imaginary line where the bottom of the print crosses the matte cutter's alignment fence. In just a minute you're going to make the bottom cut along this line, so look to be sure it's exactly where you want it. .

Step 6 trim the bottom
		What Trim the bottom of the prints. This cut needs to be exactly parallel to and exactly 3 1/4" (or your chosen image height) from the top cut. Why  Your final stereo-half needs to be 3 1/4 inches tall. An interesting aside you can safely skip Notice that the bottom cut sliced away a big swath of picture. That's because this particular stereograph is made from 4 x 6" prints. That's unusual. Most of the time you'll make Holmes stereographs from standard 3 1/2 x 5" prints. Because the 4" prints used here are wider, trimming them to 3 1/4 " removes more of the image than usual. This stereograph was made from 4" rather than 3 1/2" prints on purpose -- I wanted to cut away the newspaper in the foreground. Reason: this shot was made with a Realist camera about 4 feet from the man and baby. Stereos taken with a Realist have a 'built in' stereo window at 7 feet. So a standard mount of this picture would result in everything in the picture being in front of the window. One way to get around that window problem would be to align the right print way to the right. That puts the foreground newspaper just at the stereo window. But if you do that, you run out of picture on the left and the final prints end up skinny slivers. The other solution is the once chosen here. Align the pictures so the stereo window falls at the baby's starburst toy and cut away the foreground. The larger than usual 4" print lets you do that cutting and still end up with enough image to make a standard size Holmes stereo. Whew! Matte cutter tip Set up your cutter for 3 1/4 inch parallel cuts. If you're doing multiple prints at one sitting, get them all taped, then make these first two cuts on all the prints all at one time, without having to adjust the matte cutter. Fast, easy, super accurate. .

Step 7 trim one side
		What Make either one of the side cuts. This cut needs to be exactly perpendicular to the top and bottom cuts. Ninety degrees. A right angle. Exactly. Why  If the cut isn't exactly 90 degrees, you'll have a harder time getting the stereo-halves mounted correctly.  By the way, like the top cut this first side cut helps define the framing of your image. Matte cutter tip Same tip as for step 5, only this time with the cutter set for 3 1/8 inches (or whatever width you choose for your Holmes stereographs). .

A handy tip: Making square corners with a matte cutter
		You can use you matte cutter to make quick, accurate 90 degree cuts. Here's how: A. Draw perpendicular alignment lines Push your matte cutter's under board tight up against the fence. Use a plastic square to draw lines precisely perpendicular to the fence. B. Align print To make side cuts precisely perpendicular to the top cut, as shown in this picture, line the top edge up with the alignment line you drew in part A. 8.

Step 8 trim the other side
		What Make the final cut. This cut needs to be exactly perpendicular to the top and bottom cuts. Ninety degrees. A right angle. Exactly. And exactly parallel to the cut on the opposite side. Why  Congratulations! You've trimmed the two stereo-halves to exactly the right size What's more, you make your cuts so that homologous points line up horizontally, the stereo window is set just right, the images are not rotated or displaced. Now aren't you glad you followed my advice about tabbing and orienting the tape strips. Notice that you'll be able to remove each tape strip by lifting the no-stick fold over tab. You're welcome. Matte cutter tip Yadda, yadda. You've got the idea. .

Step 9
		What Turn each stereo half over and label it right or left and give it a sequence number: L1, R1; L2, R2; L3, R3; etc. Avoid felt tip pens; their ink doesn't stick to the back of photographic paper. It does stick to the front, so if you use a felt tip and then stack your prints the felt tip ink will smear onto the fronts of your other prints, ruining them. Use a ball point pen. But don't push so hard that you dig a groove into the paper. Notice the rounded corners. You can also use a corner rounding punch, available for about $8 at craft or office stores, to add this traditional feature. (Because of how this image was scanned, it looks like these stereo-halves are somehow mounted face down on a stereocard. They aren't.) Why Label and number the prints because you want to mount them accurately. Number each pair you trim at one session. That way you can align, tape and trim all your prints at once, then rearrange your work station for gluing and mounting. And now, on to gluing! .

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