Contact printer

I got a Paterson contact printer for 120 film. Can anyone tell me how to fix the negatives onto the glass? I thought there would be slots or something to keep the negatives in place. There are just black strips. am I missing something? I tried looking at youtube videos but even the Ilford training video just shows leaving the negatives in sleeves. I might have just as well made my own with a piece of glass like I did years ago. Did I waste my money?

When I used to use proofers like that, the edge of the film was held be the edge of the strips - I just pushed the film in.

i have the same one.... put the paper, face-up on the proofer/cushion, lay the negatives emulsion side down on the paper, close the glass top, print for appropriate amount of time. done!

(i think there maybe a lip to slip the negative strips under but i never used it.

MattKing said:

When I used to use proofers like that, the edge of the film was held be the edge of the strips - I just pushed the film in.

Click to expand...

That's it; the black strips are only glued along one edge, the other edge can be lifted so that the edge of the film strips can be pushed underneath, holding the film in place.
With older frames of this style the black strips sometimes stick to the glass entirely or they may come loose entirely. The materials don't particularly well, but that's on a timescale of decades.