What do you do with your test strips?

[IloveTLRs]

I keep mine .. they are my photos after all. Ones that are too blown out or completely black I throw out, all the others I keep. Maybe I'll make a collage.

What do you do?

 

[Anon Ymous]

Usually thrown in the bin, unless I want to tone the print. In that case, it's sometimes good to do a test before toning the actual print.

 

[CBG]

I rinse them very well and keep them to season Hypo Alum toner. Why waste fresh good prints when I have old bad prints?

 

[removed account4]

i made a collage out of them once , covered nearly a whole wall ...

 

[Vincent Brady]

I keep mine for that talk that I'll never give explaining how I arrived at my finished print. I'm bored even posting about it.

 

[Rick A]

Depends--usually test toners on them before tossing.

Rick

 

[2F/2F]

I throw them into the trash, unless they happen to look cool. I use work prints and reject prints for testing toners, bleaches, and such.

 

[MattKing]

They can make excellent bookmarks.

Matt

 

[removed account4]

They can make excellent bookmarks.

Matt

hmmm laminated, hole punched and tassel'd and sold for big bucks at a book store!

 

[JNaetke]

They can make excellent bookmarks.

Matt

yep, just that.
it also causes people to start conversations with me about photography while I'm in the bus/train/etc.

other than that, I keep some that I fix and rinse well to test toning capabilities.

 

[munz6869]

Bookmarks! What a GREAT idea. I'll start saving them now...

Now all I need are a "use" for 120 film spools.

Marc

 

[Mike Wilde]

I save most 120 spools and backing paper. Have about 150 on hand at present. About 30 have been used to respool slit down 70mm bulk portra 160nc. It is a pain, but the price was right. The backing paper is handy along with a roll of masking tape, and a empty 11x14 paper liner bag to temporarily make motel/hotel bathrooms light tight when reloading 4x5 film holders on road trips. I loathe changing bags for this task, and the tents are more than I want to pay for.

Test strips get cut into a 1" by 4-5 inch strip and get pasted into printing record book if there is anything I think is worth noting about the print technique. I calibrate new aper packs to my dichroic head and analyser, so once that is done there are not really a whole ton of test strips.

I do often print a 5x7 in 1" wide strips in a 8/10.1/12.7/16/20.2/25.4/32 second sequence on the same part of the image using a neat litle jig I saw in 'Way Beyond Monochome'. The aperture is usally adjusted to make the analyse suggest a time somewhere around 12 seconds, and then the laer times give guidance of which ares will need burning in, and to what degree.

I do like Matt's bookmark idea.

 

[Laurent]

They can make excellent bookmarks.

Matt

Same for me. At least the ones that look good. The other ones go directly to the bin (sometimes fix => bin, sometimes they are whashed if I want to see them dried)

 

[Maitena]

I use the good ones as bookmarks too!
I started doing it because I hate throwing away pictures of people I know.

 

[jamesgignac]

Bookmarks, YES! I have lots of them - also if I'm printing RC and have multiple test strips of the same image (and that's pretty much always) I tend to make the test strips from overlapping areas of the photo, then when they're still wet from the wash I let them rest against eachother and leave them on my gratuitously large wet bench to dry. I typically end up with an interesting shape of varying tonality - sketching out a jagged portion of the composition. And then I pitch it out. I only keep the REAL NICIES for bookmarks.

 

[CBG]

Depends--usually test toners on them before tossing. Rick

Great idea.

 

[paulie]

i usually under fix, selenium without washing , then burn them in the microwave. they usually end up looking a bit lithy (red line under that one , think ive discovered a new word)

 

[Stephen Frizza]

some I keep for future printing reference, some i give to clients, many go in the bin.

 

[pantelis adiavastos]

they should make great contact cards, if you mark your number on the back side ;p

 

[Terrence Brennan]

Test strips

i made a collage out of them once , covered nearly a whole wall ...

I have completely covered avery available square inch of my chipboard darkroom walls with test strips and pieces of reject prints, et cetera. I use a not-quite-good-enough-for-my-workshop stapler, with 1/4-inch staples. I am now going to start on the OUTSIDE of the darkroom!

And yes, I have a whole bunch of good test strips I use as book marks. When reading a book in a public place, like a bus stop or coffee shop, it is a sure-fire way to have people approach you and ask if you are a photographer, et cetera.

The rejects are shredded and discarded.

 

[jcorll]

Shredded? So nobody can counterfeit them right?

I too also go for the bookmark idea.
When I make mine, not only do I find a nice contrasty area, but I try and find one that looks good! Common ones for me are Neckties, the band across peoples eyes (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-esque), patterns etc.

Who says test strips can't be art too?