CSR Studio
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2009
- Messages
- 456
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Georgia
- Website
- www.csrstudio.com
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
And it is made to do that because the strips of 4 fit perfectly in the envelope with the prints. In the age of automation, everything is related
Exactly. That is why they call them minilabs.
The common "standard" photofinishing envelope size, roughly 5x7", has a long history. There is absolutely nothing to do with "minilabs" that has had any influence. The finishing envelopes used in the '30s were very much the same size as those common today. The 4-frame convention is what it is because that's what has fit the finishing bag since the birth of the standardized 135 cassette.
The common archival filing pages evolved many decades later from completely different roots. They evolved to mimic the cut pattern used by hand darkroom workers to fit a roll of film onto a standard 8x10 print for contact printing. There are several variations with 5, 6, and 7 frame strips to deal with the various compromises involved with fitting binders, holding a whole 36 exposure roll with the inevitable extra frame or two, and fitting the images on an 8x10 sheet of paper.
Actually it does have something to do with it. The minilab is where the automation came into play.