Questions
What is a contact sheet?
Every frame from a roll or a shoot, laid out small on one sheet of paper, with a number
and the file name under each one so you know which file to open.
Is the contact sheet maker free?
Yes. There is no account and no watermark.
Do my photos get uploaded?
No. The browser reads the files off your device and draws the sheet there. The PDF is
saved the same way. Nothing is sent to a server, and your files are never changed.
Do I need to download anything?
No. It runs in the browser on a Mac, a Windows PC, a Chromebook or a phone, and there is
nothing to install. It is built and checked in Chrome. A HEIC off a phone opens only where
the browser can decode one, so if yours does not, save the photo as a JPEG first.
Can I make a contact sheet without Photoshop?
Yes. Nothing to install and no account. Choose your photos at the top of this page and
save the PDF. If you already have Photoshop, Bridge or Lightroom, each can make one from
inside the program.
Can I make one from film negatives or lab scans?
From the scans, yes. A lab scan is often a TIFF, and TIFF opens here at 8 or 16 bit,
with an Adobe RGB or ProPhoto profile in the file read. Scan the negatives first. This page
does not read a negative off a scanner and it does not invert one.
Is there a blank contact sheet template?
Yes. Save the sheet before you add any photos and you get the empty grid as a PDF, with a
number in each cell. That is 20 cells on A4 at four columns and 16 on Letter. Pick the
columns first and the numbers follow. A ready A4 and a US Letter file are on this page
too.
How many photos fit on one sheet?
At four columns, with the margin and gap at their defaults, square cells hold 20 on A4
and 16 on Letter. The cells take the shape most of your photos have, so 3:2 photos fit 28 on
A4 and 24 on Letter, and 4:5 photos fit 16 and 12. Square cells on A4 hold 30 at five
columns and 42 at six. As film strips the frames print at their real size, so an A4 or
Letter sheet holds 30 frames of 35 mm as six strips of five, and A4 holds 12 from a 120
roll. A smaller print size fits more. More photos go onto more sheets in the same PDF.
What size does it print at?
The PDF page is the paper you chose, A4, Letter or A3, so print it at 100 percent and
not fit to page. The sheet is drawn at 300 dots per inch.
Can I take a photo off the sheet?
Yes. Take it out and it waits in a tray beside the sheet. Drag it back onto any cell to
put it back.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, on iPhone and Android. Choose the photos from your camera roll and save the PDF to
Files. HEIC photos open where the browser reads them. A3 sheets need a computer.
Do the circles print?
Yes. They print in red on a white sheet and in yellow on a black sheet or on film strips.
A frame without a circle prints clean.