Fig. 14.
"To obtain thirty-six pieces out of a sheet, it is necessary, for convenience, to first quarter it, and then divide it into three equal strips ([fig. 14]) taken from the length of the paper. The pieces, as thus cut, will measure 32/3 by 9 inches, which will answer admirably for the stereoscopic size. Each one of these strips of paper can be cut into three good sized cartes, making nine out of a quarter, and thirty-six out of a whole sheet.
"Forty-two cartes can be obtained very neatly by laying the sheet before you ([fig. 4]), and dividing the length into seven equal parts; when done, each strip should measure 31/7 by 18 inches in size. The whole number of pieces will be forty-two. It will be seen that the size of the carte pieces (3 by 31/7 inches) only allows very little room for waste paper in trimming after printing, and thus it will be found necessary to exercise some care in placing these pieces on the negative for printing.
Fig. 15.
"To obtain the forty-two carte pieces from the sheet without waste, great care is required in sensitizing the paper to prevent tearing, and also to prevent silver from getting on the back of it; in cutting it either the shears or the paper-knife should be used with care. Do not tear the paper with the hands, as is very often done, especially when the printer is in a hurry.
"In making out the above, I have considered the sheet of paper to be 18 by 22 inches in size, but it is seldom that the sheet measures exactly this, for the length often measures from one quarter to one inch more, but never less, while the width is invariably the same. When this is the case, a little better margin is allowed in cutting the sheet up, which is a good thing, especially when a large number of small pieces are to be obtained from the sheet. Forty-two pieces is all that should be obtained from a sheet of paper which measures 18 by 22 (or 18 by 221/2, &c.) inches, because the pieces of paper are now as small as they should be with safe results to the prints, on account of bad edges, &c., which it is often necessary to trim after printing. There is a way to obtain forty-eight, and even fifty-two pieces of paper from the sheet, but I would not advise any of my readers to try to obtain that quantity, as there are many disadvantages connected with it that more than neutralize the benefits. The paper is sometimes cut up to the exact carte size, and then printed up as it is, thus saving the trimming of the prints after printing. This is, perhaps (?), a good way, but for the beginner it is very risky, because the paper will have to be placed exactly on the negative, or else the print will be worthless. Even to the experienced printer this is very difficult, because the greatest care and skill are required to do it as it should be done; then the inexperienced printer could not hope to do it successfully."