Q-VU Mounting Instructions

Quick Instructions

1. Use an old toothbrush to brush papers slivers off Q-VU edges.
2. Fold Q-VU and crease the fold with smooth object.
3. Draw a pencil line around the inside of the windows. Draw a vertical "centerline" midway between the windows.
4. Take a pair of Grand Photo or Photo-Fair processed prints, which you have identified as to right and left, and whack off excess photo area with scissors.
5. Use razor blade or X-Acto knife to silce off 1/16 inch off the inside edge of each print, using dark frame lines as points of reference.
6. Mount prints up to centerline; check for square and alignment, and press down on strategically placed, pieces of double-sided tape pre-positioned to straddle the centerline.
7. Fold Q-VU and stick shut with more double-sided tape around the edges. (0r other glue of your choice).
8. Place In stereoscope and view.
9. Marvel at your own genius!

Detailed Instructions

The work can be divided into three stages: Preparation of the Mount; Preparation of the Prints; Assembly and gluing. Each step can be done at different sittings, if you wish. You may prefer to work 'assembly line' style and do several mouts at step 1 before proceeding to step 2, etc. Or you may follow through all the steps with just one mount and pair of stereo views before starting a new one. However, any mounting technique requires an understanding of the concept of"stereo window". This is the single most difficult concept for beginning stereo photographers to grasp. See explanation on reverse.

Preparation of the Mount

1. Pre-organize the mounts. (if you have the newer AT mounts, fold them - put window half flat on table, then crease - and punch out windows.) Use an old toothbrush to dust off ay paper fibers on the edges of the mounts and the edges of the die-cut windows. Close the Q-VU. Draw a pencil line aroud the inside of both cut-outs on the back (solid) part of the Q-VU. Open the Q-VU and draw a vertical line down the full depth In the middle of the just-drawn septum lines between the two die-cut windows.
2. Using 3-M double-sided tape. put a couple of strips about 3/4" x 3/16" across the Septum, about 1" from top and one 1" from bottom of mount. (See sketch at right.) Preparing the Prints.
3. Any mounting technique requires an understanding of the "stereo window". This is the single most difficult concept for beginning stereo photographers to grasp. [Explanation under construction.]

Preparation of the Prints

1. Get your stereo prints ready by locating left and right prints (a lorgnette viewer Is helpful).
2. Mark them lightly on the back - use a soft pencil, not a ball-point pen. Check to make sure that when the prints arrived back from the processor that every negative was printed, so you have a left and a right print Of each scene. It Is easy for processors not familiar with making stereo prints to double-print one side and skip the next - especially It they messed up one frame and had to reprint It. Some processors will give you 'frame lines.' If they do, you know your prints show the entire negative area, a real help In Identifying prints and providing a reference line for trimming.
3. Now, trim tops and bottoms of the prints, ensuring that they are square to each other and 31/4 high.

Assembling and mounting

1. Put prints in Q-VU, overlapping them them in the middle by about 1/16". Press lightly on the tape area to hold the prints In position and fold up the Q-VU so you can view the card in your stereoscope. (Alm to have about 1/8' more to be visible on the inside than on the outside when the Q-VU is folded up.)
2. Fine tuning. How does it look? (ignore the edge of the right-hand picture hanging into the left-hand frame for a minute.)
   You can, depending on the composition of the picture and the distance you actually were away from the closest object when you took the picture. move the two prints closer together. This moves the scene closer to (and through) the window. Yours is the judgment call as to what looks artistically the best.
   The cardinal rule of mounting is that there must be more In the middle. That is, more of the right side of the LH picture visible than there is at the right side of the RH picture.
   Example: A wall, fence, flower-pot or whatever that is on the right frame edge will have more showing on the left hand print than on the right hand print when viewed without the stereoscope in the closed-up Q-VU.
3. When you are satisfied that everything is OK, check that both horizons are level, using a transparent grid If necessary, and ensure that the two images are not 'rotated' with respect to each other.
4. The mounting doesn't have to be perfect, as most pairs of eyes can adjust to some minor errors.
5. Satisfied? If so, use your X-Acto knife to jab a mark on the centerlino through both the prints, top and bottom. This gives you marks to use as a guide to accurately cut the Inside edge of each of the prints.
6. Peel the prints off the tack-tape and make the cut, preferably using a steel rule and an X-Acto knife. The ultimate is a base-illuminated rolling Genesys cutter (about $120 from Dot Paste Up Supply, P.O. Box 369, Omaha, Nebraska, SR101)