Basic 35mm Slide Preparation

Slide art preparation cannot be a standardized form of design because of the varied ideas and uses. The preparation can be enjoyable and rewarding if you follow the few basic rules.

When preparing the slide art, keep in mind that a slide should be used to emphasize a point or idea and it should not be relied upon to make the presentation. It is preferable to express ideas on two or more slides rather than cluttering a single slide with too many ideas and needless detail. The use of color will make the slide more attractive, easier to read, and reduce the amount of glare on the screen.

The artwork for a 35mm slide is prepared within an area which has a 2:3 ratio. The 2:3 ratio is derived from the area of the slide that is projected on a screen. The artwork for the slide can be designed using the 2 portion as the height or the width. The 3 portion is, therefore, the remaining dimension as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.

Figure 2. Original Artwork

Ratio = 3:2
2 portion can be height or width
3 portion is other dimension

Example: 2 portion = 6 in. and 3 portion = 9 in.

Figure 3. Minimum Size Letters

*These are printer point sizes and not transfer letter point sizes.

Use the pen size for the minimum Leroy template (from Figure 3) to determine which line weight to use (Figure 4).

Example:

Lightest 1/2 pen line; crosshatching, background lines

Medium pen line; lettering and symbols, vessel outlines, caption tracer lines, arrows

Heavy twice pen line; curves, important lines, flow lines

Example:

Using the 2:3 ratio, on a 6" x 9" illustration area, the minimum size Leroy lettering guide is a 140. Typically, a number 1 Leroy pen is used for this (size 140) lettering. The number 1 pen then becomes the medium line weight used in the illustration.

It is recommended that all ink lettering and ink line work be done on matt film or tracing paper. After the ink work is complete, run a black line print for the color copy. If there is a correction to make, it can be done easily on the film. Several types of color media may be used: colored chalk, colored pencils, and colored adhesive film are a few.

Before photographing, double check the slide artwork by backing away 6 times the 3 portion dimension (example: 3 portion = 9" x 6" = 54" back). If the slide art is easy to read at a glance and color is eye appealing, the 35mm slide should project well.

The tables and examples included in this text are to help design basic slide art work.