A contact copier (also known as contact printer) is a device used to copy an image by illuminating a film negative with the image in direct contact with a photosensitive surface (film, paper, plate, etc.). The more common processes are negative, where clear areas in the original produce an opaque or hardened photosensitive surface, but positive processes are available. The light source is usually an actinic bulb internal or external to the device[1]
Commercial contact printers or process cameras usually use a pump-operated vacuum frame where the original and the photosensitive surface are pressed together against a flat glass by a grooved rubber mat connected to the vacuum source. A timer-controlled mercury vapor (arc or fluorescent) light source is on the other side of the glass.[1]