Printfile is Scratching Negatives Again. Attached Proof

foggie

foggie

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Hi Dudes,

My printfile negative sleeves are still scratching my negatives. I opened a thread about this a year ago and did some more testing but am still getting scratches.

Here's my workflow
- develop film, rinse, etc
- hang-up negatives to dry in the tub. Close shower curtain and close door.
- in about 60-90 minutes, after the the last drop of water has dried, cut the negatives into 6-frame slices and put them into the printfile sleeves.
- squash negatives inside books underneath a pile of larger books. (TriX and Neopan has terrible curl.)
- 24 hours later scan them

I've noticed, and you can notice this on the attached example, that the first frame that gets slid into the sleeve gets scratched badly 10-20% of the way across the frame.

I've also noticed that this doesn't happen with my Arista EDU (Fomapan 100, iirc) but only with my Neopan and TriX. The difference between those films is that the fomapan dries completely flat and the others don't. When I noticed this I tried propping the printfile open with my finger so that it doesn't touch the plastic too much but I'm not sure it helped.

Someone earlier somewhere on this forum posted that you should wait 24 hours for the emulsion to harden. In my experience in Ulaanbaatar (dusty and dry) the negs just collect much more dust and gather even more scratches.

Any ideas on how to prevent them from happening? How much do such scratches show-up in prints? Some people have said scans accentuate scratches and others say enlargers+wet prints do.
 

Attachments

  • 1-Scan-121121-0002.jpg
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I think you should give the negatives more time to dry.
I leave mine to dry at least 5 hours. During the drying I notice a change in curling that settles in reasonable flatness (I hang mine with a small fishing weight) after a couple off hours..
 
I agree with Rogier. I think your dry time is short unless you are using a film dryer. I am genarelly waitng over night.


Rogier said:
I think you should give the negatives more time to dry.
I leave mine to dry at least 5 hours. During the drying I notice a change in curling that settles in reasonable flatness (I hang mine with a small fishing weight) after a couple off hours..
Click to expand...
 
I recommend three changes to your workflow.

After cutting the negatives and before sleeving them, allow the negatives to dry for more time in a place where dust cannot get to them, such as a shoe box. Add little desiccant packages to help remove moisture. Give them several hours to dry.

Before sleeving the negatives, inspect the negative under a bright light for dust. Use a soft brush (I use a make-up brush that came in a kit for $1 at the grocery store) to remove the dust from both the negatives and the PrintFile itself. Use canned air to clean the brush, aiming the air so that it blows the dust out the end of the brush, not into the brush. I've read that blowing canned air through a brush that way builds up a slight static electric charge that helps the brush attract dust off the negative and onto the brush. Keep the brush really clean, with no fingerprint oils on the bristles, etc.

When sliding the negatives into the PrintFile, feel and listen for that scratching sound. As soon as you feel or hear it, stop inserting, gently pull the negative back out, find the dust/dirt particle, clean it off, and try again. Dirt particles lodged inside the sleeve are a pain to get to, but find a tool to use to get them out, like a Q-tip at the end of a pair of tweezers, or cotton swabs on long sticks (they still make those, don't they?).
 
I had similar problems with scratches in the past. I only shoot Tri-X, so I can't speak for other emulsions. I let my negatives dry overnight in a garment bag. The top of the zipper is pulled down enough to let moist air escape but the flap prevents any wandering dust to enter the bag.

It's fairly dry and very dusty here in Fort Worth so I try to take every precaution possible. I've gone away from the slide-in type pages and moved towards the top flap type for 6 frame rolls. It's definitely a more expensive, but I haven't had a problem with scratches since I've switched. This is the product I use:

http://m.bhphotovideo.com/mobile/detail?R=442911_REG&title=
 
My process has been like this:

. develop the film, hang dry for at least two hours
. put scanner on the edge of desk and scan the whole roll with film hanging in air
. cut the film into 6-frame slides and put into sleeves

I got minimal scratches and dusts during scanning
 
Squash negatives under books? Seems like there is something wrong if you need to do this. I'll agree drying longer should be the first step.

Scratches on the top or the emulsion side?
 
As other people have said - 60-90 minutes does not seem at all long to get them nice and dry. The Foma may dry quick because it is thinner (for me, it curled more than Tri-x / NP400).

Your bathroom is probably the least dustiest place in the house, I used to jam some rulers in between the door and frame and hang the film overnight with a couple of clothes pegs at the bottom - worked a treat.
 
I also assume you've ruled out the camera as culprit? If scratches are only at one end of the individual strips that sounds right.

Do you take the film anywhere after it is in the pages? I have students who lug around negative books in dirty backpacks and leave the binder in dirty cars. They have scratches.
 
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