Flattenning Negatives

[Disaster_Area]

When I get my negatives back from the lab they're perfectly flat and perfect for scanning. When I develope at home there's always a bit of a curve to them even after flattenning them in a book overnight. Does anyone have a ingenius and unique way of flattenning them... or am I just looking for a heavier book.

 

[gdi]

When I get my negatives back from the lab they're perfectly flat and perfect for scanning. When I develope at home there's always a bit of a curve to them even after flattenning them in a book overnight. Does anyone have a ingenius and unique way of flattenning them... or am I just looking for a heavier book.

How do you dry them? I hang them in a drying cabinet and put a clip on the bottom to hold them straight - very little curl...

 

[chambrenoire]

My local developer-dude told me to put them in the freezer for 30 min ... Should be flat after that! Haven't tried it myself but maybe it's worth a try?

 

[Disaster_Area]

I hang them in a drying rack with a weight on the end too.. its not so much curl length wise on the film but a bow width wise that makes it hard to scan them flat. I'll have to try the freezer thing on a dud roll sometime.... interesting.

 

[R2-D2]

My local developer-dude told me to put them in the freezer for 30 min ... Should be flat after that! Haven't tried it myself but maybe it's worth a try?

Directly after drying them? Or should this work afterwards too?

 

[maddoc]

I hang them in a drying rack with a weight on the end too.. its not so much curl length wise on the film but a bow width wise that makes it hard to scan them flat. I'll have to try the freezer thing on a dud roll sometime.... interesting.

Same problem here ! In my case a "steamer" (water evaporator ?) does the job, keeping the room-humidity at 50%. Below the stripes curl width-wise and above 50% humidity they are just plain. So only a problem in winter, when the air in the room is dry.

 

[oscroft]

My negs come out with a width-wise curl too, but I find that putting them in sleeves and leaving them filed in binders for a week or so before scanning helps a lot (though it's admittedly hard to be that patient - I usually want to see the results as soon as possible).

 

[photophorous]

After they are dry, roll them back onto the developing reel backwards...emulsion side up. Let them sit for at least 30 minutes. An hour or two works better. When you unroll them there may be a slight length-wise curl, but they will be flat across the width.

Paul

 

[eric]

I find that if I use non-hardening fixer, it tends to dry much flatter. Hardener fixer will make it curl short ends togeter (towards center of image).
Not so much an issue when you put the neg in an enlarger carrier but it is when you scan. Its much harder to keep it flat on a scanner (I have flatbed with neg carrier). I believe the "better scanner holder" or what's it called, has a glass?

 

[oscroft]

After they are dry, roll them back onto the developing reel backwards...emulsion side up. Let them sit for at least 30 minutes. An hour or two works better. When you unroll them there may be a slight length-wise curl, but they will be flat across the width

What a brilliant idea - in 35 years of developing, I've never thought of that. I'll try it with my next lot.

 

[chambrenoire]

Yes, that's what he told me.

Directly after drying them? Or should this work afterwards too?

 

[Tuolumne]

I put mine in archival sleeves and then press the sleeves under a towering weight of Hannehmuhle 13x19 paper boxes. That will straighten out the worst curl in about a week. The weight of a single book is too light to have much of an effect.

/T

 

[kaiyen]

Any curl at all is due to low humidity during drying. One option is run your shower (presuming that's where you're drying them) hot for about 2-3 minutes before you hang. That's enough humidity, if you close the door, to last for a while. They should dry pretty straight.

allan

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Hmmm... how about re-rolling the film into the spools and then putting it in the freezer?

Sorry, couldn't help myself. My negs go into archival sheets and stay there. After some time they kinda flatten enough to be scanned.