How do I keep my negatives flat?

[Maxapple88]

Whenever I hang up my negatives to dry they always curl. I end up with a long strip of negatives with a curve along the short side. They don't lie flat on the table, the middle part curves upwards. Its already annoying to file them like this, don't even want to imagine how annoying a contact print must be...

Has anyone else had this happen? What did you do?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Yeah it happens all the time. Happened to me much more when I lived in Santa Fe than it does now that I am back in Indiana. Humidity is higher in the midwest than in New Mexico so I imagine that higher humidity might reduce it.

Once they're fully dry I put them in Print-File pages and put them under a stack of large, heavy, hardcover books. Coffee table photo books work well. Leave them a week or two and they'll be perfectly flat.

 

[d_ross]

you should also try not to dry the film too fast.

 

[Maxapple88]

you should also try not to dry the film too fast.

How would I do that? I just leave it out to hang in the bathroom, how would I influence drying?

 

[charjohncarter]

Chris has had similar experience to mine. I now live in a dry part of California especially in the Summer. I can tell the difference between Summer and the Rainy Season. When I lived in Panama' I didn't even think about curls. But doing what Chris said putting them between HEAVY books for a couple of weeks does work.

 

[hans voralberg]

Leave them dry for as long as possible with something heavy as weight to pull it straight down. My ~500gr weight and 8hrs of drying help. If all fail go the book way