Flattening Negatives?
September 23, 2004
Help! Could anyone who reads this who is familiar with photography stuff offer a suggestion? I’ve got some negatives I’m scanning, but despite being stored flat in sleeves for eight years or so, they seem to have a bit of a curl to them. Scanning them is producing a bit of distortion at the end of each negative, as can be seen here.
Does anyone know a good way to go about flattening negatives? I don’t have a tractor drive negative scanner I can feed them into, and the negatives slide into the carrier, not clip in. As such, it’s hard to fully keep them from curling. :(
I’m no pro, but would putting them in a big book help?
They basically already are. :\
No, I mean laying them down flat in the middle of a dictionary or something to smoosh them into place.
Take a negative page, or something similar, and put the negative in it. Take a microwavable cup and put some water in it (I use Pyrex), and heat the water in the microwave until almost boiling (~3.5 minutes). I usually place a paper towel on top of the negative sleeve, but then place the cup on top of the negative, and leave it there for about three or four minutes, enough to heat the negative slightly. Sometimes it helps if, after the negative is heated, to take it in your hands and bend it slightly. Make sure to use a glass cup if you try it, because those hold heat the easiest. Oh, and be sure if you’re using color negs to try one you don’t absolutely adore first, to make sure the color won’t fade. I’m not completely familiar with color films, but I know Kodak takes the process all right, but you have to be careful not to leave the heat on too long or it’ll distort the color (only 2-3 minutes).
… not only will it distort the colour, but too much heat could melt the emulsion and transfer it to the negative sleeve.
*shrugs* It’s always worked for me, as long as there’s not too much heat, I agree. It’s only to slightly warm the emulsion to make it flex back where it’s supposed to be.
humity is usually what makes them curl in the first place, so there’s not a whole lot you can do once they curl. If you wash them in cool water and hang them (you’ll need to weight the ends so they dry straight) they should right themselves. Or, you could try taping the edges to the carrier so they sit straight.
Ahh, thanks. I’ll give that a try… Maybe I’ll snag some wide paper clips and fishing sinkers and make something up tonight…
clothespins are good if you’ve got enough space that isn’t image to clip from. The emulsion will be really soft when it’s wet so you have to make sure you work with wet hands, and be so careful not to scratch it.
The paperclips and weights are a good idea. You might even want to thread the paperclips from the sproketholes before you get the negs wet so you don’t have to fumble with it when the negs are vulnerable.
Ahh. I was actually thinking of those wide metal paperclips (sorry, wasn’t clear there), but I see what you’re saying about paper clips through the holes… Hmm… Good idea. I guess I’ll play with it on some of the less important negatives tonight…
I’m also considering getting a hold of a place who could scan the negatives on a tractor feed device. I don’t need any cleanup, just a basic scan.
I guess there’s a project for tonight. :D