[dsmithhfx]

I have an unusually curly set of negs (Tri-X from ~35 years ago) that I'd like to flatten enough to use in an epson film holder. I tried leaving them under a heavy book overnight, but this made no discernible difference.

For now, I'd rather not go down the ANR glass route (for one thing, I don't have any), but just find some way to flatten the actual negatives, if not perfectly flat permanently, just enough to run them through the scanner.


Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks!

[tuco]

Maybe try soaking it again in a Photo-Flo solution and hang to dry with a weighted hanger clip for a couple days. And maybe even just store it for a week or so if you can wait and it should eventually become more manageable. Retro 80S/RPX 25 comes out really curly and I've notice it will flatten out given time.

[TomB_tx]

I tend to have that issue with TriX as well. If I weight them flat (really flat) for a week or two it gets much better.
The EpsonV850 35mm holders do have something like ANR glass, but it’s on the concave (emulsion) side, so unless you flip the film and correct in post it isn’t very effective.
I find the Ilford films lie flatter, and Fomapan flatter yet, so I use Foma more, along with the older glassless carriers that hold 4 strips instead of 3. Since I usually load 20-24 exposure rolls that is faster.

[blackcloudbrew]

T-max really curls as well.

[Wheatfield]

I have an unusually curly set of negs (Tri-X from ~35 years ago) that I'd like to flatten enough to use in an epson film holder. I tried leaving them under a heavy book overnight, but this made no discernible difference.

For now, I'd rather not go down the ANR glass route (for one thing, I don't have any), but just find some way to flatten the actual negatives, if not perfectly flat permanently, just enough to run them through the scanner.


Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks!

You can try try hanging them in a humid room for a while. They should flatten somewhat as the gelatin absorbs some moisture. Scan them immediately, because they will curl back up quickly.

[dsmithhfx]

Thanks for the suggestions! They're under a pile of two, meaty Abrams art books and I'll check them in a week.. if that fails I'll test out the humidity angle, which sort of correlates to casual observation. My lab-developed negs of more recent vintage are generally not too terrible.

[Wheatfield]

Thanks for the suggestions! They're under a pile of two, meaty Abrams art books and I'll check them in a week.. if that fails I'll test out the humidity angle, which sort of correlates to casual observation. My lab-developed negs of more recent vintage are generally not too terrible.

Putting them under a pile of paper is not going to do any good. Paper is hygroscopic. If anything, you are making your problem worse, not better.

[dsmithhfx]

Putting them under a pile of paper is not going to do any good. Paper is hygroscopic. If anything, you are making your problem worse, not better.

FWIW, they're in a glassine negative sheet.

[Jonathan Mac]

Tri-X's biggest negative (boom boom) is that it's so curly, and I'm talking about the current stuff. I imagine 35 years ago it might have been even worse.

I flatten all my negatives before use as a matter of course, even ones that are already really flat. One night will not be enough, and neither will one heavy book. If you have space, put the negatives in a book or thick magazine and load some packs of water on top of it. Where I live, bottled water is widely sold in six-packs of 1.5 or 2 litre bottles, which therefore weigh nine and 12 kilos respectively. Use at least two such packs and leave them there for at least a couple of weeks.

Failing that, put them in a thick magazine and put it under your mattress at the point where most of your weight is (though a good mattress will distribute your weight well). If your partner is heavier than you then you could be a bit cheeky and put it under their side of the mattress, just don't come crying to me when they're p*ssed off at you after you told them why you did it.

[Wheatfield]

Tri-X's biggest negative (boom boom) is that it's so curly, and I'm talking about the current stuff. I imagine 35 years ago it might have been even worse.

I flatten all my negatives before use as a matter of course, even ones that are already really flat. One night will not be enough, and neither will one heavy book. If you have space, put the negatives in a book or thick magazine and load some packs of water on top of it. Where I live, bottled water is widely sold in six-packs of 1.5 or 2 litre bottles, which therefore weigh nine and 12 kilos respectively. Use at least two such packs and leave them there for at least a couple of weeks.

Failing that, put them in a thick magazine and put it under your mattress at the point where most of your weight is (though a good mattress will distribute your weight well). If your partner is heavier than you then you could be a bit cheeky and put it under their side of the mattress, just don't come crying to me when they're p*ssed off at you after you told them why you did it.

Actually, flat is flat. Whatever weight is required to flatten them is all that is needed to make them temporarily flat. I say temporarily because if the relative humidity in the surrounding air is too low, the negs will just curl again once the weight is removed.

---------- Post added Apr 14th, 2020 at 08:15 AM ----------

FWIW, they're in a glassine negative sheet.

That won't make any difference.

[dsmithhfx]

Actually, flat is flat. Whatever weight is required to flatten them is all that is needed to make them temporarily flat. I say temporarily because if the relative humidity in the surrounding air is too low, the negs will just curl again once the weight is removed.

---------- Post added Apr 14th, 2020 at 08:15 AM ----------



That won't make any difference.

OK, well I'm fresh out of humid rooms ATM.

[Wheatfield]

OK, well I'm fresh out of humid rooms ATM.

Do you have a bathtub with a shower? I know when I run a shower for 10 minutes with the fan off it gets pretty humid in my bathroom.

[ChrisPlatt]

Flattening between the pages of a book works to some extent but it will take more than a day or two.
Try leaving them there for a week or so and use plenty of weight on top, e.g. a large stack of books.

I have always preferred the look of my photos shot on Tri-X, but not the curl nor the purple/pink cast of the negatives...

Chris

[dsmithhfx]

Do you have a bathtub with a shower? I know when I run a shower for 10 minutes with the fan off it gets pretty humid in my bathroom.

We'll probably see some pretty high humidity here, the kind that lasts for days, in a couple of months. If the weight flattening doesn't work, I can wait and see if it helps.

[dsmithhfx]

Whelp, I was wrong about the film: it's 2475 "recording" film which was made on an "Estar" base and (IIRC) was always curly AF. I pulled some decent wet darkroom prints out of it many moons ago, but haven't tried to scan before. A week under heavy books made utterly no difference. May have to wait until I can get me some ANR glass... All my tri-x negs of the same vintage are fine to scan 'as is'.