From: Stan Halpin
Remember film?
Short story: I am trying to scan some old negatives (color and B&W).
"Old" as in some of the B&W go back to the early 1940's. Mostly cut
into strips of 4 or 6 frames. Some are badly cupped and/or curled to
the point that I cannot make them stay within the film holder on the
flatbed scanner (Epson V600). Any suggestions for practical means of
flattening these? There is a large number of negatives involved, most
of them probably have nothing of merit worth scanning/preserving, but
I can't tell until I scan/preview.
Longer story: My father-in-law was a prolific photographer. He has
multiple notebooks of neatly filed an labeled contact sheets &
negatives (35mm, 645, 6x6, some 3x4", some 4x5). Those are in fairly
good condition and easy to deal with; most will go directly to the
local Center for the Arts (MCFTA) or Historical Society. (For 20+
years he was the primary photographer for the MCFTA, everything from
portraits of board members to publicity shots for advertising posters
for upcoming concerts and plays, etc.) But there are a few shoe boxes
with items less well preserved. The negatives are mostly cut with one
roll together in a sleeve, mostly annotated with the date taken and
the date he made prints from the negs. Some of those are usable,
particularly the medium-format (scannable), some are badly cupped,
and some have somehow gotten into a lengthwise spiral.
So do I soak and hang out to dry, with appropriate weights attached?
Any better, easier, alternative?
stan
It is apparently a common enough problem that "how to flatten curled
negatives" is one of the sugestions Google pops up when you get to the
'l' in "curl". One of the results came from the Luminous Landscape:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=18129.0
Quoting Kodak:
"Film curl is due to humidity contraction of the film when stored in a
wound configuration at a relative humidity of less than 40%. This is
most often a temporary or reversible change, and can be correct by
rehumidification of the film. Allow the film emulsion to reabsorb
moisture while in an atmosphere of higher relative humidity. Use of a
humidifier in a closed room will accomplish this, but be sure that the
mist does not get directed onto the film itself. The film will unroll
to an extent with rehumidification. Once this has occurred*, you may
then place the film into an archival storage envelop or sleeve, place
beneath a weight, and then bring the atmosphere closer to 40-50%
relative humidity to retain its dimensional flatness.
*be sure that the film is not moist to the touch." [end quote]
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