My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying. I'm
wondering if this is normal? or if there is something I'm doing wrong.
The curl is not lengthwise like I would have somewhat expected because
the films has spent so long rolled up. It is curled widthwise. ??
Very strange. The negatives I get back from the photostore are always
flat. anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.
Gregory W Blank - 05 Dec 2004 12:54 GMT
> My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying. I'm
> wondering if this is normal? or if there is something I'm doing wrong.
> The curl is not lengthwise like I would have somewhat expected because
> the films has spent so long rolled up. It is curled widthwise. ??
> Very strange. The negatives I get back from the photostore are always
> flat. anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.
Could be the film type, or too much heat or too heavy of a clip
weight on the center at the bottom of the drying film.

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Nicholas O. Lindan - 05 Dec 2004 14:17 GMT
> My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying ... widthwise. ??
Efke film does this. The cause is a lack of a backcoat - a thin layer of
gelatin on the back of the film that curls the other way so the result
is a flat negative.
How to uncurl it? No idea. I just don't use Efke anymore.

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Andrew Price - 05 Dec 2004 20:53 GMT
>> My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying ... widthwise. ??
>
>Efke film does this.
It used to, and it was quite dreadful.
>The cause is a lack of a backcoat - a thin layer of
>gelatin on the back of the film that curls the other way so the result
>is a flat negative.
>
>How to uncurl it? No idea. I just don't use Efke anymore.
Efke is now produced on a modern film base, and that atrocious curling
problem is a thing of the past.
Jed Savage - 06 Dec 2004 05:00 GMT
Jef - 05 Dec 2004 14:46 GMT
> My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying. I'm
> wondering if this is normal? or if there is something I'm doing wrong.
> The curl is not lengthwise like I would have somewhat expected because
> the films has spent so long rolled up. It is curled widthwise. ??
> Very strange. The negatives I get back from the photostore are always
> flat. anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.
I recently had the same problem with some 120 film I got developed.
The edges curl up when the emilsion side is down. This is the opposite
curl than what normally happens with 35mm. The trouble is that there
is not enough of an edge to hold it flag in the enlarger as there is
with the 35mm. It makes it impssible to print since my neg holder does
not flatten it even when it is in the enlarger. Any ideas how to
correct this post development? It is Ilford B&W print film.
Richard Knoppow - 05 Dec 2004 14:51 GMT
> My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying. I'm
> wondering if this is normal? or if there is something I'm doing wrong.
> The curl is not lengthwise like I would have somewhat expected because
> the films has spent so long rolled up. It is curled widthwise. ??
> Very strange. The negatives I get back from the photostore are always
> flat. anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.
This is pretty much normal. The curl is from the difference in
shrinkage of the emulsion and the support. Most film has a gelatin
back coating to compensate the curl but it is never completely
effective. Curl will vary with the amount of moisture in the air. In
very dry weather the gelatin shrinks more so the film will curl more.
Sometimes hanging the film with a weight at the bottom will straighten
it. Sometimes just leaving it exposed to the air will reduce the
curling. Even those very flat negatives from the photofinisher will
sometimes curl up if the weather is right.
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@ix.netcom.com
Robert Vervoordt - 05 Dec 2004 21:04 GMT
>> My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying. I'm
>> wondering if this is normal? or if there is something I'm doing wrong.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>Los Angeles, CA, USA
>dickburk@ix.netcom.com
That was what I observed in working in photofinishing over the past 50
years; long before I got my MFA. ;-]
Usually, when we ran into one of these "tubal" rolls, we we wound it
emulsion out, into a spool or canister shape, then secured the rolled
spool with a strong rubber band and left it until we remembered its
existence, a day or two later.
This seemed to work best in the summer, when humidity was high, so one
of the guys and the boss started constructing a steamer-roller to
straighten out the tubal type curled films. While waiting for the
parts to arrive for their project, they set a drying cabinet aside, in
which they put a very aggressive humidifier, a hospital discard. That
worked so well, that they never got around to the invention.
The cabinet humidifier worked with other problem films and prints.
This latter was a lifesaver for this small lab when the industrial
strength Kodak print flattener broke down. Using paper from almost
every manufacturer in the world can show you an awful variety of
problems. We had papers from Ansco/GAF, Kodak and Du Pont to
Xerox/Haloid and Agfa to Tura, with stops at Mimosa and the big
Japanese triad.
Compared to back the, we have it easy today.
Robert Vervoordt, MFA
Peter Irwin - 05 Dec 2004 18:30 GMT
> My negatives seem to have quite a curl to them after drying. I'm
> wondering if this is normal? or if there is something I'm doing wrong.
> The curl is not lengthwise like I would have somewhat expected because
> the films has spent so long rolled up. It is curled widthwise. ??
> Very strange. The negatives I get back from the photostore are always
> flat. anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.
One thing that seems to make a difference is the fixer you use.
If you are usung a non-hardening fixer, try Kodak Fixer (powder),
if you are using Kodak Fixer already, then try something without
hardener.
I personally have had better results on film flatness with
Kodak Fixer, but I know that different people have different
results on this. If you go with the powder type fixer, you
should use a two bath system which is a good idea anyway.
Peter.

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