Re: filmscanners: OT: curled film - any help?

[SKID Photography <skid@bway.net>]

The film curl is caused by the emulsion shrinking as it dries, usually a 
problem in the winter, as there is less humidity in the air.  Basically, the 
emulsion
shrinks when it is very dry, and the plastic substrate does not, therefore 
uneven pressure one the 2 surfaces, and curl.

I would suggest flat weight on the sheets of negatives.  I think this will 
help, but shortly after you take them out of the plastic sleeves to put them 
into a
scanner, they will probably curl again (at least in the winter when the air is 
dry).

Another solution is to raise the humidity in the room where you are scanning.

A while back, when we were making our own promos with fiber based B&W prints 
(in the winter), and we were spray mounting the photos to card stock; we put the
4"x4" photos in the bathroom with a hot shower running (not in the shower, in 
the humid room) for a half an hour before mounting.  The humidity reduced the 
curl
enough to allow easy mounting.

Harvey Ferdschneider
partner, SKID Photography, NYC

"Maris V. Lidaka, Sr." wrote:

> I don't know what causes it but I don't think it is anything you did in the 
>cleaning process - maybe different film types, maybe some difference in 
>processing.
>
> Once you get them sleeved I think they will flatten out after a while.
>
> Maris
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tomasz Zakrzewski" <tomzakrz@ka.onet.pl>
> To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 1:14 PM
> Subject: filmscanners: OT: curled film - any help?
>
> | I used the word 'curl' which I'm not sure is correct.
> | My filmstrips are bended in the direction from top to bottom of the frame,
> | not from 1st frame to 6th.
> |
> | Tomasz
> |