Best Way to Flatten Negatives?

Profdaydreamer · May 7, 2020

I always get my film developed at a lab in my town and then scan it at home on my v600. Usually when I pick up the film, it forms an arc and can't sit flat. The scans never come out good anymore and I was wondering if anyone had any good solutions to the same problem. Thanks

Anon Ymous · May 7, 2020

Putting film under some heavy books will somewhat flatten them, but it's not very effective. The best approach would be to load your film to a spiral of a development tank, emulsion side out, but you probably don't have any. So, you need to find a way to roll them, emulsion side out as I said, and let them stay so for few days. Perhaps some kind of clean can would be useful, but take great care not to ruin them and try to use gloves when handling the film.

George Collier · May 7, 2020

What Anon Ymous said, but put them in sleeves first, like Printfile pages, then wrap the whole thing E-out around a paper towel core. Wrap that with a sheet of paper and tape or rubber bands.
How much it flattens depends on a lot of factors - the type of film/emulsion/base, the temp and humidity, etc. Also, they may not stay flat soon after removing, but if you keep in a book after removing, they might stay flat.
Try different things, like heat, but not too much.

ColdEye · May 7, 2020

How about those ANR glass inserts for the v600 holder? I was thinking of getting those. About $30 I think.

Colin Corneau · May 7, 2020

The ANR glass does help with this type of scanner. I lay my negative file sheets under a few heavy books for a few days and that works well for me.

Gary NJ · May 8, 2020

Some films tend to be naturally flat like Ilford. For Kodak Tri-X, I press the negatives under several reams of paper for a few days. T-Max film doesn't have that much of an issue, but I still try to flatten before scanning.

Best Way to Flatten Negatives?

Profdaydreamer

Anon Ymous

George Collier

ColdEye

Colin Corneau

Gary NJ

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