Cutting Negatives

[bvy]

Any advice for cutting negatives into strips of five or six? I can use scissors, but I ultimately cut too close to one or the other frame. I don't have a lightbox. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[tkamiya]

I have a little trick.... I place my negs on top of white sheet of paper first. Then the edges of frames become very visible. Place the cutting side of blade at one side and start a little notch. Then realign the other side. Then SLICE!

It's not perfect but it works. Requires no new equipment.

 

[removed account4]

i hate cutting negative strips !

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

but there are some suggestions/ tips from people that have no trouble
and seemingly enjoy it

 

[Christopher Walrath]

I just take my scissors and snip. A couple close calls but no cut throughs. Just be sure and do the deed. He who hesitates is lost. An aside, making the cuts between as many pairs of less important negs makes it easier to do the aforementioned deed.

 

[Chriscc123]

i sweat every time i cut negs, lots of close calls for me but no frame has been neutered yet

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Certainly many people work up a sweat over cutting down a continuous roll or more commonly, separating one or two images out of a roll or strip of negatives/transparencies for mounting. As with many things in life, experience is the very best teacher — even after a few disasters, cut fingers and challenging vocabulary. If you have a dud roll, practice on that first. I use a pair of ultra-sharp pointed FISKAR craft spring-return shears. Although my cutting is done over the lightbox, I have also done it by holding the strip up to a window and cutting there and then (wear cotton gloves). I have mastered this over many years and can do it very quickly without error.

Cutting 35mm is easy. But there is precious little margin between images coming off the 120 rolls from my pinhole camera due to the way the internal format plates (for changing image from 6x6 to 6x7, 6x9 or 6x12) have rounded edges and spacing during wind-on is an imprecise art.

 

[MattKing]

It's easier than slides!

A small (5") paper cutter on top of a light panel is my current method.

 

[bdial]

A small (5") paper cutter on top of a light panel is my current method.

I do the same thing, a bit elaborate, but it works really well.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I just use my scissors and take my time.

Jeff

 

[fotch]

I learn how to cut negatives when men were men. Take an ax and give it a whack!:w00t:

OK, use scissors carefully, not a big deal.

 

[Bill Burk]

I cut 4 rolls into 6 frame strips tonight. I keep a small pair of barber snips in a frog above the sink for the purpose. I leave the strips hanging in the dryer, turning them from end to end if necessary so the start of the roll is hanging down. I lift up the end, hold it to the light and snip. First snip is easy. There's usually at least one garbage shot before real pictures begin, so I cut through a garbage shot leaving a pinch to hold onto. If the first frame out of the leader seems to contain intentional image, I will snip enough leader to give me a full frame worth of that shot.

I count up six frames and cut freehand right between the frames. Of the four rolls tonight, without putting much thought into it, I only snipped into a good adjoining frame once. I was congratulating myself on cutting every slice clear and then I worried about it. Afterwards I asked myself how much clear space is standard between frames?

If the seventh frame is garbage, I'll cut into it as evidence that it was on purpose, leaving a pinchful to hold onto.

To avoid making a great shot the first or last frame on a strip, I will stagger the pattern and make a strip of 4 or 5 to give me something to hold onto. If a good shot must be on the end of a strip, I'll lean towards cutting close to the not so great frame before/after.

The final strip is also easy.

 

[Laurent]

I just take my scissors and snip. A couple close calls but no cut throughs. Just be sure and do the deed. He who hesitates is lost. An aside, making the cuts between as many pairs of less important negs makes it easier to do the aforementioned deed.

I've been lucky with this method so far, but still wish I could find something easier ! Cutting 120 is Sooooo easy ! (And cutting 4x5 even better )

 

[onepuff]

I use a Hama slide mounter I've had for years. It has a small guillotine, and illuminated base and a magnifier which makes it really easy to be precise. I think they are still available new and are quite cheap.

 

[ndrs]

I use Kaiser Diacut. Not perfect, but much better than scissors after some practice. The rotating blade goes not absolutely straight by itself, so I have learned to push it at a certain angle.

 

[perkeleellinen]

Cut over a sheet of white paper, use sharp scissors, try to cut through the whole negative in one cut and take your time.

 

[Metroman]

I had real problems when I got my new varifocals but the wife found me one of these:

AP Film Cutter

 

[pentaxuser]

With the AP cutter there dosn't seen to be any light box under the neg as there is with some other cutters. The neg rests on what appears to be white plastic. What helps you line up the clear strip between negs. Is there a marked line or some kind of stop?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[Rick A]

I have an illuminated film cutter for 35mm slide film, and I use my paper cutter for 120.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I find that a pair of scissors with short blades works best -- lets you see what you are doing. I use a pair of SS surgical scissors with 2 inch blades at the current time. Check with a surgical supply house. A light box or other backlighting helps.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I was at PhotoWorks [http://www.glenechophotoworks.org/] using the dark room where I tried cutting negatives over a light table. Much better! Gotta get one for my darkroom!

I have had the same problem with 35mm and 120 that the OP had, but I seem to be OK with 4x5s. Go figure.

Steve

 

[PVia]

I use an old glass covered light table, a cork backed metal ruler and an X-Acto knife. Perfect!

 

[Metroman]

With the AP cutter there dosn't seen to be any light box under the neg as there is with some other cutters. The neg rests on what appears to be white plastic. What helps you line up the clear strip between negs. Is there a marked line or some kind of stop?

Thanks

pentaxuser

It is not that hard to see the bottom cutter bar between the frames but it would work well sat on a light box as the plastic is translucent.

Dead Link Removed

Dead Link Removed

 

[bvy]

Lots of replies... Thanks. The AP cutter looks interesting and not terribly expensive. A quick search, though, makes me think I can't buy it in the States. I'll keep looking...

I use an old glass covered light table, a cork backed metal ruler and an X-Acto knife. Perfect!

Admittedly, this is what I've been doing. It seems like the cork could potentially scratch the negative. Any conerns there?

 

[IloveTLRs]

I used to use a small cutting board that I got at a local photo place - worked great. Now I use scissors carefully.

 

[Ron G]

I have a 3 ring binder with sheets of transparent pages partitioned for negative storage and they were meant to hold 6 negative strips.I have been using Walgreens to develop my film and their policy is to cut them into 5 negative strips and they are careless about it.I have to caution them with each roll.I now have an dedicated film scanner so I don't have them cut at all and I store them in a film canister and just label the canister with return address labels.I do have to tape the labels though because they don't stick well to the canisters.
I do cut the leaders before the first frame with scissors.Ron G