Had to file neg carrier. Should I paint it?

gone · May 10, 2021

I had to file out my metal neg carrier to get the whole neg to print, but I'm wondering if I should paint it, or possibly tape the surfaces of the carrier to avoid scratching the negatives? It's pretty smooth after some fine sandpaper, and if I paint it w/ acrylic paint it might not be as smooth after the paint dries. Any ideas?

darkroommike · May 10, 2021

It's just me, but I would. I have also used black marker on the edges to subdue the flare.

Alan9940 · May 10, 2021

Yep, I would paint it, too...flat black.

gone · May 10, 2021

I think you're right, I'll go buy a can of flat black spray paint. If it's brushed on, there will be ridges, then I'd have to use steel wool afterwards, all that. Never had a metal neg carrier. All my enlargers were bought w/o and the carriers were made from mat board, or they had glass carriers.

Pieter12 · May 10, 2021

momus said:
I think you're right, I'll go buy a can of flat black spray paint. If it's brushed on, there will be ridges, then I'd have to use steel wool afterwards, all that. Never had a metal neg carrier. All my enlargers were bought w/o and the carriers were made from mat board, or they had glass carriers.

Spray paint tends to leave blobs and can be hard to reach something like the inside edges of the carrier. Maybe the Sharpie route is the way to go. I haven't done that.

koraks · May 11, 2021

Try India ink applied with a small brush. Tends to work well for this sort of thing.

MattKing · May 11, 2021

For those that work with metal, would bluing the carrier be an option?

Bill Burk · May 11, 2021

Haa not bluing. You want to block blue. Red colored bluing would be good.

I use Revelle matt black model paint on my files carriers. If you do not paint it, mirror image reflections of the details near the edges will bounce back onto the paper and show on the print. It looks nice in some cases but you probably will want to dampen reflections.

koraks · May 11, 2021

MattKing said:
For those that work with metal, would bluing the carrier be an option?

Apart from the question if blue is desirable, wouldn't the process of bluing damage the powder coating or paint of the carrier?

ic-racer · May 11, 2021

Should I paint it?

I keep the edges raw, since the intention in my case is to include the carrier in the print as a unique identifier. This verifies the print as a projection print created by my enlarger.
In my opinion, some carriers look better than others. Shown are two examples. The image with the thin border is printed with a carrier that uses thin inserts (Omega D5500). It is not as dramatic as the underlying image. In the underlying image the entire thickness of the carrier is visible and I think it looks better (Minolta Mod III). In both cases the filed edge is left unpainted.

Patrick Robert James · May 11, 2021

I've painted the carriers that I've filed. You don't have to of course. You should make a print first to see if you like the reflections if that is something you might be interested in.

Flat black model paint works, India ink works too but will have a more shiny surface. Both have already been mentioned. I use a Sakura Micron Pigma brush pen at times too. The ink is archival and opaque. Works really well without making a mess.

gone · May 11, 2021

No flat black paint at Ace, so I ended up taking a nail file to smooth the edges, and wet sanded everything w/ fine sandpaper, followed by steel wool under the faucet. Nice and smooth, and I did go over the raw edges w/ a permanent marker like was suggested. That was a great idea, thanks.

awty · May 11, 2021

MattKing said:
For those that work with metal, would bluing the carrier be an option?

Heat will warp the metal.

I use some wide masking tape on both sides to prevent any chance of the metal scratching the negative.

Doremus Scudder · May 13, 2021

For posterity now, since you've already used permanent marker to do the job, or if the ink finish ends up being too reflective.

A small bottle of flat black Testers model paint and a brush is what I've used in the past for filed-carrier edges. No splotches or blobs, nice flat finish and easy clean up (I just dip the wiped-clean brush in the bottle of thinner and wipe it dry on a paper towel).

For larger things like whole carriers or the scratched interiors of film holders I use a regular rattle-can of flat black spray paint. It doesn't take that much skill to spray paint without blobs or orange peel.

Best,

Doremus

ic-racer · May 13, 2021

Just to be clearer. Painting over the shiny edge removes the BLACK edge in the resulting print. With that extra black border removed, It kind of makes the resulting prints look like you just have an easel with bad blades.

Had to file neg carrier. Should I paint it?

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Had to file neg carrier. Should I paint it?

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