How to handle film immediately after developing it?

Hi everyone,

1) Could you give me some advice on how to handle the film immediately after developing it?

2) How should I hang it to prevent it from curling, when should I cut it, and where should I store the negatives?

Yesterday, after developing it, we hung the film and used small tweezers at the bottom to keep it taut, but after that it started curling.



3) How can I remove these stains, which I'm sure aren't scratches, but appear to be wetting agents or dried water?

use two fingers to 'squeeze' off the remaining water. the, hang up to dry in a dust-free environment. Add a weight at the bottom of the film strip to stop it from curling while drying. Let it hang for several hours or overnight kepp totally dried negatives in plastic sleeves such as 'Print File.'
print

Here's some reading, all on this forum, that I dug up using online search:

To be clear - it's absolutely fine to ask questions even if they have been asked before. But neither does it hurt to have a quick look if perhaps there's already some useful advice out there, somewhere.

RalphLambrecht said:

use two fingers to 'squeeze' off the remaining water. the, hang up to dry in a dust-free environment. Add a weight at the bottom of the film strip to stop it from curling while drying. Let it hang for several hours or overnight kepp totally dried negatives in plastic sleeves such as 'Print File.'
print

Click to expand...

1) but how much time take to be dry the film ?

because i generally develop to my friend house but after that i have to carry the film to my house and is difficult to do that !

2) immediately after it is dry i would like to cut and carry with me in more confortble way, using a binder. but at the same time i don't want to risk to place the film in the binder that is not completly dry.

3)we have some weights, but is there any addiced weight to buy for example on aliexpress ?

4) in what proportion do I cut a roll of film?

5)To avoid stains, when I hang it up, can I use a microfiber cloth or specific microfiber clips that don't scratch to help with drying and remove any water residue?

You should develop your film in a place where you can let your film hang to dry overnight.

You may want to curl it into a container full of water, take it home, and then attend to drying it there.
I hang mine to dry in the shower stall - preferably over-night.
If it is a dry day, I run the shower for a short time first, to bring the initial humidity higher.

Rosssiiii said:

4) in what proportion do I cut a roll of film?

Click to expand...

I let my size of my negative storage sheets determine that - but nothing shorter than 4 frames of 35mm because shorter strips are more difficult to handle.

The curl seems to be more of an issue in polyester film base. Shouldn't be but it seems so. What's the film stock you're using?

MattKing said:

You may want to curl it into a container full of water, take it home, and then attend to drying it there.
I hang mine to dry in the shower stall - preferably over-night.
If it is a dry day, I run the shower for a short time first, to bring the initial humidity higher.

Click to expand...

This is a good idea.

Rosssiiii said:

1) but how much time take to be dry the film ?

Click to expand...

Depends on the conditions in the room; anything from about an hour up to several hours. You have several options:
* Open a nice bottle of wine and enjoy quality time with your friend as your film dries
* Leave the film there and come back for it the next day
* Do what @MattKing suggests (but be careful, wet film is fragile)
* Develop your film at home

Rosssiiii said:

2) immediately after it is dry i would like to cut and carry with me in more confortble way, using a binder. but at the same time i don't want to risk to place the film in the binder that is not completly dry.

Click to expand...

So don't cut and sleeve the film while it's not completely dry. Simple. Pro-tip: if you hang film to dry, it's usually the bit at the very end, at the bottom, that's the last to dry. If the emulsion in the center of the film (so between the sprocket holes) is still a little tacky, the film isn't dry yet.

Rosssiiii said:

3)we have some weights, but is there any addiced weight to buy for example on aliexpress ?

Click to expand...

I use clothes pins, clamps from the hardware store or whatever is available. Don't overthink it.
Also, while weights on the film will help a little, it's not a guarantee that all the curl will be gone.
If you store your negatives in sleeves and put a weight on top, they generally flatten out in a matter of days or weeks.
A little curl doesn't hurt.
Don't worry about it.

Rosssiiii said:

4) in what proportion do I cut a roll of film?

Click to expand...

Depending on storage and any processing; I generally cut in strips of 6 frames. Some prefer 4 or 5. Strips of 5 frames can be assembled onto a single sheet of 8x10" paper for contact printing, apparently. If that matters to you.

Rosssiiii said:

5)To avoid stains, when I hang it up, can I use a microfiber cloth or specific microfiber clips that don't scratch to help with drying and remove any water residue?

Click to expand...

Yes, read any of the links I posted earlier for various strategies for avoiding drying marks.

RalphLambrecht said:

use two fingers to 'squeeze' off the remaining water. the, hang up to dry in a dust-free environment. Add a weight at the bottom of the film strip to stop it from curling while drying. Let it hang for several hours or overnight kepp totally dried negatives in plastic sleeves such as 'Print File.'
print

Click to expand...

Not necessary. There is a chance of scratching the film with your rough skin against soft emulsion. Use a wetting agent and let the film air-dry in a dust-free environment. A clip, like a clothespin can be used to weigh the bottom end to hold the film straight. When the film is dry, cut it into lengths to fit an archival negative page. That should be sufficient. Note that some films are curlier than others but the negative holder for your enlarger will hold it flat when printing, or better yet, a glass negative holder that sandwiches the film between two small sheets of optical glass. Preferably one the has been treated to prevent Newton rings.

The time it takes to dry film varies depending on room temperature and humidity. When I lived in Southern Italy, my apartment was a block from the Adriatic it took 4 to 8 hours depending on the time of time of the year. In the winter I would have my film processed at a local camera shop. I now live in the America Southwest, with Air Conditioning and dry air in the summer as little as an hour, in the winter, 2 to 3 hours. Some films curl more than others, I shoot a lot of Foma and stopped using Foma 120 as it curls way too much. Foma 35mm curls more than Kodak but not to the point that is difficult to insert into negative pages.

Rosssiiii said:

1) but how much time take to be dry the film ?

because i generally develop to my friend house but after that i have to carry the film to my house and is difficult to do that !

2) immediately after it is dry i would like to cut and carry with me in more confortble way, using a binder. but at the same time i don't want to risk to place the film in the binder that is not completly dry.

3)we have some weights, but is there any addiced weight to buy for example on aliexpress ?

4) in what proportion do I cut a roll of film?

5)To avoid stains, when I hang it up, can I use a microfiber cloth or specific microfiber clips that don't scratch to help with drying and remove any water residue?

Click to expand...

After washing the film take it home is a plastic container full of water. Once home add some wetting agent (photoflo) to the container, stir, and then put the film back in for 30 seconds or so. Using a garmet bag that is both wide and long enough for the film hang the film to dry after a gentle squeege and with weights. If you want to speed up the drying time a damp chaser or a light bulb ( not led etc) protected from drips) will speed up the drying.

I would never touch film with fingers or anything when wet (this is when the emulsion layer is most prone to damage). Last liquid - de-ionised water - leave to dry overnight peged and weeighted as a complete film strip - for 35mm cut into strips of 6 images when dry and store in negative pages.

Hang the film and then use a paper towel to draw off the excess water from each corner. Do not use your fingers a squeegee, it is not worth the risk.

I had thought about saying that Ralph's post summed up everything that I do and that I have yet to have any issue doing it - I only use tap water for all stages and my water is quite hard here

However some have reservations about using the inside of the middle two fingers to squeeze the bulk of the water from the film. I suppose scratching may occur if you have callouses in the normally soft skin between the middle of the two middle fingers but I'd have thought that few if any professions involve creating hard skin there

pentaxuser

Rosssiiii said:

Hi everyone,

1) Could you give me some advice on how to handle the film immediately after developing it?

2) How should I hang it to prevent it from curling

Click to expand...

This is one situation I have never had a serious problem with, possibly because I have almost always lived in areas where the water was quite soft. I still give it a final dip in water with something like Fotoflow added to it. After it's final washing the tank is filled with the Fotoflow solution and then replaced in my Jobo processor for one-two minutes with the auto revers rotation turned off. It is then hung up to dry from hooks screwed into the door frame until it is dry - if necessary overnight. I always fix a 2nd clip at the base which ensures the film dries as flat as possible.
The darkroom is never used while the film is drying which is probably why I don't have a problem with dust either.

Rosssiiii said:

Hi everyone,

1) Could you give me some advice on how to handle the film immediately after developing it?

Click to expand...

If your friend would let you borrow their developing tank and reel, you could carry them home with some water in the tank, and hang to dry in your shower stall, as other suggested. Or, you could carry just the reel home in a ziplock bag, then rewet, and hang at home.

Rosssiiii said:

2) How should I hang it to prevent it from curling, when should I cut it, and where should I store the negatives?

Click to expand...

I use a paper punch to punch a hole at each end, then use a large "S Hook" from the hardware store at each end to hang and weight the film in my basement shower, which is rarely used. Best to hang the tongue of the film (beginning of roll) at the top and the tail at the bottom. When the very botton tip of the film is dry to the touch you can cut and sleeve it. Print File is the US brand of negative storage pages that I like the best. For 35mm, I prefer the 7 rows of 5 negative pages, so I cut in strips of 5 negativs. I store them in 3 ring binders that I place in a large polyethylene storage container along with some silica gel. This keeps the dust out. Children's scissors are easiest to use for cutting, since the blades are the right length. When dry, I roll the film upward onto a clean piece of 2 inch diamter PVC pipe, using masking tape to attach. To cut, I place this roll on paper towells, unwind, and begin cutting. The first negative will be #1, so place these in the top slot of the negative page emulsion side down, to keep things in order.

Rosssiiii said:

Yesterday, after developing it, we hung the film and used small tweezers at the bottom to keep it taut, but after that it started curling.

Click to expand...

Need weight at bottom. A large binder clamp will work well for this. Two paper clips can be bent into hooks for hanging the film from the perforations.

Rosssiiii said:

3) How can I remove these stains, which I'm sure aren't scratches, but appear to be wetting agents or dried water?

Click to expand...

Rewet the film, wipe gently, and redry. For cut pieces, the paper clips will work. Use microfiber cloth for wiping gently. Possible using alcohol and microfiber cloth to wet cloth with alcohol, fold over the film so some on each side, and pull film through with gentle pressure to wipe off whatever is there without getting the film wet with water. This will dry more quickly. Use less wetting agent next time.

Rosssiiii said:

Click to expand...

Are the spots/dirt on the emulsion side or the base? I first try a PecPad with film cleaner (Edwal) to try to clean the negatives. If the spots are on the emulsion side, I would rewash the film then use a wetting agent and dry it in a dust-free environment with a weighted clip at the end. Wiping wet emulsion with a microfiber cloth is asking for trouble. Film will almost always have some curl to it. It flattens out somewhat stored in an archival sleeve. Some films are crazy curly, like Agfa Cora and others are almost too flat, like CatLabs 80, making it a bit difficult to load on a developing reel.