scratched film - will it show on contact prints?

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 27, 2005

Hi all -

question here:

I've been shooting some 8x10 and 4x5 sheets, and whereas I normally tank process, I tried tray processing for the first time. While I managed to confine the scratches I inflicted on the negatives primarily to the film base side, and not scratch the emulsion, I did scratch the film base rather badly in some cases. Will they print up ok as contact prints (I'm looking at Palladium printing - the negs are processed to a good density for Pt/Pd printing), or should I just give up and go re-shoot? Also, any tips on how to process in trays to avoid the scratching would be most appreciated.

Claire Senft · Jun 27, 2005

Why not try printing on a number 1 silver paper before investing in platinum?

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 27, 2005

I've got plenty of VC silver paper. I can try it on that. I was just wondering, because that's what my ultimate goal for the film is, and that's what I developed the negatives for. Fortunately, the location is sufficiently local that if I need to re-shoot and process differently, I can do it at no great cost or effort.

mark · Jun 27, 2005

My three yr old got into some negs that were drying a few months ago and they got banged up. What I thought were dead negs printed just fine. What i thought would be alright printed terrible. You never know until you try but I would test them out before investing in the platinum.

scootermm · Jun 27, 2005

Ive found that scratches on the base side are MUCH less prone to showing up in the contact prints of 8x10 and 7x17 negs.

Donald Qualls · Jun 27, 2005

I've got a 120 negative that I hope to enlarge at some point, but has a number of dark-mark scratches (don't know if they're base side or pressure marks on the emulsion, but they scan as white after inversion). I tried it on cyanotype and was unable to see any evidence of the (rather prominent, in the scans) scratched on the print. Printing without enlargement will cover a multitude of sins...

philsweeney · Jun 28, 2005

TheFlyingCamera said:
Also, any tips on how to process in trays to avoid the scratching would be most appreciated.

Scratches on the base side can show especially in the highlights. You will have to print to see. For 8 x 10 and 7 x 17 negatives I use a 16 x 20 tray. My total volume of dev is around 100 ozs depending on dilution and developer, so 6-8 films are covered well. By using the large tray I can slide the bottom sheet clear of the stack before I start to pull up. This minimizes the chance of the edges in the stack from dragging against the film emulsion.

Woolliscroft · Jun 29, 2005

You can sometimes get round scratches that print by rubbing in small (and I mean vanishingly small) amounts of petroleum jelly into them. If you get a decent print you can make a copy neg if you don't trust the fix to last.

David.

Charles Webb · Jun 29, 2005

Scratches on the base of the film will be white in the finished print, Emulsion side scratches print black in the final print. The reason base side scratches do not show in some prints is the image is focused on the emulsion (grain) not the base. The thickness of the film base creates a small/tiny amount of diffusion since the grain is what we focus on. Flip the negative over and print it with the base side in contact with the paper you will see what I mean when you compare sharpness with a good glass.

This is how a litho mask is spread in making halftones.

scratched film - will it show on contact prints?

TheFlyingCamera

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scratched film - will it show on contact prints?

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