The Curse of the Curl
 

Hello, all

I have at last got collected courage to digitize some of my
old films which were processed in cheap photolabs and probably
dried in a hurry. I have been storing them in rolls and now,
after cutting them into strips I have been struck by the
extent of lateral curl. My scanner won't just focus on such
films, unless I use special film holder which is less
convenient and also crops the frame by about 2 mm in heght and
width.

Do you have any suggestions as to how to flatten and old and
heavily curled film (meaning alteral curl, from edge to edge).

Thank you in advance,
Anton

The Curse of the Curl
 

You might try higher humidity. It can take several days for
the film to flatten out.

The other approach is to weigh it down flat. Put the film
strips between the pages of a book and stack more books on top.

The best solution, vis-à-vis r.p.d, is a glass carrier,
an enlarger and a wet darkroom and make prints ...

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/da-main.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

"Anton" wrote in message
09...

old films which were processed in cheap photolabs
... storing them in rolls ... after cutting them into strips
... lateral curl ... [can't scan]

The Curse of the Curl
 

Thanks for the reply, Nicolas,

You might try higher humidity. It can take several days for
the film to flatten out.

Yes. Right now I am keeping it in a spiral container, wherein
the film remains laterally flat, in the bath with a hot shower
on. I was going to keep it that way for a while (so it absorbs
enough water) and then to start reducing the water flow, step
by step, to let the film dry slowly and uniformly, until I
switch the water off. Then, hopefully, it will be properly
dried and flat...

The other approach is to weigh it down flat. Put the film
strips between the pages of a book and stack more books on
top.

Just keeping them flat doen't help in my case. When I take the
films back they get curl again as if nothing has been done.
Some temperature and humidity conditions are probably also
required. And can one keep a high humidity if the film is
squeezed between pages of a book?

But I do keep all my recent films under weight. In this
regard, I got one more question: are transparent film sleevers
suitable for long-term storage? Or do I need those made from
acid-free papaer for that?

The best solution, vis-?-vis r.p.d, is a glass carrier, an
enlarger and a wet darkroom and make prints ...

Yes, yes and yes. But I do want to scan them. And the colour
process is way more difficult.

Anton

The Curse of the Curl
 

You might try higher humidity. It can take several days for
the film to flatten out.

Yes. Right now I am keeping it in a spiral container, wherein
the film remains laterally flat, in the bath with a hot shower
on. I was going to keep it that way for a while (so it absorbs
enough water) and then to start reducing the water flow, step
by step, to let the film dry slowly and uniformly, until I
switch the water off. Then, hopefully, it will be properly
dried and flat...

After drying up the curl returned ((
Will try keeping it in warm humid air for a longer time.

Anton

The Curse of the Curl
 

On 2010-01-16 12:47:34 -0500, Anton said:

Hello, all

I have at last got collected courage to digitize some of my
old films which were processed in cheap photolabs and probably
dried in a hurry. I have been storing them in rolls and now,
after cutting them into strips I have been struck by the
extent of lateral curl. My scanner won't just focus on such
films, unless I use special film holder which is less
convenient and also crops the frame by about 2 mm in heght and
width.

Do you have any suggestions as to how to flatten and old and
heavily curled film (meaning alteral curl, from edge to edge).

Thank you in advance,
Anton

One thing that sometimes works is to rewind the film emulsion side out
and store it that way for a while. I know you are talking about edge to
edge curl but reverse winding will oppose that also and may apply more
torque over a longer time than other tricks, especially merely
flattening it out, which does not over curl it in the other direction.
--
Michael

The Curse of the Curl
 

On 1/18/2010 5:39 AM Lew spake thus:

If they are still in rolls, you can load them into your processing
reels and immerse them in room temp distilled water & hang the rolls
up to dry properly as you would films coming out of processing &
washing for the first time.

But even film that has been so hung and dried can have a curl. I just
developed a roll of FP-4 last week that had a distinctive lateral
(edge-to-edge) curl even after being hung up to dry with weights.


--
You were wrong, and I'm man enough to admit it.

- a Usenet "apology"

The Curse of the Curl
 

On 1/19/2010 6:37 AM Lew spake thus:

Yes, of course it can, especially if dried in a low humidity
environment. You can't totally eliminate curl since the emulsion
actually contracts as it dries whereas the support doesn't. There's
also the possibility that the support is actually curled, but some of
the list's greybeards will have to weigh in on this idea.

Well, your suggestion is moot in any case, since the OP has already cut
the film into strips.

D "gray beard but no expert" N


--
You were wrong, and I'm man enough to admit it.

- a Usenet "apology"

The Curse of the Curl
 

Well, your suggestion is moot in any case, since the OP has already cut
the film into strips.

I can treat my strips as full-fledged rolls, why not?

The Curse of the Curl
 

Writing just to inform you about my progress. I
loaded a strip into a spiral holder (emulsion
side out) and let it soak water for about ten
minutes. Then I poured some water on the bottom
of the container and put the spiral holder with
my strip into it, and sealed it. So it will re-
main in a very moist environment for a day. Then
I will unseal it and wait futher for film to
dry.

The Curse of the Curl
 

On 1/20/2010 11:25 AM Anton Shepelev spake thus:

Writing just to inform you about my progress. I loaded a strip into a
spiral holder (emulsion side out) and let it soak water for about ten
minutes. Then I poured some water on the bottom of the container and
put the spiral holder with my strip into it, and sealed it. So it
will remain in a very moist environment for a day. Then I will
unseal it and wait futher for film to dry.

One question: are you planning on drying the film *on the reel*? I
wonder if you don't risk having the film stick to the reel this way.


--
You were wrong, and I'm man enough to admit it.

- a Usenet "apology"