So, I decided to save some money by just getting my negatives developed at HEB, and then using a film slider I have access to on campus to scan them into the computer where I can clean them up and then take them to be printed.
Thing is, when I get them developed, I get the film back in one long strip, instead of cut into sections like I’m accustomed to. The obvious question is, is there a trick to cutting them? Do I just take scissors to them between the frames? Do I need to dip them in some special fluid or sprinkle them with the blood of a virgin?
Most of the pictures on here are stuff I wouldn’t be heartbroken over messing up, but there are also some picture of my niece that I promised my mom that I’d get to her, so I’d like not to screw those up if possible.
Make sure you wear gloves while handling the film, so you don’t get fingerprints on it. Regular scissors will work fine. I find that a small, sharp pair works better than large ones. You can also use a paper cutter (one of those things with a table and a long sharp arm that comes down.) Or an X-acto knife. Or a film cutter, if you have one handy.
Just use scissors and hold the negative on edge so you don’t get fingerprints on them. It doesn’t matter if you get a teeny bit on the edges because that part isn’t printed anyway. Then put them in negative pockets and store safely. Back when I did photography at school we developed our own film and this was what everyone did.
They do make special negative scissors, with a flat edge to rest the film against so the cut is perfectly straight, or you could use a guillotine intended to make splices in movie film, but that really isn’t necessary. Just cut them with plain kitchen scissors. Like csharpmajor, It’s what we did in school and what I do now.
I took a dark room class at a local college and we just used normal scissors.
One minor consideration is how many negatives to put in each strip. Most labs cut in four-neg strips, because that fits in a 4x6 print envelope. But most scanners can handle six-neg strips, and the negative binders hold either five- or six-neg strips. So those are better.
Yeah. And don’t worry too much about damaging the negs. They’re more robust than a lot of people give them credit for and even if you do get them dirty it’s nothing a bit of detergent won’t fix.