Removing Density from Areas of a Processed Negative

[Michael Alpert]

I would like to remove the silver density from the edge areas of a processed negative, leaving a clear base in those areas (to print black) with the image untouched in the center of the negative. This may be a very simple thing to do, but I have never needed to think about it before. Scraping the negative might leave scratches that would print--perhaps. Any tried-and-true suggestions are welcome.

[Harold_4074]

The conventional way to do this is with Farmer's Reducer; a quick search should turn up more than you will ever need (or want) to know about the subject. It works exactly as advertised, but as always with an irreversible process, plan to experiment before committing anything irreplaceable.

You can also make an original negative that fades to black in places; this falls under the general heading of "matte" techniques.

[Michael Alpert]

Harold,

You've provided a great answer to my question. I'll follow up on it. Thank you.

[jeroldharter]

An alternative for a linear black border in a print is to cut a piece of mat board slightly smaller than the print. Place the mat board on top of the enlarging paper in the upper left corner and flash the paper. Repeat with the mat board in the lower right corner. Not sure if that is what you are after.

[Doug Howk]

I've used both bleach (potassium ferricyanide) and Tincture of Iodine to reduce density on film and prints. The nice thing about bleach as opposed to Farmers Reducer is its reversible (at least until you fix it). Just re-apply developer to the area that was overly reduced.

[Michael Alpert]

Jerold and Doug,

Thank you very much for your responses. I'll be working on altering the negative in question soon. Even after decades of working with film, I am still encountering new (for me at least) problems to solve. That's fine with me--though the problems are sometimes embarrassingly elementary!

[Andrew O'Neill]

Household bleach. I and others have used it to remove emulsion from double-sided X-ray film. You can use it straight (very strong) or diluted a bit and apply with Q-tip.