Darkness conditions for hand-cutting BW, C41, E6

[Tin Can]

Really not hard. Best to sit down and totally relax. Slow down, no sweating. I use an 8x10 paper safe when changing my cutting guides.

You will have to check, but cutting 8x10 exactly in half for 5X8 may not fit holders. Might need a second sliver cut. Practice eyes shut with paper.

I cut X-Ray under red LED which gives me practice for 'real' film.

[Justin K]

Thank you all for the very helpful replies. Two quick follow-ups:

1. Is a guillotine or a rotary cutter better for film cutting in the dark?
2. Any specific model to recommend for this purpose?

Thanks again.

[Greg]

Have and use RotaTrim and Dahle rotary cutters almost on a daily basis and can recommend both brands 100%

[Justin K]

Have and use RotaTrim and Dahle rotary cutters almost on a daily basis and can recommend both brands 100%

Thank you for this and your earlier reply, very helpful. Since you're doing this almost on a daily basis, I assume you've got a film cutting method down that works for you. If you have a moment to share what you do, would love to hear it. For instance, do you use tape, some other "template" to cut by, something else entirely? I have a jumbo harrison film changing tent that I will have to use since my "darkroom" is not dark enough, so will probably need a small cutter (8x10 being the max size I'll have to cut down).

Thanks again!

[seezee]

Thank you all for the very helpful replies. Two quick follow-ups:

1. Is a guillotine or a rotary cutter better for film cutting in the dark?
2. Any specific model to recommend for this purpose?

Thanks again.

I use a Dahle guillotine cutter with an edge stop, but that's x-ray film under a red light. Not sure how difficult or dangerous that would be in total darkness.

[seezee]

Thank you for this and your earlier reply, very helpful. Since you're doing this almost on a daily basis, I assume you've got a film cutting method down that works for you. If you have a moment to share what you do, would love to hear it. For instance, do you use tape, some other "template" to cut by, something else entirely? I have a jumbo harrison film changing tent that I will have to use since my "darkroom" is not dark enough, so will probably need a small cutter (8x10 being the max size I'll have to cut down).

Thanks again!

I have 2 pieces of Dyno label tape on my cutter & set the edge stop against the appropriate tape depending on whether I'm cutting the long side or the short side of the sheet.

[Leigh]

Dark, as in totally black.

Not sorta, not kinda, not almost... etc.

Use a paper cutter and you'll get the right size with nice straight edges.
Be sure to clip the upper right corner of the piece you cut off so you orient it in the holder correctly.

- Leigh

[Justin K]

Dark, as in totally black.

Not sorta, not kinda, not almost... etc.

Use a paper cutter and you'll get the right size with nice straight edges.
Be sure to clip the upper right corner of the piece you cut off so you orient it in the holder correctly.

- Leigh

Thanks Leigh, and great point about clipping off a bit of the top-right corner.

[Michael Kadillak]

In complete darkness - Infrared monocle with the IR light source on the unit turned off. Separate IR light source LED bounced off of an adjacent wall so only IR illuminates the darkroom. It is like working with the lights on as you can see with sharpness and clarity without harming the film. I cut film, load holders and process film by inspection with the same IR monocle I have had for over 10 years. It works like a champ with never any problems.

The issue with working in total darkness is what do you do when you have a mistake and move something out of place?

[Justin K]

In complete darkness - Infrared monocle with the IR light source on the unit turned off. Separate IR light source LED bounced off of an adjacent wall so only IR illuminates the darkroom. It is like working with the lights on as you can see with sharpness and clarity without harming the film. I cut film, load holders and process film by inspection with the same IR monocle I have had for over 10 years. It works like a champ with never any problems.

The issue with working in total darkness is what do you do when you have a mistake and move something out of place?

Thank you Michael--this sounds like a great approach. Do you have an IR monocle and separate IR light source LED to recommend? I know nothing about those (yet!).