negative sandwich

[Brad Rippe]

Hello Everyone,

I'm a long time Tri-X (in trays) user and in the mid 90s made a foray into the world of T-Max because of the backpacking and readyload combination. As a result, I have several marginal low contrast negatives from that era that are very difficult to print. Fortunately, I sometimes made two identical exposures, ending up with two nearly identical negatives (from plus or minus development). I have found by sandwiching these negatives together, I can make wonderful prints, as if the film was Tri-X to begin with!

Can anyone recommend the best type of tape to use for layering two 4 by 5 negatives together in a glass negative carrier? I'm not using a pin register, but I can align them perfectly after carefully flailing around for a few minutes with a loupe. I need to tape them down.
Any ideas?

Thank You,

-Brad

[Louie Powell]

I suggest using the metal tape used to bind glass-mounted slides (remember those?). You can still get it at places like Light Impressions.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

I would use rubylith tape. It is transparent so you can see the edges, it is red so the paper does not "see" it and much cheaper than the metal tapes. Up to you, but I think just about any tape will work...

[Ed Richards]

You might also try scanning some of these - they may be perfect for that. If you still want to print on silver, print a negative from the scan onto clear media.

[Andrew O'Neill]

Scotch tape, a loupe and a bit of patience. When I'm done printing I untape them. Cheapest way, it works and I've been doing it for years...even for unsharp masking.

Now back to my peanut butter sandwich. Yummier than a negative sandwich.

[Harold_4074]

If you aren't planning to leave the negatives together indefinitely, than just about any tape will work, as long as the adhesive isn't so thick that the films can shift. For archival purposes, a polyester tape with an archival-grade adhesive (is magnetic tape or movie film splicing tape made anymore?) would be better. "Bleeding" of the adhesive or plasticizer is to be avoided if possible. There are archival tapes (the Filmoplast series) for hinge-mounting prints that should be OK.

A potentially useful trick is to tape down the bottom negative near the middles of two opposite sides, and then clip the corners of the top sheet (outside the image area) so that a small piece of tape can span from the top sheet onto the bottom one at these points. Buckling is less of a problem if only two adjacent corners are used. If the assembly is handled carefully, very little tape area is needed to hold it in alignment.

[Robert C. McColloch]

Tape the edges of the two (i.e., the negative and the mask) with 3M Scotch Brand No. 850 1/4" Mylar tape. If you have a cold light head, you won't need a glass carrier. If so, just put the taped negative in the glassless film holder and "GO".