Mounting the film on the Better scanning film station?

[l2oBiN]

I would like to impetus I can get the film mounted perfectly flat onthe better scanning back anr glass? I cant seem to get it perfectly flat for slightly curly film.. Any tips or good methods you could suggest?

Thank you in advance!

[mdm]

Wet mount it.

[l2oBiN]

I am Interested in dry mounting.

[Ken Lee]

I follow the dry mounting instructions given on the BetterScanning web site - see http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/msdry.html.

Some times I use more tape: not just the corners, but the sides too.

[D. Bryant]

I follow the dry mounting instructions given on the BetterScanning web site - see http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/msdry.html.

Some times I use more tape: not just the corners, but the sides too.

I dry mount using the instructions provided on the better scanning webpage, but I do use tape.

[gevalia]

I follow the dry mounting instructions given on the BetterScanning web site - see http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/msdry.html.

Some times I use more tape: not just the corners, but the sides too.

Ditto on what Ken said. More tape on sides. Patience is key here.

[l2oBiN]

Thank you for your suggestions. I have been fiddling around with it and found the following steps to be successful;

Place the mask on a clean surface eg table
Place and align the anr glass on top (anr side up)
Secure the glass To the table with tape
Clean the glass with some acetone and then dry white tissue
Place the film on the anr glass (emultion side up) and align to the mask
Cut 12 strips /~2cm 3m magic tape
Tape one side of film by placing tape in middle of long film side (make sure its secure)
Do the opposite on the other side while gently stretching film
Repeat on short sides of film
Continue this opposing taping and stretching around the film edges ( there should be three pieces of tape per side, one in middle and one either side of middle close to corner)
Now take a pice of thin plastic (I used a coaster) and run along the sides of the film (over the tape) to further give it that extra bit of stretch and a closer stick-down

And...whalla.. It's ready!

I found this to work much better than the better scanning technique, and in addition, it's should be totally hands off the film! It also allows for a more secure/even stretch and control as it allows both hands to be free.

[mdm]

You are a masochist. Too much work for me.

[ljsegil]

I kind of think that by the time you've done all the stretching and taping (after all the cleaning from the previous stretching and taping) all without touching anything with your hands (a trick that I have never mastered, one among many) to get your film flat, that it's just plain quicker and easier to wet mount, which flattens the film more reliably and also helps decrease the problems with dust and scratches on the film compared to a dry mount technique.
Just my two cents.
Larry
And the taping issue and trying to achieve flat film is discouragingly magnified when working with 8x10 film and ANR glass. Unfortunately difficulties with wet mounting to the ANR glass on a V750 are also magnified when compared to the much easier technique on the Betterscanning Film Station for 4x5 or 5x7 film. I wish Doug could come up with a holder for 8x10---are you listening Doug?
I guess that's my four cents now.
LJS

[Frank Petronio]

If you're going to work this hard at it, using a drum scanner sounds a lot better.

Use the Epson for quick and dirty "proofing".

[l2oBiN]

It really is a lot easier than it sounds. I have the film mounted in approximately 5 minutes.

I have always been afraid if the wet mounting. Immersing the film in a fluid, then later having to clean it up sounds messy. But perhaps my fear is baseless. Any good tutorials for wet mounting? In particular, how do you later clean to film?

[ljsegil]

I use Aztek Kami wet mounting fluid which is volatile, and I just let it evaporate and put the film back in its sleeve without any cleaning. Kami usually doesn't leave much in the way of any residual that I detect. I figure if I have to rescan another application of Kami would remove any residual that might be on the film. Now if I ever get my hoped for darkroom/enlarger going, I may find that I should be doing more to clean the film. If you do a search I do recall that others have suggested cleaning methods, I think it was something simple like water with a little Photo Flo or other wetting agent, but don't trust my memory on this