Paint your negative carrier in black

[brucetaylor]

But actually, an anodized surface would have much greater wear resistance- but none of us are are operating in a production capacity, and I am always careful in handling my carriers. Anyway, works for me, and I am a fanatic when it comes to preventing dust/debris on my negatives. YMMV

[Pieter]

I believe the black Omega negative carriers are anodized.

[Conrad . Marvin]

When I bought a 5x7 Kodak enlarger, I found myself doing a lot of changing and rebuilding. One of the last things to do was to make two negative carriers, one for 4x5 and one for 5x7. It came with a glass carrier but I had pin registration on my other enlargers (Beseler) so I wanted to extend that capability to the “new” 1944 enlarger. I made four plates of the appropriate size and shape out of aluminum hinged, etc. I took them to the anodizing company and they charged $100 minimum. They are flat black. A fine investment since ten years later they are still in mint condition and working like new.

[djphoto]

Anodizing would be ideal, but my understanding is it can be quite expensive for a small part like a negative carrier--there is minimum charge for the process.

Anodizing yourself is pretty easy, for about $50 you can get all you need. You just need some pool chemicals, some lead, a bit of wire and a power source (12v battery or similar). Anybody that's used to a darkroom process, would have not problem.