Right-reading films
Robbie Pickering
terms. What exactly are "right-reading films, emulsion side down"? (for
offset)
For offset I would normally make what we here call "seitenverkehrte
Filme" -- which means when you are looking at the emulsion side of the
film the page is in reverse.
If "right-reading" means the same, isn't it redundant to say "emulsion
side down" as well?
Lee Blevins
In America we decided to butcher the meaning of words in the printing
industry to describe film emulsion orientation.
We use these acronyms RRED and RRED to describe the orientation. We then
ad "positive" or "negative" to cover the 4 possible emulsion
orientations.
Negs RRED
Negs RREU
Pos RRED
Pos RREU
RRED means "Right Reading Emulsion Down" and RREU means "Right Reading
Emulsion Up."
The reason for this is that there seems to be an avoidance of the term
"Wrong Reading."
WREU is the same as RRED but we get to avoid using the dreadful "Wrong"
word.
I moved from photography to printing and found the use of the terms
comical. When I was a stripper I had two sections of technical manuals
enlarged and attached to the top lid of my toolbox to remind me daily of
this interesting system amongst printers. Both of the sections explained
film emulsion orientation the "Correct" way.
That is:
Emulsion orientation is always stated "while looking at the emulsion."
So:
Original camera negatives are "Wrong Reading."
E-E dupes of camera negatives are "Right Reading."
I was always confused by paper positives. It seems printers like
flipping camera negatives over and viewing the emulsion from the base
side so they can avoid using the "negative conotation" of "Wrong."
Picture the beer gutted middle aged, balding stripper, wrapped in apron
and replete with pocket protector scratching his near hollow head and
saying "whadya mean it's wrong? It's right? It's what I want."
So how would they handle paper that has an opaque base? You can't flip
it over so you always have to refer to it while facing the emulsion.
But then I remember having the realization that the "litho-heads" I grew
up with in the trade were not unlike the cast of Barney Miller so I can
understand the illogical use of logic.
Robbie Pickering
> We use these acronyms RRED and RRED to describe the orientation. We then
> ad "positive" or "negative" to cover the 4 possible emulsion
> orientations.
>
> Negs RRED
> Negs RREU
> Pos RRED
> Pos RREU
>
> RRED means "Right Reading Emulsion Down" and RREU means "Right Reading
> Emulsion Up."
>
So RRED is really a short form for : Right Reading WHEN THE Emulsion IS
Down ? Then I'm looking through the base material of the film and the
emulsion is on the side further away from me.
I think I've understood. If I were making an offset plate directly from
the film I would want RRED, right? And positive or negative depends on
the kind of plate.
John Doherty
> Lee Blevins <dgr...@tiac.net> wrote:
>
> > We use these acronyms RRED and RRED to describe the orientation. We then
> > ad "positive" or "negative" to cover the 4 possible emulsion
> > orientations.
> >
> > Negs RRED
> > Negs RREU
> > Pos RRED
> > Pos RREU
> >
> > RRED means "Right Reading Emulsion Down" and RREU means "Right Reading
> > Emulsion Up."
> >
> So RRED is really a short form for : Right Reading WHEN THE Emulsion IS
> Down ?
Exactly. And RREU means it reads right when the emulsion is facing up.
> Then I'm looking through the base material of the film and the
> emulsion is on the side further away from me.
>
> I think I've understood. If I were making an offset plate directly from
> the film I would want RRED, right? And positive or negative depends on
> the kind of plate.
Yep. You've got it.
Paul Harrington
> I work in Germany and am not all that hot on the English technical
> terms. What exactly are "right-reading films, emulsion side down"? (for
> offset)
>
> If "right-reading" means the same, isn't it redundant to say "emulsion
> side down" as well?
I agree with you Robbie.
I have worked in Photolitho for 25yrs.
There are only 2 terms;
RR- Right Reading
WR- Wrong Reading
Emulsion is always Up as standard.
To say "RR Emulsion down" is like saying "Go North to the South Pole".
You can, but it's the long way!
Cheers,
Paul
John Doherty
| There are only 2 terms;
| RR- Right Reading
| WR- Wrong Reading
| Emulsion is always Up as standard.
RRED negative film is pretty normal in my experience. If somebody wants
something other than that, they better tell me what they want, and whether
they want it positive or negative or right- or wrong-reading, they'll still
have to tell me which side they're looking at it from.
| To say "RR Emulsion down" is like saying "Go North to the South Pole".
There is absolutely no place on this or any other planet from which you
can proceed north and wind up at the south pole.
SimonCook0
supposed to refer to the film with the emulsion down, to add the term
'emulsion-down' is just a habit and a reminder, and doesn't hurt if, like me,
you have trouble getting your head round this from time to time:)
Ron Bean
dgr...@tiac.net (Lee Blevins) writes:
>It seems printers like
>flipping camera negatives over and viewing the emulsion from the base
>side so they can avoid using the "negative conotation" of "Wrong."
It's not because it's "negative", it's because "wrong" implies
"incorrect", as in "needs to be fixed". But in litho, final film
is "wrong reading"-- so right-reading is "wrong", and wrong-reading
is "right".
I work with a guy who started out in flexo, where final film is
right-reading-emulsion-up. Later when he got a job in litho, he
would occasionally strip something backwards and not notice it,
because it looked right to him.
>Picture the beer gutted middle aged, balding stripper, wrapped in apron
>and replete with pocket protector scratching his near hollow head and
>saying "whadya mean it's wrong? It's right? It's what I want."
Yup. We sometimes use the terms "e-down" and "e-up" (as in "make
me an e-up of this") where "right reading" is assumed in both
cases.
If I'm just looking at a piece of film to see if it looks OK,
I'll hold it so it's right-reading regardless of which side the
emulsion is on, because it's easier to spot mistakes that way
(and we bounce a lot of film that has mistakes in it-- wrong size,
no bleed, font problems, typos, etc. You'd think someone would
look at it before they send it to us).