How to tell which side is the emulsion

I had a large number of slides which I think were ektachrome

developed in Asia which were mounted in plain plastic mounts. It has

been very difficult for me to tell which side is the emulsion, and

was only recently told that one of my prints is backwards because a

chinese friend had to look through the back of the print to read some

characters in it. There does not appear to me to be any significant

difference in the reflectivity of either side, and trying to judge

which side the emulsion is on by the film that it is buckled towards

doesn't seem to do it consistently either. I realize I may be

overlooking something quite obvious, but can someone please help me

figure out a consistent way to tell the emulsion side? Many thanks.

The emulsion side is structured. You should be able to see the lines between different densities in the image if you have the emulsion side up.

Jim - I realize you should be able to see the emulsion, which I can usually do by holding the slide at arms length and trying to see the reflection of a bright bulb off of it, but with these particular slides I have just not been able to do that.

Interesting, usually I'd say the same thing as Jim, you should be able to see a rougher texture, while the base side is smooth. But if they're mounted and the mount has no indicator on it then that's a problem. I know a lot of mounts I have used have on them a side labeled "facing projector lens" or similar nonsense. I don't mount my transparency film much anymore so I can just read the labels :).

 

You mention that your friend say words in the print that were backwards, is there no way to tell by looking at the slide through a loupe if there are any characters in it that would make it obvious?

 

Another thing is the plastic slide mounts usually come with some can opener contraption that lets you load and unload them, maybe you can find one or at least figure out how these open and go through them that way, putting a dot on the emulsion side for example after you've figured it out.

Here is an excerpt from an article I clipped from a magazine several years ago; sorry I can't recall which magazine, but I laminated it and keep in on my light table.

 

"The emulsion side is duller than the base side on both slides and negatives, but it's often difficult to tell on color film. The exception is Kodachrome slide film, on which the emulsion side is obvious. If you hold a Kodachrome slide at an angle to the light and can see the image in slight relief, then you're looking at the emulsion side. With other slide films, the emulsion side is generally the one that has the name of the lab printed on the mount. A foolproof way to determine this with all films - slides and negatives - is to look at the image. Film "reads" correctly through the base. So if the tree that's on the left in the actual scene is on the left on the film, you're looking at the base side. Or if letters or words read correctly, that's the base. When checking negatives, look for the film name and code printed along the edge. If you can read them, you're looking at the base side. If they're backwards, that's the emulsion side. Slide film also has edge-coding that you can see if you take the slide out of its mount."

 

This has clarified the matter for me. Hope it works for you.

Shiney aise up when scanning, The emulsion side is always duller or "structured".

Thanks to all who responded. I had figured, as Arnold's article pointed out, that it must be a particular problem with the fact that I was viewing ektachromes. But as the mounts gave no clues as to which side was which, and as they were taken long enough ago that I don't remember which is left from right, and as there is generally no lettering to clue me in as to which side was up, I may have to remove the mounts and view the film's lettering. I really haven't been able to determine which side is shinier.

My Solution:

 

Send it out to be scanned once and look at the side that they scan it on. The use that to figure which is the emulsion. Take a look at they side you come up with and try to remember a characteristic of it.

 

Or you can do what you suggested and do it with an unwanted or blurry side.

 

I also have a small solution which doesn�t answer your question:

 

Why don�t you just scan it on a side and see if you like it? If you do like it then who cares if it is a mirrored image or not. The worst that will happen is you will have to mirror the image with your software (in PS go to image>rotate canvas>flip horizontal).

 

Good Luck