Help with Microtek Artixscan 120TF glass holder

[fourside]

Hey guys, I recently bought a Microtek Artixscan 120TF and have been trying to keep the film flat. At first I had some real trouble, but then I was able to get the film reasonably flat but it'd still be soft in some areas. So I decided to buy the glass holder. I found a guy selling them (Mike Sparks at Focal Point) and he said he had formerly made the glass holders for this scanner, so I think the one I bought from him is genuine.

It's just a plastic holder and two pieces of glass, one longer than the other. The longer piece is anti newton ring glass. The shorter piece isn't. Anyway, I can't figure out how to arrange the film in between the glass so that it will give me a sharp scan. The film is flat and its sharpness is now uniform, but instead of being sharp from edge to edge, it's now just equally soft from edge to edge, and I've tried flipping the glass multiple times but seemingly to no avail. It's now to the point where instead of a couple of spots being soft, the whole image is quite soft.

Any ideas? Thanks!

EDIT: It also came with a black thin plastic mask type thing but it looks like it's for a different film size.

[Don Bryant]

it's now just equally soft from edge to edge, and I've tried flipping the glass multiple times but seemingly to no avail. It's now to the point where instead of a couple of spots being soft, the whole image is quite soft.

Any ideas? Thanks!

EDIT: It also came with a black thin plastic mask type thing but it looks like it's for a different film size.

The plastic mask is probably for scanning 35mm film. Have you tried scanning any of that BTW?

Can you post a scan for us to look at? I have the same scanner and carrier and I've not had any softness problems. You do need to take care postioning and mounting the film in the holder. I usually tape 1 edge to bottom glass to keep the film from moving.

Don