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John Cahill
4-May-2007, 04:23
Hello,

How do you all store and file your 4x5 and 5x7 negs? I ASS u ME glassine envelopes and shoe boxes are now passé.

Alan Rabe
4-May-2007, 04:29
I use milar sleeves slide into acid free envelopes all stored in an archival box. All purchased from Light Impressions. Been doing it like this since 89. You can also get pens with acid free ink that you can write on the envelopes with. Never had a problem.

Doremus Scudder
4-May-2007, 05:45
I use archival pages of mylar/archival polyethelene (PrintFile, etc.). These are catalogued in archival binders along with an archivally processed contact sheet and exposure/developing data. Each binder gets a number; my negatives are numbered by filmholder from 1 through 100 (50 holders with notches in the flap provide a permanent record of the holder number on the negative). Negatives are identified by binder/neg number, for example, 19/65 for binder 19 and neg 65. Often I have duplicate negative numbers in the same binder, so there may well be two negs with the 19/65 designation. However, I have had no problems keeping things straight.

I simply file the negatives chronologically, but keep separate printing records in the computer that I can easily search to find the negs I want.

Best,

Doremus Scudder

Brian C. Miller
4-May-2007, 07:38
What, you mean dumping negatives with my auto tools is a no-no?

I use Printfile holders and 3-ring binders made for negative storage.

Bruce Watson
4-May-2007, 08:04
I use milar sleeves slide into acid free envelopes all stored in an archival box. All purchased from Light Impressions. Been doing it like this since 89. You can also get pens with acid free ink that you can write on the envelopes with. Never had a problem.

Same here, except I write on the envelopes with pencil. Nice system for 5x4 film storage

JW Dewdney
4-May-2007, 12:50
I use 3 ring poly binders with 4-up neg pages. Although my favourite system really is to put the neg in a 4x5 glassine envelope - taped to the back of an 8x10 print in a filing cabinet! It's FAR better for ergonomics (takes WAY less time to find the right neg - otherwise you have to spend forever pulling pages out of binders and looking at them under a loupe on a light table!)

Ed Richards
4-May-2007, 13:05
Polyester sleeves, acid free envelopes, filed chronologically with each negative numbered chronologically. I scan every negative and put a small jpg in an image management program and use that to cross index the image and act as the master database for finding negatives.

Vaughn
4-May-2007, 13:11
I use the 4-fold paper envelopes from Conservation resources. I write all info on the envelopes with a pencil. The envelopes get stored in archival boxes, also from CR. I do this for 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10.

Vaughn

http://www.conservationresources.com/

John Cahill
4-May-2007, 14:37
Ahh, so the same sleeves sold for 4x5 and 5x7 prints can be used for negs as well? Do I have that correctly?

Brian K
4-May-2007, 16:22
I use poly sleeves and I hang them in poly plastic letter size files boxes which then go into fire resistant safes in a fire resistant room.

Louie Powell
4-May-2007, 17:21
Acetate sleeves, and then filed in Light Impressions archival boxes.

Peter Lewin
4-May-2007, 20:16
Negs in PrintFile 4x5 pages (4 negs/page) alternated with the contact sheets in 8 1/2x11 PrintFile pages. 3-Ring binders, some archival, some not. With the negatives in the archival PrintFile pages, I doubt that any chemicals leaching from a non-archival ring binder will reach the negatives in quantities sufficient to cause damage (20+ yr-old negs still look fine). Since my darkroom is in my basement, I keep the negatives in my library, to avoid any chance of dampness.