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Thread: Methods of storing sheet film negs

  1. #1
    Yes, but why? David R Munson's Avatar
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    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    The larger my overall body of work becomes, the more I get the feeling that I need to work out a better system for storing my sheet film negatives. I currently have all of my 4x5" negs and transparencies stored in standard storage sheets, 4 to a page, in two three-ring binders. My 8x10 negatives are stored in individual sleeves in an archival box. Both systems, especially the former, leave a lot to be desired, especially in terms of identifying and organizing negatives. I've looked into the various storage systems on the market, and while they all show certain advantages and disadvantages, I would like to hear what systems are being utilized by people here on the forum. Anything particularly good or bad I should give some thought to? Thanks in advance. Maybe once I get the sheet film issue squared away I can do something about the 6,000 35mm slides under my bed....

  2. #2

    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    David, like you I use the ring binder system where each sheet holds 4, 4x5 to a page. These are the transparent type from Printfile. I simply write a number bes ide each neg. with a permanent OHP pen this of course prints as a white number o n contact sheets. This certainly speeds up a neg. search for me.

    I only file worthwhile negs. these days the rest are binned.

    Regards,

  3. #3

    Join Date
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    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    I use 4"x5" paper sleeving for my 4x5 negs, with the negs individually numbered, labeled and dated.. The negs are stored in the paper sleeves inside of mylar sleeving. These negs are then stored in a metal filing cabinet - the draws take two rows of negs, 1000 per row; the cabinet has four draws, for the entire thing holds 8,000 negs under one corner of my darkroom (an image is at http://www.evolvingbeauty.com/tech/images/45negs.jpg )

    For my 8x10 work I have two systems - my older work is in paper sleeving labeled as above, in archival boxes (plastic with a carrying handle). My newer work is in plastic sleeving in binders. I labels the neg number, date and subject on the sleeves, and also mark the sleeving with an archival marker with brurning and dodging info. I am still undecided which way I will end up with the 8x10, but I suspect the plastic sleeving will win - more economical, and the notes on the sleeve help a lot with my bad memory.

  4. #4
    multiplex
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    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    hi david i have all my 4x5 negatives in paper sleeves, and non-buffered envelopes. the envelopes are id'ed and stored in archival storage boxes. 5x7s are stored the same way. i used to have everything stored in standard storage sheets in binders ( i still have all my smaller format negatives stored that way) but when i started to do habs work their submission / storage requirements kind of rubbed off on me. good luck john

  5. #5

    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    I use printfile sheets and hanging bars in a file cabinet for 4x5, 645, and 35mm. I like the easy access and organization of the file cabinet, especially as the volume of my archive increases over the years - 300+ 4x5, 200+ 645, 15,000+ 35mm. I label individual images and pages (depending on format). You can use standard hanging file folders as dividers and tabs for labelling groups of images (I group by geography and subject). The tabs are then easily visible when you open the file drawer.

  6. #6

    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    I forgot to mention that a bonus to using the pages with hanging bars is that they fit perfectly into Xerox paper boxes. You can usually get these boxes free from any 'Kinkos' or similar store. They make moving, from apartment to apartment or house to house, more convenient. I make sure that boxes of negs and slides go with ME - never with the movers (even if they are my friends). This is not such a big deal now that I'm settled down, but it worked great when I was just out of school and changing apartments every year.

  7. #7

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    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    I use the same sheets and binders that you are using (18 binders so far) for 120 and 4x5. I keep the negative and contact sheets together and the binders are in order by date. I keep a proof of each negative that I print and put the date and other identifying information on the proof so that I can easily locate the negative if I need to reprint. It seems to be a pretty good system. It certainly makes it easy to find negatives. Even if I don't have proof, I usually can remember within a year or two when a particular photograph was made. The only other system I've seen for sheet film is the one several other people have mentioned - storing each negative individually in its own envelope. I do that for 8x10 and it too works fine but it does seem to take a good bit longer to find the negatives that way than when they're in binders. With archival envelopes and storage boxes it may be more archival than the clear sheets and binders, I don't know.
    Brian Ellis
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    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  8. #8

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    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    I asked this question within the last year and you might want to look for the old archived thread; it was quite helpful. I settled on the light Impressions Mylar D interleaving plastic and an archival envelope for each 4x5 negative. I really like it beacuase it makes handling so easy. Light Impressions sells a kit with an archival box as well. No scratches sliding in/out, interleaf is easy to get open in the darkroom, envelopes can be written on with all knids of data. I keep a database with all the info and number my envelopes consecutively. I haven'r had any trouble finding the negs this way.

    Scott

  9. #9

    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    I keep my 35mm slides in various places - some in binder pages, some in boxes and some in drawers. My 35mm negatives and all of my larger stuff (120, 4x5 and 8x10) is kept in clear binder pages. I put the page number on the page, and scan every film. The file number reflects the page number and the negative position on the page (except for 8x10, of course). I then size the image to a convenient size and file that on the computer I usually use, according to the subject matter. That way, the file name of any image I need corresponds to the location of the original film.

    Don't need the best of scans for this purpose. I do use a dedicated scanner for 35mm (HP Photosmart), but a flatbed works just fine for the bigger films.

  10. #10
    Tautatis
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    Methods of storing sheet film negs

    David,

    Recently I redesigned my storage system to a relatively better one. I used to keep all my negatives in a binder folder just like other people have and discovered that I find it hard to find my negatives without leafing through the whole binder. I decided to buy a file cabinet from Office Depot and file them in hanging file alphabetically arranged by project name/place the negatives were taken. I also created a numbered database using ACCESS software giving titles/names and automatically assign index number before I file into the file cabinet. This process has reduced the leafing when I am looking for negatives to be printed. I will just go to the database search the project/name and get the index number and jump into the file cabinet and pull out exactly what I want. This has helped me reduce the rate of going crazy every time I am about to go to the lab - I no longer spend the evening organizing myself and missing my sleep or doing something else. I hope you will find this method useful.

    Adrian

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