tempest68
Established
After about a decade of strictly digital, I returned to shooting some film (both print and slides). What I haven't figured out yet is the best way to organize the negatives and prints. So I'd like to pose the question here to know what everyone else does. Heck, post a picture of your storage to show me how it's done. Any links you can provide to products that you use would be appreciated too. For slides, I bought sheets that fit into three-ring binders to put them in (I'm just slow to actually putting them in!). I could do the same for negatives, but then the negatives would be separated from the prints. So I'm really struggling with how to organize the film and prints.
froyd
Veteran
I think you will finds that everybody here has their own slightl different approach. The main question to answer is: what do you need your archive to do for you? Will you need it to archive stock images, or family snapshots? Is your work project-based or spur of the moment? One of the major decisions for setting up the archive is whether you hope to retrieve images by topic or by date.
My needs are simple so I just file my negs in 3-ring binders and date the film sleeve with the period during which the images were taken (occasionally a lengthy span of time). I also note the one or two principal subjects of the images on that particular roll. I keep MF and 35mm in separate binders, and for MF I also add a roll# to the neg sleeve for personal reasons I like to check my progress and development with that medium at 15 roll intervals). One thing that I think is helpful, is to print a contact sheet of the images on each roll and add it in front or behind the negatives as a quick visual reference to what's on the film.
However, I can afford to have such a basic system because I digitize my negatives and use LR to manage the digital collection. So if I ever need to find a shot from the mid eighties showing uncle Fred by the seaside, it a matter of of seconds to dig it up. The Lr folder will then tell me the date I need to go back to the binder and locate the right negative. I do not go to the trouble of naming my files anything like DATE-ROLL# because my low volume output makes gives me 2-3 rolls a month at most so when LR tells me picture of uncle Fred should be in September 1987, it's a matter of seconds to find it, especially thanks to the inclusion of contact sheets.
My needs are simple so I just file my negs in 3-ring binders and date the film sleeve with the period during which the images were taken (occasionally a lengthy span of time). I also note the one or two principal subjects of the images on that particular roll. I keep MF and 35mm in separate binders, and for MF I also add a roll# to the neg sleeve for personal reasons I like to check my progress and development with that medium at 15 roll intervals). One thing that I think is helpful, is to print a contact sheet of the images on each roll and add it in front or behind the negatives as a quick visual reference to what's on the film.
However, I can afford to have such a basic system because I digitize my negatives and use LR to manage the digital collection. So if I ever need to find a shot from the mid eighties showing uncle Fred by the seaside, it a matter of of seconds to dig it up. The Lr folder will then tell me the date I need to go back to the binder and locate the right negative. I do not go to the trouble of naming my files anything like DATE-ROLL# because my low volume output makes gives me 2-3 rolls a month at most so when LR tells me picture of uncle Fred should be in September 1987, it's a matter of seconds to find it, especially thanks to the inclusion of contact sheets.
majid
Fazal Majid
Print-File sells plastic inserts that allow hanging their archival negative/slide protectors in a regular hanging file cabinet, that's what many pros use. I put mine inside Beseler plastic 3-ring binder cases. If you live in humid climes, you could toss in a bag of silica-gel for good measure.
JoeV
Thin Air, Bright Sun
I use printfile sleeves for negatives, organized by date, stored in 3-ring binders. Any prints made are stored in sleeves adjacent to their corresponding negatives. To find a negative, I just need to recall on what date (or year/month) the image was captured.
~Joe
~Joe
tempest68
Established
Thank You to everyone the replied so far. I wasn't familiar with Printfile, but I may be able to come up with a plan based on what they offer. I only shoot for myself. My LR is basically organized by date, and I keyword everything for ease of searching. So my physical storage will be done by date as well.
Its a shame that there is one camera store left in my area, but they do not regularly stock a good selection of storage/archival supplies. They make most of their money off of making prints.
Its a shame that there is one camera store left in my area, but they do not regularly stock a good selection of storage/archival supplies. They make most of their money off of making prints.