How do you store your negs & prints?

Bobfrance

Bobfrance

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Hi Folks,

I still get the majority of my prints done at a lab and as a result I am starting to get quite an unruly build up which can be a bit of a chore to sift through when looking for a specific neg.

How do other RFFers store their prints? Files? Boxfiles? Is there something commercially available?

I'm not the kind of person who would set up a fastidiously indexed system, I just want to try and keep things tidy.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Bob.
 
Us older folks remember Nega-Files. Really nice wood boxes with glassine envelopes that held the negatives. They came in 35mm and 2 1/4 size.
My Dad bought a bunch of these, and all his and my negatives are in them with several left over for the future.
I keep prints in the print paper boxes, although I have very few prints lying around. I usually make them for a purpose - to give away or frame and hang. :cool:
 
I use Print file archival negative sleeves. They have several products available. I like the negative sleeves that hold five frames, a total of 7 strips of negs, and they hold a contact sheet as well. I like to store my negatives in the the plastic negative file cases; the ones with the D rings are preferable. I store my prints in the archival acid free boxes.

A good place to look for a lot of this is at light impressions:

www.lightimpressionsdirect.com

They will also custom cut window mats, free of charge, when you order their matt boards. However, you will need to enter the dimensions online.

Here is the link to this, since it can be tricky to find:

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.c...&PCR=30000:230000:237100:237110&IID=CUSTOMMAT

They also have frames, framing hardware, etc . . . It is a great company with excellent customer, and high quality products.

I hope that helps!
 
A certain amount of fastidiousness will be needed to find your images going forward. I'm not sure there is anyway around it.

As others, I use polypropylene (Print File) pages to store negatives. I avoid dust by placing them in a three-ring binder within a binder sleeve. I have a file number system in place to track date, month, year of each roll written on each page. This information is transferred to the back of each print so I can find the negative at a future date. Since you are having a problem finding specific images, developing a tracking system should be a priority that would make your life easier.
 
I use Adorama's archival ployvinyl and 3 ring binder storage systems. The three ring binders have an integral box to keep out dust and debris. Works well. I use cottone gloves when handling the negatives to slide them into the archival sheets.

/T
 
From KNPhoto's description, it sounds the same method I use. Plus I keep a database file on the computer with detailed info on each roll, and open a new record each time a camera is loaded. I can later sort the records in various ways, find rolls using certain gear or film, or including certain subjects. After a few years of shooting, it becomes very difficult to find anything without some kind of filing system.
 
Doug said:
From KNPhoto's description, it sounds the same method I use. Plus I keep a database file on the computer with detailed info on each roll, and open a new record each time a camera is loaded. I can later sort the records in various ways, find rolls using certain gear or film, or including certain subjects. After a few years of shooting, it becomes very difficult to find anything without some kind of filing system.
Click to expand...

You are good! I can barely find time to put the negatives in sleeves and shove them into a binder. What happens when you have multiple subjects from different sessions on the same roll? Are you reduced to cataloguing individual photos then?

/T
 
In a drawer in paper envelopes. They r worthless anyway. Will throw them out if i get a lot of new socks for christmas.

:)
 
After running out of print file sleeves so many times, I now store them in paper envelopes in shoe boxes. All these have been scanned and indexed on the PC so finding the one I want is quite easy (the important thing is to keep the scans library backed up regularly). I put in one film per envelope. (I wonder if they will keep?)
 
I don't get prints from the photo finisher, so that cuts down on a lot of the print-type issues that you're having. I print a select few on 8.5x11 paper and store those in those black arhival portfolios. Everything else I keep on the computer and online. I keep my negs both color and b&w in plastic archival sleeves. I don't use glassine. I label (if I remember to do it!) and group the sleeves chronologically in a binder.
 
what's glassine?
i use acetate sleeves for my negs. At least the BW ones I develop. They look suitable.
I found some that can hold strips of six frame!! Seven of them on one page. That's excellent since i cut my film into six-drame strips, especially because my scanner can handle 4 of these at once.
 
Glassine sleeves are the thin paper archival sleeves. They look like the acetate sleeves, except you can't see through glassine sleeves. They are usually a "natural" tan-ish or white color.


.
 
My negatives are in Print File pages kept in plastic storage boxes originally sold by VueAll and Beseler and probably several other brands. I also have my slides and transparencies stored the same way. Black and white prints are kept in empty photo paper boxes by subject. Inkjet prints are kept in Print File pages inside binders. I also have some B&W prints of certain events/subjects kept in pages and binders.
 
Print File neg pages, even my first 'own processed' negs from 1981 are still fine in them. They've been stored in regular vinyl D-ring binders even. I just got a nicer type of binder, archival type, as the binders I've been using for years (in book #45 now) are no longer made (damn this digital age- even ring binders are becoming obsolete). I'll give this binder a try with this round of negs and see how it goes. Neg. pages are numbered with the roll number I give each roll as it comes out of the camera.

Proofsheets are also in binders, keyed with the same number, and I recycle the binders, moving old proofsheets into archival boxes.

I make a quick 810 fiber-base proof print of images that look interesting or promising on the proofsheet, these are numbered in pencil on the back with roll number and frame number, I can then find that negative easily when I want to reprint. Prints are stored in archival boxes, one box per negative book or two, depending on how well I've been shooting.

Anal perhaps, but after spending untold hours trying to find a negative with print in hand I came up with this. There are just too many images now to keep in this sieve of a head.
 
I don't have many prints, but my negs go in ClearFile archive sheets and ring binders. Each film is numbered, and the number range is written on the spine of each binder. All negs are scanned, and each photo has a file name that reflects the film no and photo number (eg 112_013.jpg). Any prints I make get the file number (and hence film/photo number) written on the back in pencil.
 
Tuolumne said:
You are good! I can barely find time to put the negatives in sleeves and shove them into a binder. What happens when you have multiple subjects from different sessions on the same roll? Are you reduced to cataloguing individual photos then?
Click to expand...
Hi -- The database record has a free-form text field where I make sequential notes about the subjects shot, often includes several sessions shot on the same roll. I usually make the notes after returning from each shooting session. Or if I'm traveling, then I note subjects in a small notebook as I shoot and update the database later, when I'll likely need to create new records for the multiple rolls shot while away.

I note the roll number, date range, brief tech info, and brief subjects on the PrintFile neg page too, and any prints get the roll+neg number on the back. APS format negs of course stay in the cartridge so I write the roll number there. I number each day or session of digital shots as if it were a roll of film.

The number system is date-based: YYMMDD-NN, and this will be -ANN, -BNN, -CNN etc for multiple rolls finished on the same day (not very common for me), and NN is the frame number. This system naturally sorts in sequence on the computer. If I often shot more than one roll a day, then I'd probably do it like: YYMMDDRR-NN where RR is a numerical roll number for that day.
 
A better numbering system than mine for sure Doug- I use a negative book number, roll number, then a decimal and a negative number- so the print is marked #4521.14

No real information included in my number other than where the negative is, but to change now would muddle me more!
 
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