Negatives are important to scrapbookers. These are the beginning of every scrapbooking page. They are the gold in our layouts. Without negatives you cannot reprint photographs, or even print any at all.
So storing a negative is an important process. I have found myself inundated with hundreds upon hundreds of those tiny little strips, and figuring how to organize them and store them was simply a nightmare. But I did figure it out, and I now have a method. Of course, I also don’t accumulate as many negatives as I used to, with the new digital technology.
If you aren’t already in the habit of keeping your negatives stored and organized safely, now is a great time to start. It will save you time and more importantly, your memories.
The way I save my negatives is in archival negative sleeves, folded and placed into a plastic storage box. The outside of the box has a label that has the year the negatives are from. I store them stacked in a closet. I cannot remember why I started storing them this way, except I think I outgrew my former storage method, which I will discuss in a moment. In addition to labeling the outside of the storage container, I also label the sleeve. I use labels, but sometimes I just write directly on the archival negative sleeves. When I put information on them I try to include dates and notes from the events (for instance: Heather – 2nd Birthday, August 17, 2003)
Formerly I stored my negatives in these same archival negatives sleeves, only I placed them in a three ring binder. Back then, as well as now, when I got a roll of film developed and returned, I slid the negatives into the sleeves. Then I’d label it with the date, etc. Now I place them into their corresponding boxes.
No matter how you store them, it is important for them to be in a safe, dry and archival place. Storing your negatives somewhere other than where you store your albums is a good practice too, though sometimes it may not be an option.
Just be safe, and you’ll have your memories for a lifetime!