Hi! You have to be very careful with strips. Be sure not to touch them a whole lot for it will eventually rub off the picture. That's what happened to my mom's photos of just a couple years ago in fact. So, it doesn't take to long for them to become damaged. Otherwise, I don't know about cutting them apart. I haven't heard that one. The ones we have came in two's and threes, so I'm also interested if anyone knows about that. Suzanne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phyllis Cloyd" <pcloyd@earthlink.net> To: <VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 7:00 AM Subject: [VINTAGE-PHOTOS] Negative question > Hello all -- > > Peggy's recent advice about storing negs with photos brings to mind a > question that has plagued me for some time. > > I have had most of my old photos copied at a photo lab. They do > excellent work and I get good rates. They make 35 mm color negs. The > color negs insure reproduction of the subtle color nuances even for the > black and white and sepia tone pictures. Once I get the neg, I can have > as many copies made as I need or want. > > But the problem is that the negatives are in strips with several > pictures on each strip. I would love to cut apart the negatives so that > I can store each individual negative with a copy of the picture. But > the photo lab strongly advised against cutting the strips into > individual negatives. They said it is hard to work with the individual > negs when they are cut apart. > > Has anyone else had this problem or been given this advice by their > photo lab? > > Phyllis in NJ > > > ==== VINTAGE-PHOTOS Mailing List ==== > We have over 223 members of the Vintage-Photos Mailing List. Posting back > to the list helps the whole group, not just one person. If we work as a team, > we'll succeed as a team. > To learn more about my world visit http://dwp.bigplanet.com/kburnett > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! >

Actually, Suzanne, it is the acid from the finger prints that can do the most damage. Handling negatives by the edges if they are not in polypropelene sleeves is always recommended. BTW, you could actually cut the individual negatives and mount them in plastic slide mounts but when you take them to the lab, they might still have trouble printing them. Paula As a Creative Memories Consultant I can help you preserve your family photographs & memories in beautiful scrapbook photo albums. Visit www.creativememories.com <http://www.creativememories.com/> and make your wishlist today! -----Original Message----- From: suzyq89 [mailto:suzyq89@prodigy.net] Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 7:56 PM To: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [VINTAGE-PHOTOS] Negative question Hi! You have to be very careful with strips. Be sure not to touch them a whole lot for it will eventually rub off the picture. That's what happened to my mom's photos of just a couple years ago in fact. So, it doesn't take to long for them to become damaged. Otherwise, I don't know about cutting them apart. I haven't heard that one. The ones we have came in two's and threes, so I'm also interested if anyone knows about that. Suzanne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phyllis Cloyd" <pcloyd@earthlink.net> To: <VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 7:00 AM Subject: [VINTAGE-PHOTOS] Negative question > Hello all -- > > Peggy's recent advice about storing negs with photos brings to mind a > question that has plagued me for some time. > > I have had most of my old photos copied at a photo lab. They do > excellent work and I get good rates. They make 35 mm color negs. The > color negs insure reproduction of the subtle color nuances even for the > black and white and sepia tone pictures. Once I get the neg, I can have > as many copies made as I need or want. > > But the problem is that the negatives are in strips with several > pictures on each strip. I would love to cut apart the negatives so that > I can store each individual negative with a copy of the picture. But > the photo lab strongly advised against cutting the strips into > individual negatives. They said it is hard to work with the individual > negs when they are cut apart. > > Has anyone else had this problem or been given this advice by their > photo lab? > > Phyllis in NJ > > > ==== VINTAGE-PHOTOS Mailing List ==== > We have over 223 members of the Vintage-Photos Mailing List. Posting back > to the list helps the whole group, not just one person. If we work as a team, > we'll succeed as a team. > To learn more about my world visit http://dwp.bigplanet.com/kburnett > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! > ==== VINTAGE-PHOTOS Mailing List ==== We have over 223 members of the Vintage-Photos Mailing List. Posting back to the list helps the whole group, not just one person. If we work as a team, we'll succeed as a team. To learn more about my world visit http://dwp.bigplanet.com/kburnett ============================== Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!

All of you have some great suggestions. BUT-- If your negatives do not come back in sleeves when they are processed find someone else to process your film. If you can't someone who does, put on white gloves and get them in sleeves. Do not touch anything but the edges. Two reasons, 1 is scratches and 2 is lint. If your processor does not put neg numbers on the back of your pictures do that yourself. I put the name, date, film strip number and neg number on every photo that I shoot. Most camera shops have acid-free sleeves or you can get them online- (Gaylord Archival is one) they are 8 1/2 x 11 and will fit in a 3 ring notebook. You can label each page and/or strip. The date should be written on the back of your picture. Then it's an easy matter to go to your negative file, find the sleeve with the date on it. **** Most important of all is to NOT store your photos and your negatives in the same place. Stuff happens. if you lose the photos you can reproduce with the negatives. Same as if you lose the negs, you can reproduce with the photos. I keep my notebooks of negatives in one room on a high shelf. The photos are in many places. 1/2 in albums or sleeves in notebooks and the other 1/2 in Rubbermaid tubs with the lids cracked. The ones in tubs are those that I'm not finished with yet. When one of the magazines I sell photos too is looking for a shot from a certain area, I go to the albums, hopefully locate a good shot, get the date off the back and then head for the negative notebooks. I recently sold one to Arizona Highways that I took in 1983. Took me about 20 minutes to find it all and get it sent. Making copies of your photos is easy if you have a camera that will take different lenses and you can focus. I use a 50mm lens with close up rings (they come 3 to a set for about $20.)and usually on a copy stand or a tripod. But I have had good luck just holding my camera and bracing it good. and mostly outdoors in the shade. On long trips to relatives I take their photos outdoors and take pictures of them. Esp. all the old ones that they don't want leaving their sight. Connie