Evening star., 1953-04-26
Proper Negative Filing
Saves Searching Time
comero Angles
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smithsonian Institution


From now until cold weather
returns, you and and many
others like us will be spend
ing much of our free time
in exposing Photographic neg
atives. Some will have to be
discarded but most will be laid
away until the fall and winter
months when we normally turn
our attention to serious print
making. In the meantime it's
easy to drop those negatives
into q handy desk or bureau
drawer or some other place.
But If you'll take my advice.
these negatives that represent
so much Of your time and
effort and expense should be
carefully filed in, a systematic
and orderly manner. This
will not only protect them
from harm, but will make it
easy for you to lay your hands
on a given negative whenever
you want it.
Years ago when I first be-
came interested in photogra-
ply I used to do it the hard
way too. Negatives were stored
here, there and everywhere
around the house. When the
time came to make a duplicate
print for a friend. a wild
search would ensue as I rum
mayed from basement to attic
in pursuit Of the elusive neg
ative that somehow had be-
come lost among dozens OF
others.
This may be all right If
you like to play detective and
if the other members Of
the family will put up with
your grumblings and prodding
about the house, but I gave: it
up long ago and took to filing
my negatives the sensible way.
Now I can get hold Of any
negative on any subject at
a moments notice.
Several Systems Used
There are many workable
systems for filing negatives
you can very possibly work
out one of your own. Some
file by the year. keeping all
negatives made during a r.
month period in one group.
These are further Sub-divided
into smaller groupings accord
ing to subject matter. This
system is fine if you shoot
hundreds of pictures a year.
But If you can1t remember
which year a certain picture
was made. this may lead to a
lot of unnecessary handling.
Personally I prefer to file
my negatives by subject and in
the order in which they were
taken. Thus, if I am looking
for a particular shot Of one OF
the children, handle only one
group from the main file. To
make it t>even easier I have a
card-index file with a numerl-
cal reference to the correspond
ing negative. You can do with
out this, but it is helpful when
you wish to look up a mega
tive in a hurry.
Arrange by Subject
Numbering the negatives Is
most important. Quite often
you will have a number OF
shots so similar that it is al
most impossible to tell one
from the other when compar-
ing negatives. So the smart
thing to do Is number each
negative and, as prints are
made, place the corresponding
number on the back OF the
print. Then when you want
to make a duplicate print you
need only refer to the number
on the back of the original
print to learn which negative
to seek in your file. Number
all Of your negatives consecu-
lively and also see that the
approximate date goes on each
one. For instance you might
inscribe on a negative the fol-
lowing: "124-May 1883" This
should be penned in India ink
in the upper margin. Ordi-
nary inks will smear and may
easily ruin a priced picture.
India ink is permanent and
will not run or smear.
In setting up your negative
file it should be arranged by
subject. Main subjects should