Film
1 Develop
Don't let those little black canisters roll off to a final resting place beneath a couch or crib. For the best quality, take your rolls of film in for processing ASAP. Or send your 35mm film to be developed by Kodakgallery.com or Snapfish from the comfort of your own home. Both of these sites will mail you postage-paid envelopes. Just log on and follow the instructions.
2 Edit
Take care of your new prints right away. Ali Tenenbaum, a professional organizer in New York City, has found that only about half the pictures in an average roll are "keepers." Take her advice and toss the ones that don't work (you'll always have the negatives if you change your mind). Then use an archival pen to label what's left. In a hurry? Jot some identifying info on the envelope the prints came in.
3 Stow Away
"It takes very little time to slide snapshots into a small album with slip-in photo pockets," says Tenenbaum. It takes even less time to store them in an acid-free, flip-top box. Nancy Laboz, owner of Parcel, a paper-goods store in Montclair, New Jersey, often recommends the boxes to customers. "They offer order without the permanence of an album. You can add to the box or refile as necessary."
4 Secure the Negatives
Professionals keep their negatives safe and dirt-free with specially designed negative sleeves that fit in a three-ring binder. Label negatives either directly with an archival pen, or on the negative holder, and store them in chronological order. If you're really short on time, at least secure the envelope of negatives with a binder clip to the inside back cover of your album.
Next Page: Tips for tackling those JPEGs stuck in memory-card purgatory
