Negative Sleeves

From Silvergrain Labs

There are a few brands of negative sleeves and pages: Print File, Clear File, Vue All, etc. They all work on the same principle, but they vary in terms of the plastic material from which they are made.

Clear File has three lines: Archival Classic, Archival Plus, and Archival Elite.

Print File products are similar to Clearfile Archival Classic, in that the product is made from LLDPE or linear low density polyethylene. This is soft plastic with somewhat cloudy translucent look, especially when many pages are stacked up. This material is archivally safe, but in my experience it is not as easy to load the negative strips, as the sleeves made from polypropylene, which is more rigid plastic than clear/translucent polyethylenes.

Clear File Archival Plus and Archival Elite, as well as Calument store brand negative pages are made from polypropylene.

Besides the material, the different brands (and in case of Clear File, the product lines) vary in terms of the thickness. Polypropylene is not only rigid but it is very resistant to tear and other mechanical stress, so the thinnest one is generally adequate.

My preferred choice: Clear File Archival Plus and Calumet store brand.

For storage conditons of the negative archives, refer to conservation. For archival processing of films and prints, consult archival process.