What You Should Do With Old Film Negatives

With digital cameras everywhere, the question is what do you do with negative films in your storage.

What You Should Do With Old Film Negatives sitting in storage

Are you unsure what to do with the old film negatives you have sitting in storage? Consider some of our ideas regarding what you should do with old film negatives.

BY ALEX TOWNASTALLI

Do you have boxes of film negatives in storage that you’re unsure what to do with? We’ve got some ideas! Explore these tips on what to do with old film, from craft ideas to digitization and more.

Craft Them Into Something New

If you consider yourself artsy or creative, don’t let useful material like film negatives go to waste. There are many opportunities to turn your old film or photo negative collection into fun and exciting art pieces.

There are plenty of things people have made with old films, including candle holders, ribbons, lampshades, and even unique earrings. The only limit to what you can create is your imagination!

Digitize Your Collection

To ensure your old film negatives don’t become damaged or faded, you should get them digitized immediately. There are many reasons to digitize your film negatives—this process ensures they won’t fade, tear, or get lost in the future. You’ll always have a backup digital copy!

Additionally, once you have digital copies of your films, there’s so much more you can do with them. Store images on a cloud storage system and easily share them with friends and family; this way, everyone can look at them any time they want from their phone, computer, or tablet.

Sell Them

Even if you don’t have any use for your old films anymore, that doesn’t mean that someone else doesn’t! Recycle artists and crafters are always looking for new materials to turn recycled items into new crafts.

Take your boxes of old negatives to a thrift store or flea market and see if anyone would show interest in taking them off your hands for a reasonable price. Or, if you’ve got some rare film, you can sell it online—there are always collectors looking to get their hands on rare film.

Recycle Them

If you’ve run out of options—or you’ve already digitized your collection and are ready to free up some of your storage space—you can always recycle your film negatives. However, municipal recycling sites won’t accept film or photo negatives due to their unique makeup and chemical composition.

Your best bet will be to use a certified service like GreenDisk or another company. You can drop off or mail your negatives, and they’ll ensure that they’re recycled safely and responsibly.

We hope we’ve given you some good ideas regarding what to do with your old film. What will you do with your old collection—sell them to another collector or create some unique crafts?