Storing your films..

[Scobey Peterman]

I save artwork like most of you guys do.  We keep nothing that is a dated.

I work for Sporting Dealers and it is very important to keep artwork and good records for what we have printed on ball uniforms.

We start with a large folder and number the bag. We label all of the art that goes into the bag.  Once it is full with anywhere from 6 to 10 designs we put all of the info that is on the bag onto a spread sheet in the computer.  Each sales man has his own spread sheet.

We put in what the artwork is and what bag number it is in.

Then when I need to find something we did a year or so ago, it is easier to find.

[jsheridan]

I wish I had a picture of the filing system when I was back at Custom Logos. We used the X-ray folders, custom printed with detailed print information and sample prints inside. They were heavy duty and lasted a long time. We stored them along a wall in the central part of the building for climate control and super easy access for all sales reps and production mgrs. They were stored in the large cabinets like you see in the doctors office. Each file was labeled with the colored side numbers and year to identify customer and letters to identify art versions.

It was and is the most detailed and accurate system I've ever used to date and model other filing systems after it.

The next best is the clothes hanger version. You can buy bags with hangers for the task or make your own. Use metal pipe from Home Depot to build a rack system to hang them from. You can get 4 folders high by how long a wall is.

OR screw it all and price point your ink and film to make it disposable

[rmonks]

check out http://www.filing.com I use their x-ray folders

[theSignShop]

Love it! I am currently using 18"x24" coros, taped at one end to make a folder. I have one for each letter of the alphabet. Each folder is so full that the tape rips when I remove the folder from the rack, spewing films all over the place. Not a very good idea. I love Txscreener's idea, I think I'm gonna makie an order with Uline and set myself up like his system.

[alan802]

Forgot to post a pic.  Here it is.

[blue moon]

how do you stop the envelopes from opening while on the hangers?

pierre

[Prosperi-Tees]

how do you stop the envelopes from opening while on the hangers?

pierre

Looks like it is paper clipped to the bottom part of the hanger

[alan802]

The flap goes around the hanger then paper clipped to keep it that way.

[jsheridan]

Nice pic Alan.. you just gave me some more ideas for mounting the new racks I'm working on.

[bimmridder]

"OR screw it all and price point your ink and film to make it disposable"

Or screw film all together and go direct to screen (not saying anything else on that now)

[RICK STEFANICK]

U LINE  has some really nice thick kraft stay flats that work great for me. i put my film in them and tape a color comp to the front as others do but the nice thing about these is they stand up nice and firm, regardless of storage on a shelf or in boxes.
ITEM #S-2222 13X18 KRAFT STAY FLATS--100 COUNT=63.00

[sweetts]

I just picked up an 11x17 artist portfolio book from the art store for 15 bucks, It seems to be working pretty good. I ll take a picture some time this week. I dont know if it will be the right thing for large shops but it looks like it will work for me. Just an Idea

[ebscreen]

One missed edit or one dinged film and every penny saved flies out the window.
For that one color dead simple repeat twice a month job, sure.

We store a mockup of the design, an AI of the separations, and the actual print
file for the seps. Backed up off site.

[sweetts]

I just got these it seems to work good for $15.00 it has 50 pockets

[Printwizard]

We screenprint on large job bags and file them alphabetically.  In theory.  We also have film tables on unfixed that you dig back through months to try and find a set of seps, hoping that the printer didn't flash the black key line they taped onto the pallet.  Sometimes for fun we send the film house the file to print out again as this helps keep them profitable.  And sometimes when someone is hungover we can spend a day or so not finding film, print it again, make new screens, then find it was up on screen anyway still.  One girl who works for me is fantastic. Sometimes she might file something under Wednesday, which is when she made it.  Or she might file it under Orange because we printed on orange shirts.  Sometimes if the film is large she will cut off the crop marks also to make the film fit the bags, which is better than flashing it till it shrinks a bit.  Our job bags have the screen numbers, mesh count, notes, print order, pantones and all the info on it.  Some people confuse screen number with mesh count. awesome....  We need a better system, but the system is only as good as the people who use it.