You never know when you'll want to make extra prints of a favorite photograph, so it's important to take good care of your original film negatives and prevent scratches and other types of damage. With the right storage supplies and an eye towards proper preservation, you can make sure that your negatives stay in perfect condition for years to come.

Mimi Craven is a celebrity photographer from North Hollywood, and has shot photos for a number of famous magazine covers. Here she gives her tips for proper film negative storage, and information on why it's so important:

• Archival sleeves.
  The key to preventing scratches is to keep the negatives from rubbing against each other. To do this, you'll need to slide them into archival quality plastic negative sleeves, available at any photography store.
  
• Climate.
  Craven recommends storing your sleeved negatives in a cool, dry area. Pick a safe place away from light, heat, and moisture.
  
• Firebox.
  Your negatives are the source for your most cherished images, so place your valuable ones in a fireproof safe or strongbox. Keep this someplace where you can grab it on your way out the door in case of an emergency.
  
• Digital archives.
  If you ever want to transfer your photographs to digital files, the best way to do this is by scanning your original negatives. Scanning a negative will give you a truer, sharper version of the image than scanning a paper print.
  
• Without negatives.
  A negative is the cleanest example of the original image that you captured with your film camera, and the easiest, least expensive way to get a top quality reprint is from the negative. If your negative is badly damaged or lost, you can purchase reprints by having a new negative made from the print, or having the print scanned digitally. Of course, this results in losing one generation of image quality, and any damage to the paper print will have to be touched up.

For more information on photography, photo storage and negative storage, check out the following organizations and websites:

Photo.net: Storing Slides, Negatives, and Photos
www.photo.net

Black and White Lab: Storing Your Negatives and Prints
www.blackandwhitelab.com

Photo Preservation
www.webyfl.com

Preserving Memories: Caring For Your Heritage
www.lib.cmich.edu

Guidelines for Preserving Your Photographic Heritage
www.geocities.com