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Original poster

Decluttering negatives?

19 replies

timoteigirl · 21/02/2023 22:10

Who has ruthlessly decluttered negatives for old photos? If anyone has decided to keep them, why? Trying to decide what to do with mine.

OP posts:
Quincesorbet · 22/02/2023 00:44

if you have the negatives, you can scan them to make digital copies which will be much better quality than scanning prints. I have been doing this with my childhood photos but sadly a lot of the negatives have been lost over the years. I would keep them.

mondaytosunday · 22/02/2023 09:32

Negatives, unless you have boxes full, really aren't clutter in my mind. File them. Or do as pp says. But I'd still be reluctant to get rid of the negatives.

HairyPooter · 22/02/2023 11:38

Are you likely to ever develop them? If not, then I would get rid of them. I got rid of mine after stashing them for over 30 years and never once developing them. Why was I bothering?

And if you can't make yourself get rid of them, do as pp said.

Original poster
timoteigirl · 22/02/2023 20:18

I think at the moment it seems unlikely that I'd develop any but who knows about future. It is easier to declutter books to create space so I can understand where you come from.

OP posts:
Aerielview · 23/02/2023 18:11

Haha! I clicked on this thread because I thought it was about the negatives / downside of decluttering; as in, after a good declutter you had some regret about what you got rid of!

HairyPooter · 23/02/2023 21:16

Aerielview · 23/02/2023 18:11

Haha! I clicked on this thread because I thought it was about the negatives / downside of decluttering; as in, after a good declutter you had some regret about what you got rid of!

Lol.

But just to answer about regrets after decluttering. Zero regret. Haven't missed a thing. It's liberating.

HairyPooter · 23/02/2023 21:22

timoteigirl · 22/02/2023 20:18

I think at the moment it seems unlikely that I'd develop any but who knows about future. It is easier to declutter books to create space so I can understand where you come from.

Marie Kondo says something like if you're holding on to something then you're afraid of the future. She explains it better but it's along the lines of trust yourself and be positive that you are making the right (decluttering) decisions and live for the life you want now going forward. Something like that.

Starwind74 · 24/02/2023 00:47

I also thought the thread was about the negative side of decluttering.
However now I realise it isn’t Do you mean if you scan a negative ,and then print it it will come out like a photograph?

Btjdkfnn · 24/02/2023 00:49

I got rid of all mine years ago and I only remembered because I saw this thread!

Monty27 · 24/02/2023 02:01

OP I had packets and packets of photos to box up when I moved house recently. I tidied up the photos and labelled each packet and boxed them all up. Every single negative went in the bin. If anyone ever wants a copy of a photo, firstly they have to find it and scan it. But it does cut down storage 👍🏻

urbanbuddha · 24/02/2023 02:29

Marie Kondo eased up on the decluttering after she had her third child

Don’t ditch the negatives - once they’re gone they’re gone. Scan them at the very least.

MaybeSmaller · 24/02/2023 14:18

My view would be keep the negatives, and bin the prints from them (unless they're framed, or in an album you want to keep).

The negatives are the 'originals' of the pictures, and you'll need them if you want high quality prints or digitised copies. Scans from prints are much lower quality.

Negatives don't really take up much space so they barely count as clutter.

Obviously if you have tens of thousands of negatives and they are just trivial pictures you would never look at again, I might take a different view. But if they are treasured family memories I would always keep them (along with a written record of what is on each one).

If you have slides then I would hang onto those as well - same argument.

HairyPooter · 24/02/2023 19:35

@urbanbuddha I know she's changed up her priorities but she can afford to do that because 1) her view of tidying is probably different to yours and mine - she means decluttering when she talks about tidying 2) she already "tidied" her house 3) for day to day (our kind of) tidying stuff, she probably has a housekeeper.

Original poster
timoteigirl · 09/03/2023 10:05

Thanks - most of them are in bind folders in specific pages meant for storing negatives. I am just dithering because when decluttering before I got rid of all my vinyl music and now it's back.

"the negative side of decluttering." LOL

OP posts:
Peregrina · 09/03/2023 10:11

I am just dithering because when decluttering before I got rid of all my vinyl music and now it's back.

But do you miss your vinyl records? I got rid of mine ages ago, they collect dust and get scratched.

Original poster
timoteigirl · 09/03/2023 10:17

@Peregrina, thanks for putting this into perspective. I'm probably overthinking!

OP posts:
stealthninjamum · 09/03/2023 22:23

I’m in the same position, I have a binder of negatives that I organised a couple of years ago when I decluttered my old photos.

im keeping them because I’d like to scan them at some point but life is so. It’s I wonder if I’ll ever get round to it and I think you need to buy a special scanner.

stealthninjamum · 09/03/2023 22:23

That should say life is so busy I wonder if I’ll get round to it

Oddbutnotodd · 09/03/2023 22:27

I thought it was regretting throwing things out too! I don’t have many negatives but surely they don’t take up much space anyway.

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