How to Pack Your Photos for Shipping

If you have a lot of photos, they can weigh more than you might think. USPS has Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes which are free and you can put as much as will fit into them for a flat fee. FedEx and UPS also provide free boxes at any of their shipping outlets.

Tips for packing slides, negatives, oversized photos, and home movies

Make sure we can tell what is part of the collection and what is packing material. The easiest way to do this is to mark the bags, envelopes, or other containers within the shipping box.

To prepare, decide how you want us to scan your photos, slides or negatives: organized or not organized.

To Organize or Not to Organize

Don’t organize them option If you want to send your photo collection without organizing, that’s okay. Some of you may have an emergency need for digital preservation. It may take us longer to process.

We will sort them by size when they arrive. While processing, we’ll put them in zip lock bags with labels so you know what folder names we used when digitizing.

• Put the collection in plastic bags to keep safe from water and dust during shipping. • Use separate plastic bags for each type (photographs, slides, negatives, or home movies) and pad with bubble wrap.

Go to Shipping – next step

If you want to organize your collection before sending it to us, check out one of our articles on the Tips and Tricks page: We know it can be daunting to go through them, but a little time spent before scanning might help you after you get the digitized versions back.

• create groups • separate all copyrighted images and provide a History Stick Copyright Waiver • face all photos in the same direction • label each group with an index card or piece of paper • secure each group in a zip lock bag or paper envelope with the label on top – we’ll use your labels to name folders for the digitized images

Shipping

Take extra care preparing your photo collection for shipping so that it gets to us in good shape. Pack the box Pick a sturdy new box large enough that all your photos plus padding will fit without crushing, bending, or folding.

Line the box with bubble wrap and tissue paper.

Do not use peanuts or shredded paper for packing because these can break apart to generate dust and fragments or adhere to photos. This includes padded envelopes that use crushed newspaper as padding.

Place the bundles of photos, slides, negatives, and movies in the box so the weight is evenly distributed.

Make sure that the collection is well padded so there is no damage to the contents of the box during shipping. Secure the Box Before sealing, place the Order Form with your information on top of the bags of photos.

Close the box and tape securely.

Add mailing label:

History Stick 189 Old Corvallis Rd Hamilton, MT 59840 (833) 375-7023

Drop off Take your box to the post office or shipping location. Purchase any additional insurance you feel you need and make sure tracking is included so you know where your package is until it reaches History Stick.

Additional packing tips

Packing Slides You can send slides still in the carousels or slide boxes.

If slides are loose, stack them into small groups.

• Cut cardboard the size of the slide for each end of the stack • Wrap securely in heavy aluminum foil (or two thicknesses of regular) • Put into a zip lock bag with a label

Packing Negatives For all negatives in plastic cases, just make a label and pack into a zip lock bag.

For negatives in sleeves or folders, stack together in groups, label and pack into zip lock bags. Wrap in bubble wrap or put into a padded envelope.

If you have loose negatives, stack them together in groups, make labels and pack into zip lock bags. Wrap in bubble wrap or put into a padded envelope.

Squeeze out as much air as possible from the bags and put as many bags of negatives into a padded envelope as will fit without bending or folding them.

Packing Oversized Prints If you have photos larger than 5 x 7, take special care so they don’t get crimped, by sandwiching them between two pieces of cardboard that are at least as large. Mark the cardboard with a label so we know there are photos inside. Put that into an envelope or wrap with plastic wrap.

Make sure the oversized print can lie flat and has plenty of padding on all sides. You can put several oversized prints in the same sandwich, but should use acid free paper between each image.

Packing Home Movies Home movies are generally protected by their cases or reels. Make sure they are securely padded so they don’t shift in the box, especially if other items in the box are more fragile.