Whether you’re new to analogue photography or a long-time film enthusiast, storing your film correctly makes a world of difference. From the moment you buy it until it’s developed, film is sensitive to light, heat, and moisture. How you treat your film both before and after shooting will directly affect the quality of your negatives.

Here’s a simple guide to keeping your film rolls safe and ready.

First Tip:

Film is best used exactly after you purchase it. This is because it is the time window that will yield the best results. This however can be a tall order for someone who isn't a sole film user. This means that making sure you store that precious film in the correct environment is essential to help you keep your film rolls as fresh as possible.

Before Shooting: Storing Unused Film

1. Keep It Cool

Unexposed film lasts longer when stored in the fridge (around 3–5°C). This slows down chemical ageing of the emulsion and helps preserve colour accuracy. While B&W film will be fine when stored at room temperature when you live in hot countries such as Malta it's still best to store them inside your fridge, especially if you will not be using it in the next 3 months.

Do: Store in its original packaging as well as sealed in a zip bag to avoid condensation.
Don’t: Store in the freezer unless you’re planning long-term storage (6+ months). If you freeze film, put it in the fridge for a few hours before returning it to room temperature, this will help avoid fogging.

2. Protect From Moisture

Film emulsion is sensitive to humidity, which can cause fogging or mould. Keep your rolls dry and in airtight containers if you live somewhere damp, in Malta this is crucial.

3. Watch Expiry Dates

Film doesn’t instantly “go bad,” but expired film can lose contrast, gain grain, or shift colours. If you’re chasing experimental effects, expired stock can be fun, but for reliable results, stick to fresh rolls.

4. Travel Smart

If you’re travelling with unused film:

Store in a cool part of your bag, away from direct sunlight.
If you are using fast ASA speeds such as 3200 do not pass film through any airport scanners. Lower ASA films are normally fine, however I personally always give my rolls to the security to hand check them.

After Shooting: Storing Exposed Film

1. Keep Your Film Cool

Once shot, the latent image on the emulsion becomes fragile. High temperatures will degrade it quickly.

Best option: Keep rolls in the fridge until processing. To process film you have to take it out of the fridge at least 2 hours before opening it. This ensures that the film itself warms up to room temperature and that no condensation will hit the film once open.
Avoid: Leaving them in a hot car or direct sunlight.

2. Protect From Humidity

Just like fresh film, exposed rolls need to stay dry. Keep them sealed in canisters or zip bags.

3.Label Your Rolls

It’s easy to forget which roll is which after a few days. Write down:

Film type & ISO
Date & location
Any special notes (e.g. “pushed +1” or “half-shot roll”)

4. Don’t Wait Too Long

Film won’t hold its image forever.

Colour film: process within 1–2 weeks for best results.
Black & white film: more forgiving, but still best within a month.
Pushed/pulled rolls: process quickly, as altered exposures degrade faster.

5. Transport Carefully

If you’re posting film or taking it to a lab for film development:

Use a padded, light-tight container.
Avoid airport scanners, ask for hand checks.
Keep away from sudden heat changes.

After Development: Storing Negatives

Your negatives are the true originals of your work. Once developed, they’re irreplaceable, so proper storage is just as important as caring for your unexposed film.

1.Cut and Sleeve Properly

After drying, negatives should be cut into strips (commonly 6 frames per strip for 35mm, 3 frames for 120). Place them into archival-quality sleeves made of polypropylene or polyester. These protect the film from dust, scratches, and fingerprints

2.Keep Them Flat

Store your sleeved negatives in a ring binder or archival box. This keeps them flat and organised, making scanning or printing much easier.

3.Control the Environment

Just like undeveloped film, developed negatives still react to their environment. Keep them in a cool, dry, dark place with stable conditions. Ideal temperature: around 18–21°C, with humidity between 30–40%.

4.Label Everything

Label each sleeve with details such as film stock, date, location, and project. Over time, this will save you hours of guesswork and make your archive far more usable.

5.Digitise for Backup

Scanning your negatives not only gives you easy access for sharing and printing but also acts as a backup in case your physical copies are damaged. Always store digital versions on multiple drives or cloud storage.

5.Handle with Care

When revisiting your negatives, handle them by the edges and preferably wear cotton or nitrile gloves. Fingerprints and oils can permanently mark the emulsion.

Final Thoughts

From fridge to film lab, proper storage keeps your images safe. Treat your rolls like the delicate materials they are: cool, dry, labelled, and processed on time. With a little care, you’ll get the most out of every frame, whether it’s fresh colour negatives, sharp black & whites, or even experimental expired rolls.

We at DarkLab recommend that your film rolls are stored in the fridge no matter what it is. Once you need to shoot it or process it, take it out, let it gradually warm up and always store it on your person with care. Once it arrives in our Lab we will ensure that your film gets a 5 star treatment.