One of the first questions we ask our customers to consider when starting their archiving projects is box versus binder. When choosing archival supplies from trusted vendors, both are excellent choices. And a combination of boxes and binders is sometimes the best solution.
Boxes
While we carry multiple styles of boxes and portfolio boxes, when discussing long-term storage of family archives we are generally referring to our line of Metal Edge Boxes.
Archives, libraries, and museums around the world use metal edge boxes to store their collections. That’s because they are one of the most affordable and versatile archival storage options. Because they are sturdy, stackable, attractive, and eco-friendly, they will continue to be widely used for another hundred years. See The Humble Metal Edge Box – An Acid-Free Storage Solution for Every Collection for more info on their qualities, styles, and uses.
Pros of Metal Edge Boxes
- Cost – they take less time and less materials to manufacture than the binders so they cost less (see our process!)
- Durability – the metal edging makes them strong enough so that you can stack several boxes, they’re buffered for long-lasting protection
- Space – large quantities of photos will take up less space in a box than if you were to put them into binder pages
- Time – it’s generally quicker to put batches of photos into a box rather than into individual binder pages
- Versatility – these boxes come in many different sizes and several styles so they can accommodate larger items that wouldn’t fit into a binder
Binders
We offer a variety of Binders. Check out and compare the Collector Grade Binders and Slipcases and Binder Boxes.
We use high-quality board for our Collector Grade Binders and wrap exterior in library–grade buckram. Next, we securely rivet a premium, slant-style D-Ring binder assembly to the back inside cover.
Standard Collector Grade Binders hold pages up to 10-1/2 W x 11-3/4” H, accommodating your choice of storage pages for prints, documents, and slides.
Pros of Binders
- Accessibility – when you want to look at and share your collection, binders are the way to go!
- Creativity – A binder is essentially a book and you are the designer telling a story with pictures, words, documents, and ephemera from your life or your ancestors’ lives. You determine the order and organization of the contents.
- Elegance – our team makes these binders by hand with care and attention to detail in Rochester, NY, and it shows! There are four binder colors to choose from – black, red, blue, and forest green.
- Durability – we design and build these binders to last using archival materials
A Happy Ending
It’s Not Either/Or
For large collections many people end up using a combination of archival binders and boxes to store their family archives. This brings me to the ABCs or photo organizing created by Cathi Nelson, founder of The Photo Managers.
- A – Album-worthy – choose best of your collection to feature in a binder that you can look at and share with others easily
- B – Box – use archival boxes for photos you want to keep and preserve but don’t need to access often
- C – Can – some photos can go in the trash can, especially doubles, blurry shots, and scenery without people
- S- Story – keep photos that have a special memory or story behind them even if they aren’t the best images
It’s a Box! It’s a Binder! It’s a Binder-in-Box!
Do you want the affordability of a metal edge box and the accessibility of a binder? The answer is the Binder-in-Box. They can be stored stacked or upright on a shelf. Each one can hold up to 50 pages with contents.
