Show us your Flat File/Work/Flattening area

Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:28 am

Nice pull, Rob. Is that for your collection or your personal stock/archives?

robschwager · Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:31 am

Yamar wrote:Nice pull, Rob. Is that for your collection or your personal stock/archives?

Thank you! It's primarily for Tiny Bird Press stock/archives. My work space is getting way too full of French and other paper boxes and I need a safe, central spot to house my prints until they sell.

phearloathing · Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:49 pm

I'll play

borntobewildtregger · Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:38 am

triporfreak wrote:some flats, others are in binders & acid free boxes....

so where's the best and most economically efficient place to order those large mylar sheet protectors from?

bethemonkey · Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:01 am

Just got this on Saturday....

DSC02024.jpg

Almost killed myself getting it upstairs, but it's all good.

vortec42 · Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:32 am

FYI- The secret to moving these guys is pulling the drawers out first! That's how I ended up with one for cheap, from someone who didn't want to move it. But it wasn't too bad.

bethemonkey · Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:08 am

Yep.. did that, but it still was very difficult. There was no way I was moving it with the drawers in it.

vortec42 wrote:FYI- The secret to moving these guys is pulling the drawers out first! That's how I ended up with one for cheap, from someone who didn't want to move it. But it wasn't too bad.

borntobewildtregger · Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:26 pm

I had a friend recommend getting a ROLL of Mylar plastic, then cutting it to size and either finding a way to use heat to seal the edges, or clear shipping tape on the bottom and sides. to protect my oversized posters. what works best for you guys and have you ever made your own protective slip covers this way? seems like it would be much cheaper than buying the ones that are already made, plus on most sites you have to buy like 12 at a time all the same size, my posters are all different sizes...

KennyRE317 · Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:42 am

phearloathing wrote:I'll play

I can't wait until I get the new to me bugs prints framed. My office will be my miss bugs room

d3ny · Mon Jun 11, 2012 2:34 am

Hey guys i live in a small apartment and was planning of getting me a flat file cause i have a ton of prints still in their tubes. I have seen one of these in person and they are huge! I was wondering what is the optimal size for one of these flat files? should the poster have extra moving room or should they be nice and snug? I'm afraid of buying one too large and then it cant fit in the apartment.

phearloathing · Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:26 am

KennyRE317 wrote:
phearloathing wrote:I'll play
I can't wait until I get the new to me bugs prints framed. My office will be my miss bugs room

You should see my living room

Miss Bugs house

suchanoo · Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:21 am

d3ny wrote:Hey guys i live in a small apartment and was planning of getting me a flat file cause i have a ton of prints still in their tubes. I have seen one of these in person and they are huge! I was wondering what is the optimal size for one of these flat files? should the poster have extra moving room or should they be nice and snug? I'm afraid of buying one too large and then it cant fit in the apartment.

Buy the biggest flat file you can fit in your apartment.

There are different ways to stop your posters from sliding around in the drawers.

My method is - I bought some oversized, thick mountboard, and cut it into approx. 5" wide strips, then trimmed them lengthways so that they fit the drawers longest dimension very snuggly (cut maybe 1 or 2mm longer than the drawers internal dimension). Then just lay two strips per drawer on top of your posters, 1 at the back and 1 at the front. Works great. If your drawer is quite full, then put 2 or 3 strips on top of each other. This also stops posters which aren't totally flat from curling up and catching the drawer above when you open it.

vortec42 · Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:08 am

If you don't have the space, a good alternative to a flat file would be a portfolio, like this:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/itoya ... profolios/

One problem is it won't fit oversized prints (unless you buy one big enough). But it's a good compromise - certainly better than keeping prints in tubes!

IWish · Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:19 am

d3ny wrote:Hey guys i live in a small apartment and was planning of getting me a flat file cause i have a ton of prints still in their tubes. I have seen one of these in person and they are huge! I was wondering what is the optimal size for one of these flat files? should the poster have extra moving room or should they be nice and snug? I'm afraid of buying one too large and then it cant fit in the apartment.

I only have 4 rooms in my house. Tiny. I ended-up using this, for now. Worked out better than I expected, TBH. This thing weighs almost 40 lbs. (empty) - it's sturdy as hell. Just thought I'd mention it.

http://forum.expressobeans.com/viewtopi ... 6#p1430506

virtualmert · Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:22 am

suchanoo wrote:
d3ny wrote:Hey guys i live in a small apartment and was planning of getting me a flat file cause i have a ton of prints still in their tubes. I have seen one of these in person and they are huge! I was wondering what is the optimal size for one of these flat files? should the poster have extra moving room or should they be nice and snug? I'm afraid of buying one too large and then it cant fit in the apartment.
Buy the biggest flat file you can fit in your apartment.

There are different ways to stop your posters from sliding around in the drawers.

My method is - I bought some oversized, thick mountboard, and cut it into approx. 5" wide strips, then trimmed them lengthways so that they fit the drawers longest dimension very snuggly (cut maybe 1 or 2mm longer than the drawers internal dimension). Then just lay two strips per drawer on top of your posters, 1 at the back and 1 at the front. Works great. If your drawer is quite full, then put 2 or 3 strips on top of each other. This also stops posters which aren't totally flat from curling up and catching the drawer above when you open it.

I do something similar but I use the old pieces of foam core from before I had a flat file. I lay two down on top of every drawer, keeps everything snug and flat.