Glass Plate Negatives Est. Storage Requirements

Modified: February 14, 2026 7:58 PM Created: September 17, 2025 3:27 PM Master Type: Notes Hide: No Starred: No Status: Unassigned

In Hooks Storage:

3 large shoeboxes - 12” by 11” (9” depth) - 36” length total

8 small shoeboxes - 12” by 6” (5 1/2” depth) - 96” length total

1 blue metal box - 13” by 9 7/8” [10”] (10” depth), 13” length total = convert to 1 small box, 1 large box

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145” length total [12.1 feet]; 13 boxes total

Easily 50-60 glass plate negatives (GPN); 13 boxes times 50 GPN is 650

Binders - 33? total = 330 GPN

650 plus 330 for 980 [1000] + 10% increase is 1100 (total GPN for all boxes)

New boxes are all 10 1/4” length (with different widths and heights), and we have them for 4x5, 5x7, 8x10

20 GPN per box - is that true? will all the GPN go into boxes 20 at a time?

10 small GPN per binder

2 large GPN per binder

10 * 33 = 330 GPN

2 * 33 = 66 GPN

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396 GPN [400]

split 330 into 2—an approximation for 4x5 and 5x7

198 GPN / 20 per box = 10 boxes

66 GPN / 20 per box = 4 boxes

24 boxes (from binders) at 20 per box

(“box” here as a concept, not a predetermined unit)

Shoeboxes

3 * 50 = 150

4 * 50 = 200

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550 GPN total approx.

easily another 100 in the blue box (say 86 small, 14 large, 43 each smaller)

650 GPN total approx.

20 per box, round up

150 / 20 = 7.5 [8]

200 / 20 = 10

100 / 20 = 5 (blue box, two sizes)

33 boxes

24 boxes (from binders) + 33 boxes (from shoeboxes) = 57 [60]

+10% increase, 66 boxes

this is using the “12 inch length” so 66 boxes * 12 inches, 792 inches / 66 feet lol…

it’s not so bad if the small shoeboxes go by width

but we need to calculate by the NEW boxes

5 1/8 [5.2] width 4x5

7 1/8 [7.2] width 5x7

8 1/8 [8.2] width 8x10

198 [200] + 43 [45] + 200 = 445

66 [70] + 14 [15] + 150 = 235

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1125 + 10% = 1238 [1240]

New numbers!!

10 box binders + 10 box SB + 1 box blue 4x5 = 21

10 box binders + 10 box SB + 1 box blue 5x7 = 21

4 box binders + 8 box SB + 1 box blue 8x10 = 13

55 boxes + 10% = 60.5 [61]

21 boxes * 5.2” = 109.2 [110”]

21 boxes * 7.2” = 151.2 [152”]

13 boxes * 8.2” = 106.6 [107”]

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369 [370”] / 12 ft = 30.9 → 31 ft.

(I got 32 feet in my original sticky note calculation, which sounds nicer. either way, 30+ feet)

With all our current boxes unchanged plus 10% it would be estimated at 15 feet