Vintage film photography ephemera makes an amazing addition to any photography enthusiast’s vintage printables collection! These artifacts are ideal for art/junk journals and endless DIY projects.
Vintage film photography ephemera artifacts are an iconic part of photography history. Anyone who has shot film has a fond memory of receiving negatives and accompanying print photos, along with the artifacts that came with them. Obviously, you simply can’t find anything like this today. The genuine antique aesthetic is unlike anything you’ll find in recreated form. This paper ephemera set is perfect for an extensive array of craft projects, including but not limited to, physical and digital scrapbooks, greeting cards, decoupage, home decor, art/junk journals, and Christmas ornaments.
It’s definitely not a secret that I’m crazy about the look of vintage paper ephemera, especially sheet music and book pages. Just a few of the printable vintage sets that I already have on the blog include French primer pages, dictionaries, hymn books, a Christmas cookies cookbook, a beginner Latin textbook, an algebra textbook, and agricultural almanacs. I’m so excited to bring you this vintage film photography ephemera set today.
Some of the vintage film photography ephemera dates back to the 1930s. The set includes a variety of film photography envelopes used for prints and negatives, including enlarged prints. It also includes a handful of additional film photography artifacts, such as punch cards for prints and advertisement fliers for film. The entire film photography ephemera collection comes from the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota region.
The vintage film photography ephemera set includes 24 artifacts, all available in JPG and PNG formats. I’m also offering a set of nine ATC cards and a set of 12 journal tags that I created using these photography artifacts. Enjoy!
How to use vintage paper ephemera
When you’re searching for vintage paper materials, including ATC cards and journal tags, most likely you already have some ideas for how you’ll use them. If you need a little inspiration or just want more options for your new antique printables, consider one or more of the following projects.
- DIY wall decor. Some of the larger photography artifacts, namely the large envelopes, are perfect for one-of-a-kind whimsical home decor. They’re ideal for living rooms, home offices, photography studios, art classrooms, art/craft retail stores, and much more. You can further customize your new wall decor by overlaying the artifacts with PNG or transparent background images and/or text.
- Greeting cards. I love incorporating all types of vintage paper ephemera into homemade greeting card designs.
- Tile coasters, using the method that I developed for my vintage sheet music coasters.
- Glass or bottle cap magnets, using the technique that I share in my sheet music glass magnets tutorial.
- Pendant necklaces. You can also use the above-mentioned technique to make pendant necklaces instead of magnets.
- Junk journals and mixed media art. Vintage paper materials are very popular for art/junk journals and other mixed media projects. You can use them as is or layer them with paint, ink, stamps, and more.
- Scrapbooking. Vintage ephemera makes a great addition to physical and digital scrapbooks, creating unique backgrounds and details. Vintage artifacts are also ideal for making your own scrapbook embellishments.
- Christmas ornaments. Old book pages and other vintage paper artifacts are perfect for numerous Christmas ornament designs. This set of ephemera is especially great for creating ornaments for the fellow photography enthusiasts in your life. You can make ornaments for your own tree, to sell at craft fairs and/or online, and to give as gifts to friends, family, and teachers.
About the free vintage film photography ephemera
You’re welcome to use the vintage film photography artifacts as well as the ATC cards and journal tags for as many personal projects as you like, which includes classroom use. You may also use them for limited runs of commercial projects (5,000 items or less), both physical and digital. Commercial use DOES NOT include made-to-order sites, such as Zazzle and Society6. Commercial digital items must be finished, flat projects (i.e., not Photoshop files) consisting of your original content. You are not authorized to sell any of the items as is, either individually or as part of larger collections.
Finally, please don’t distribute the download files to family, friends, or co-workers. If anyone you know is interested in their own artifacts, ATC cards, or journal tags, please send them a link to this post, so they can download their own files. Thank you!
Vintage film photography artifacts
I’m offering 24 vintage film photography paper artifacts in both JPG and PNG formats. I’ve split the artifacts into multiple folders for easier downloading. There are a variety of film photography envelopes as well as additional artifacts, such as punch cards for prints and advertisement fliers for film.
Please note that I’ve sized down the artifacts considerably from my original scans to make the downloading process as seamless as possible. If you’d like larger formats for specific projects, please let me know. I’m happy to provide them.
[JPG Set 1 – Vintage Film Photography]
[JPG Set 2 – Vintage Film Photography]
[PNG Set 1 – Vintage Film Photography]
[PNG Set 2 – Vintage Film Photography]
[PNG Set 3 – Vintage Film Photography]
ATC-size digital collage sheets
Please note: The preview image has a black line around the 8.5″ x 11″ page because it gets confusing having so much white space. The digital collage sheet download doesn’t have a black border.
I’m offering nine ATC-size cards on one 8.5″ x 11″ page from the vintage photography artifacts.
[ATC Digital Collage Sheet – Vintage Film Photography]
Journal tags
I’ve created 12 journal tags from the vintage photography artifacts. In addition to scrapbooks and art/junk journals, they’re perfect for endless craft projects. Each tag measures 2.5″ x 4.2″ (750 x 1250 pixels). The journal tags ZIP folder contains two 8.5″ x 11″ pages for easy printing.
Please note: Again, the preview image has black outlines around the pages. Your downloaded pages don’t have black borders.
[Journal Tags – Vintage Film Photography]
Extracting and downloading the ZIP folders
I’ve created ZIP folders for all of the vintage downloads that I’m offering in this post. Zipped folders allow me to provide high-resolution files for clear, vivid printing and to protect said files from potential theft. Extracting and downloading the ZIP folders from Google Drive is a fairly straightforward process. It does take a little time to download each folder in full, especially the artifact sets.
- When you click on the download link, select the Open with ZIP Extractor option at the top of the page.
- The folder will open in a new window. The files will download.
- Once the files have downloaded, click Extract Now.
- When the files have extracted and uploaded, click View Extracted Files.
- Double click on the folder.
- To download, select the files you’d like to download. Click the three horizontal dots More Actions button. Choose Download.
- Follow the prompts on the download screen.
I strongly suggest moving your downloaded files out of your downloads folder and into your main photos folder. I also suggest creating a second copy on an external hard drive or cloud storage drive. Keep your files in a folder labeled “Vintage Film Photography Ephemera” or something similar, so you’re able to find them again easily.
Now you’re ready to use your new vintage artifacts for home decor and numerous DIY projects!
Printing digital vintage ephemera
When you use the vintage film photography artifacts to create wall art and other home decor, my personal pick for at-home printing is Finestra Art Paper. I always use Finestra for my own projects because the paper has an acid-free, matte surface that dries ink quickly, producing crisp, vibrant images. I prefer to results that Finestra offers over regular printer paper, card stock, and presentation paper.
For all other projects, my paper choice is white card stock. When you’re incorporating vintage elements into greeting cards, scrapbook embellishments, and mixed media art, it’s not as important that the images are so vibrant. For crafts that involve multiple coats of diamond glaze or Mod Podge, such as tile coasters, magnets, and pendant necklaces, you won’t be able to tell any difference in the finish of the paper. As such, card stock is a good choice because it’s less expensive than art paper and still very durable and high-quality.
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More free vintage printables:
Head to the free printables section of the blog for even more vintage printables, including sheet music, book pages, and postcards.
