Artists are paid for designs but too often after the engravings are made, they are stored in drawers, on shelves, or in any convenient place to get them out of the way. Little attempt is made to so file and index them that each can be quickly located. An old design may be available for use at any time--an engraving of different size than the original, may be needed, or a slight alteration may produce a complete change in the design at much less cost than making a new one. Engravings are expensive and accumulate with amazing rapidity. Suppose a retailer does daily advertising and uses a new cut each day; at the end of one year he owns three hundred and sixty-five original engravings, and probably an equal number of electrotypes. Any of these may be available for use another time, either in newspapers, catalogs, or circulars. The national advertiser, using magazines and trade papers, may accumulate a less number of engravings than the retailer, but owing to the class of engraving required and the number of duplicates needed, his investment is even greater. [Illustration: Fig. 3. Box File for Drawings and Photographs] The natural supposition would be that advertisers would give this property proper care, filing under correct classifications, indexed for ready reference. But experience proves the contrary. Every printing and publishing office that has been running five years has an accumulation of cuts belonging to advertisers, which represent an investment of thousands of dollars. Occasionally an advertiser is found who knows exactly where each cut has been sent and calls for it when needed, but a big majority of these cuts are never called for and finally are sold by the printer for what they will bring, as old metal. Now the property used by the advertising department should receive the same care as any other; a dollar invested in designs and engravings should be regarded as a dollar's worth. And if common sense be applied in devising a system, they can be cared for with as little trouble as any other property carried in stock. A very satisfactory method of filing designs is to use a file constructed on the principle of the vertical file. Stock sizes of files are too small. Designs cannot be folded and the file should be large enough to take in the largest designs used. An elaborate file is not necessary; a box constructed along the lines of the one shown in Fig. 3, will answer the purpose. The chief requirements are to have the designs filed in one place, where they can be found, and to keep them clean. Any carpenter can build such a file, while any cabinet man will construct one of more elaborate design to match the furniture of the office. Designs may be filed alphabetically by subjects, or numbered and filed numerically. As a rule, the alphabetical method will be found more satisfactory.