Film package

A film package including in combination:

• at least one sheet of film, upper and lower stiffeners sandwiching the film and having tabs projecting therefrom, said tabs including tabs on opposite sides of the stiffeners and offset from each other to indicate the proper orientation of the lower stiffener for insertion into a drawer of a printing mechanism or the like, and means at the tabs attaching the stiffeners to each other so that the stiffeners protect against relative movement of the sheet prior to use, said means including a tearable adhesive strip being disruptable to facilitate removal of the upper stiffener, said lower stiffener having tabs that are foldable away from the film to allow the film to be fed from beyond the lower stiffener;
• the lower stiffener has a recess in a peripheral portion thereof for admitting a signal directed towards the upper stiffener, the upper stiffener has a surface area generally aligned above the recess to receive a signal passed through the recess to indicate that the upper stiffener has not been removed from the film package when the package is placed into a printer or the like for use, wherein said lower stiffener has an aperture for passing a signal to a sheet of film to indicate the presence or absence of a sheet of film during use in a printer or the like, and wherein said adhesive strip is attached to the tabs and has tear portions for disrupting the strip to allow removal of the upper stiffener from the lower stiffener after inserting the inner package into a tray of a printer or the like.