When you handle old photos, you may want to wear cotton gloves to prevent the natural oils on your hands from damaging them. Preservation is the goal, so taking all precautions is important.
One of the most important things to do is identify the people who are in the photo, and explain where it was taken and/or what you were doing (i.e. John Doe with his brother Jack Doe, riding roller coasters at Disney World). With all the interest in genealogy, many people in your family tree will want to see the pictures, and may even recognize those that you don’t. If you are going to write on the back of the photograph, use a pen that is specially made for that purpose, and not a regular ball point pen or marker.
A great way to preserve and share your photographs is to scan them and make digital copies on a CD, DVD or flash drive. Scan on a high resolution and save the file as a .tif for better quality. It takes more space than a .jpg because the .jpg is a compressed file. Over time, files can be corrupted or disks can get damaged, so make sure that you re-copy the disks every 5 years. As technology improves, you may want to check into other electronic storage methods.
If the photos are in albums that have acid-based or lignin-based papers, remove the photos because the paper will cause the photos to deteriorate. It’s better that the photographs are in archival-quality albums that don’t require glues or adhesives. If you put them in scrapbooks, be sure to use the photo glue for scrapboooking. The photo albums that have plastic sleeves should be PVC-free. This means they should be made of a plastic such as mylar, polyester, polypropylene, or polyethylene.
The photos must be carefully stored in a cool and dry location. Be careful that they aren’t exposed to sunlight, or hot and humid conditions. If you have a storage unit, don’t keep the photos there unless it is climate controlled. When storing them, don’t use rubber bands or paper clips to keep them together. It would be better to put them into acid-free photo boxes that have acid-free dividers. Also, be sure that the photos are safe from children, animals, pests and rodents, and stored away from chemicals.
Store your negatives in a separate place from your photos. The negatives should be put in negative cases and stored in a fireproof safe. Keep the scanned copies of the photos in a separate place as well. This way if you have fire or water damage where the photographs are stored, you still have the negatives and scanned copies. If you need to have prints made from your negatives, take them to a professional photo shop instead of your local one-hour photo processor, grocery store, or drug store. The professional shop uses better chemicals and changes them more often, and will take better care of your negatives.
If you’re going to display your old photographs, use acid-free mat boards, window mats, and linen tape to put the two mats together. The window mat will help keep the photo from having contact with the frame glass. You could use an ultraviolet-filtering acrylic sheet instead of glass to help with the light exposure. Display the photos in a place where they aren’t exposed to direct sunlight and unfiltered fluorescent lights so they don’t fade. If you’re worried about the original photo, use a copy. When choosing a frame, metal frames are better than wood frames because wood is sometimes treated with harmful chemicals.
If you take these steps to preserve your old photos, they can be enjoyed for generations to come.
This is a guest post by Jane Landry, staff writer for Lifed. There she writes about life hacks, health, finance and productivity tips.
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