Miscellaneous

What is the best way to preserve family snapshots and portraits?

July 20, 2010 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

There are several mistakes that people make with their old photos that can damage them. The first mistake is to store them in an attic or basement or anywhere else that is not climate controlled. The heat in attic spaces and the humidity in basements or cellars can have a devastating effect on the image quality so the first step is to bring them into the home or into a climate controlled storage building. Along side heat and humidity, light the next greatest threat to a photograph. Photographs that are displayed will fade badly as the UV light attacks the dyes in the paper and bleaches the color. It is important to use UV protective glass when framing important family photographs.

Another common problem is the kind of albums the photos are stored in. One of the worst problems for old photographs is to be stored in the album pages that have the sticky backing with the clear plastic sheets over the front. The sticky backing is basically glue that takes years to harden and so after a couple of decades on the shelf the photos are glued onto the pages. That would not be so bad except the adhesive is acidic and damages the photos over time. The same is true of cellophane adhesive tape. The adhesive on the tape dries out and sticks to the photos and the acid makes the photos turn yellow. It is not a good look. Some of the older plastic pages with pockets are also bad for photos because of the gases and oils they can release. Keeping the photos in the original envelopes and the negatives in the sleeves is not a bad way to go but even in the dark and not exposed to extreme heat or humidity, time will still take a toll.

The good news is that album manufacturers have learned about these problems over the years and even the inexpensive photo storage solutions from the mega stores are pretty good. Even better are the products available at the local scrapbooking supply stores. But time is important, the longer the photos stay in the undesirable conditions the greater the damage. So now is the time to replace those old albums. It is too hot to go outside so buy some new albums and start transferring those photos into better, safer albums while you are sitting in air conditioned comfort watching the summer reruns. The next generation will thank you for preserving their heritage.

But the ultimate way to protect photographs against the ravages of time is to make digital copies and that will be the subject of the next Framing the Question.

By Barclay Hurst