what is the best way to store old photos?
dork_mastr asked:
My grandmother has 100’s and 100’s of photos, and I want to know the best way to store them. After scanning them, what do I do with them?
My grandmother has 100’s and 100’s of photos, and I want to know the best way to store them. After scanning them, what do I do with them?
try archiving them to DVD or CD, create a scrapbook, make a slide show for her…. lots of things you can do with them… the choice is yours and hers…. do a scrapbook together
At the same time you can learn about your family roots from her reminiscing
Store them in archival grade albums. Then keep them in a safe place in a water-tight container.
You can find innumerable sources for archival albums on line by googling ‘archival photo albums’.
Keep them as dark, cold and dry as possible.
Some pro photographers keep their films in a fridge if they want to have easy access to them.
They keep the ones they want to archive in a freezer.
You need to avoid all risk of condensation when you take them out.
Photography supply shops also sell flat cardboard boxes made of acid free, archival material. Store the photos flat, so that they won’t tend to curl up, like they do when you stack them upright. Pick up some sheets of acid free paper to slip between each photo for additional protection.
Try very hard not to open up the boxes any more than you have to. Make some good digital scans of everything, and run off prints of the scans if you want to put up or mount them in albums. That way, as the displayed prints begin to fade (and they will) you can always make more prints from the CDs and not disturb the archived ones in the boxes.
Every couple of years, or so, burn new copies of the CDs (to minimize corruption of the files)