What is the safest way to store photographs?

Question

Photo boxes, photo albums..???

Answer 1

See these tutorials on photo conservation: http://www.net-art.it/photomonitor/html/teoria_tecnica/post-process/conservazione-e.shtml

Answer 2

Photo boxes are good, if you are looking to really protect your photos. However, if you never get around to actually putting them in a photo album, future generations might not know the consecutive order of events, etc. The only thing about putting photos in albums is that eventually the elasticity of the sticky pages wear out, and your photos might start falling out of place. I'm a scrapbooker, so I've run into this problem as well. I actually just use some good glue to keep the photos from falling out...if you want to take the time to do that.

Answer 3

Use acid free albums, paper, boxes, etc. If this is storage for an extended period of time and you won't really be looking through them much I would suggest getting photo boxes and keep them somewhere that isn't damp-you don't want the pictures getting wet, stuck together, and ruined. I think you should definitely not use those "magnetic" albums-the ones with the sticky stuf and the plastic overlay. They curl photos and can damage them. For everyday use just get a nice photo album and you should be good. You can always get your photos on a cd too, for a "just-in-case" measure.
~Christen

Answer 4

There are many solutions for storing your photo's from metal storage boxes to simple photo albums. However, not all albums, or cases are what we call archivally sound. The biggest enemy to photos are acids, and many papers as well as plastics have acids that will leach into your photographs and over time deteriorate their quality. So unless you like to reprint your photos say every 10 or 15 years spend the extra money on an album or storage box that is archivally sound.
My suggestion is to go to a recognized photo archival store and find a solution that works best for you. Lightimpressions is such a store and is recognized around the photo community as one of the best sources for photo archival storage. http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineShopping

Answer 5

I prefer albums for ease of use. Prints from film photography last years without fading so light is not a big problem for the average display.
However go for albums with sleeves, the sticky ones tend to stain the photos after some time (years).

Answer 6

Acid free, Archival safe photo albums

Answer 7

I'd use a picture album because it's more orderly than a box. The kind with the sticky plastic covering would be even better because it protects the pictures in case the album gets wet.

Answer 8

Put them in a photo album with polypropylene sleeves. That way they will be out of view with sunlight (UV), air (gases), and other environmentals. Assuming the prints were printed properly on modern archival paper, this should make them last at least 50 years.

Answer 9

Flat.