Photographs can keep memories alive for years. But unfortunately photos can often be subject to tear and wear or similar other damages due to some common reasons like improper storage, careless handling or exposure to harsh external elements. Luckily there are some awesome and effective ways with which one can easily preserve photographs for years without losing a bit of quality.
In this post, I am going to share some really effective tips which will ensure safekeeping of your valuable artifacts for years. All these photo preservation tips work great in protecting both digital and printing images. Here we go:
You must always make sure that all your photographs have been stored in a suitable place. Your storage place must be dark, cool and dry with an average temperature of around 65 degree Fahrenheit. You should also consider humidity of that place which must be between 30%-40%. Never think about storing your favourite photographs in the basements and attics where environment isn’t usually temperature controlled. Frequent changes in environment of storage place causes the emulsion of photos to buckle and crack and the colours too fade or shift. In addition, you must also keep your photographs from getting exposure to direct sunlight.
We most often use tape to fix torn photographs, which I think one of the major reasons of damaging photos. In my opinion, leaving the tear unmended is better than using tape to fix torn. It would be really great to keep the damaged photographs in a polyethylene envelop to prevent further damage.
Besides, some people have the tendency of writing the detail of photograph on its back. Yeah, it’s really great in identifying and memorizing the persons of a photo as well as its date and location, but this kind of practice often damage photographs. If anyone still wants to write on the photos back, my suggestion is to use a number 2 pencil instead of ink pen and must write only in the margin. Besides, one should always be careful about not pushing the pencil too hard while writing in the back side.
We usually use various types of photo albums to keep photos in it. But problem is that we always choose albums based on their cuteness, not by their appropriateness and that is why photographs often get damaged even after keeping in photo albums. That’s the reason why choosing a suitable photo album is really essential for protecting photographs for years. One must avoid those photo albums which require adhesives to keep photos in place. Better is to use photo albums which hold photographs on a polyethylene page as they will protect the photos for years to come.