Preserving Photos

Many of us have photos that are absolutely priceless to us, and/or bear visual histories of our families. Some of the older photos though are one of a kind photos. They cannot be retaken and are the only ones of their kind. To lose them would be a personal tragedy for us. Photos cannot be preserved in the same way that a lot of other antique or precious items we own can. They have to be saved in a very special way so that they remain good for as long as possible. Basic steps to saving your photos include:

1. Trying not to touch the actual picture area of the photo, handling them as you would a CD or DVD - on the edges only. Body oils and natural dirt particles can actually erode the picture over longer periods of time.
2. Not placing photos in moist areas of the home (moisture can allow molds to build up over time onto the photos).
3. Not placing photos in 'sticky back' photo albums (the sticky substances can actually become more like glue over time, rendering your photo useless and often discolored)
4. Keeping your photos out of the direct sunlight for any extended period of time. Sunlight can yellow and discolor photos, often fading them into nothing rather quickly.

With computer technology being so advanced though, it's even easier to preserve your photos. All you need is a computer system, a scanner and printer, acid free paper, and a box. This sounds like a lot, but when it comes to preserving something that's irreplaceable, it's really not a lot.

Step 1: Gather up ALL the photos that you want to preserve.
Step 2: One by one, scan each photo (at the highest DPI possible on your scanner) onto your computer system and keep them in a separate folder (I mark mine 'photos')
Step 3: Once you have scanned all your photos that you want to preserve, place the real photos into acid free paper (I layer mine so each photo is in its own layer of paper), and place in the box for dry/dark storage. For those of you who have safe deposit boxes, this would be an excellent thing to place in that safe deposit box. Especially if you live in an area that's prone to natural disasters (safe deposit boxes are placed inside a vault in the bank.... Often an entire building can burn to the ground... The vault will remain standing...so it is the safest place to put things). A fire proof home safe can also be a great place to store this photo box.
Step 4: Now that you've got your pictures on your computer, all you have to do is print them out and put them in frames. That is, if you want to place these photos around your house. Printing these photos properly requires the purchase of photo paper. It is the same type of paper that you got your original photos on, and is available in 1/4 reams at just about any store that sells computer paper (I get mine at Walmart)
Step 5: Print, frame and enjoy (and only you will know that those pictures in the frames are not the originals). :)