Photographs are among the most personal things we own. A faded print, a school portrait, a candid shot from a long-ago summer, they hold people, places, and moments that can never be recreated. With a little care and the right storage, you can protect them for the generations to come.
Care & Handling
When handling your photos, be mindful that the oils on our skin can cause damage to photographic surfaces, this kind of damage may not show up immediately, but will over time.
Always handle photographs with clean, dry hands, holding them at the edges. Better still, wear a pair of cotton gloves.
If a photo is already damaged or torn, please resist the temptation to repair it with ordinary sticky tape. Household tapes will cause more harm than good: the adhesives can yellow and migrate into the image. A damaged photo is best stored carefully in its own individual enclosure, which provides support and prevents further deterioration.
Storage Conditions
Light, heat & humidity or temperature changes, can be damaging to photographs. Even a print stored carefully in an album can deteriorate rapidly if it's kept in the wrong environment.
The ideal storage space is cool, dark, and well-ventilated, with stable temperature and humidity, not in an attic (too hot), and not in a basement (too damp). A wardrobe or interior cupboard in your home, where the climate is more stable and is better controlled, is often the best option.
Choosing the Right Storage Materials
Not all boxes, folders, and albums are created equal. Many everyday storage products contain acids and other chemicals that add to the deterioration of your photographs over time.
Look for archival safe, acid-free products: boxes, folders, enclosures, and albums designed specifically to protect photographic materials. You can find a range of suitable options in our Using our Products: Organising & Storing Photos how to guide here.
A Word About Albums
A good album can provide excellent protection for your photographs, but a poor one can cause harm.
Avoid magnetic albums, the ones with sticky cardboard pages and a plastic sheet that clings over the top. The adhesive on these pages never truly let’s go. Over time it will stain and distort the prints, and attempting to remove photos that are already firmly stuck will almost certainly cause more damage than leaving them in place.
If your photos are already in one of these albums, the best advice is to leave them where they are, and instead, protect the album itself by storing it in a good archival box and storing in the right household conditions as we mentioned earlier.
Archival albums and binders that use polypropylene pages or enclosures are a much better long-term home for your prints.
Looking After Negatives
Negatives deserve just as much care as the prints themselves and in many ways, more, since they're the original record.
Handle negatives the same way you would a print: clean hands or cotton gloves, held at the edges.
Store them in individual negative pages, sleeved pages that keep each strip separate and protected. You'll find a range of options in our negatives storage collection.
Glass negatives require extra care. They're fragile and heavy and should be stored upright in individual enclosures inside a box. Storing them on their edge in appropriate enclosures reduces the risk of breakage and makes them easier to handle safely. See our glass negative storage options for suitable products.
Recording Information About Your Photos
One of the most valuable things you can do for future generations is to record what you know. Who is in the photo? When and where it was taken?
Write lightly on the back of a print using an archival ink pen or a soft pencil (2B or 4B). Please don’t use a ballpoint pen, the pressure can emboss the image, and the ink can bleed through over time.
We stock a selection of suitable pens and pencils for this purpose:
Displaying Photographs on Your Walls
Displaying favourite photographs is great, but where and how you display them matters.
Avoid hanging photos in direct sunlight or in spots where temperatures fluctuate such as above a fireplace. UV light and heat can fade and damage photographic materials over time.
If you're framing photos professionally, ask your framer specifically for conservation-grade framing, this includes UV-filtering glazing and acid-free mounting materials.
Old, Rare, or Valuable Photographs
If you have photographs that are old, rare, or particularly precious such as early prints or glass plates, it's worth taking extra steps to protect them.
Making high-quality copies or scans is a very good idea. That way, the copies can be enjoyed and shared freely, while the originals are stored safely away. For very old or fragile photographs, we'd recommend working with a reputable specialist who has experience handling early photographic materials.
What is the P.A.T Test?
The Photographic Activity Test (PAT) is an internationally recognised standard (ISO 18916) that evaluates the chemical interactions between photographic materials and their storage enclosures. Products that carry PAT certification have been through rigorous testing to confirm they won't interact harmfully with photographic materials over time, making it a meaningful benchmark for long-term preservation.
That said, some products have not had PAT certification testing. Where PAT certification applies to the products we carry, we'll say so. Where it doesn't, we'll tell you that too, so you can make an informed choice for your specific project and situation.
Your photographs are a record of real lives, real moments, and real history. They deserve to be looked after. If you're not sure where to start, or you need help choosing the right products for your situation, we're always happy to help - just get in touch.
Or have a read of our Using our Products: Organising & Storing Photos guide.