Photographs
We have several products that will help you organise and store your photographs. The first step is to decide how the photographs will be used in the future. Will they be viewed and handled regularly? Are the photographs digitized so the originals just need long term protection and storage? Once you know what the bigger plan is for the photographs you can then decide on the suitable storage and protective solutions for them. The main preservation technique is to separate the items, so they do not leach acid into each other. They should be stored in a cool, dry place, and out of direct sunlight.
Storing your photographs to be handled and viewed:
If you want the photographs to be regularly viewed and handled, the best thing to do is to put them in Polypropylene or Polyester enclosures. These are acid free and approved for long-term storage, having passed the Photographic Activity Test (PAT). They are protective of the photos and prevent the transfer of dirt and oils from hands when handled.
They come as pages (hole-punched to go in binders) or pockets (for a single photo)
The pages have a range of formats that can hold several photos each, and have hole-punched side bars so they can be stored in a Presentation Album.
The pockets or single enclosures also come in a range of sizes. These can be stored in any of our boxes ranging from our specialized Photo Boxes to a standard Document Box or a Clamshell Presentation Box.
To make the most out of each page or pocket, put a backing card between two photos so they can go back to back to double side each one. Our Museum Backing Cards come in a range of sizes and are made from premium quality buffered, acid free 300gsm museum card.
Storing your photographs to be stored:
If you have digital copies of your photographs and want to store the originals away safely, using one of our special Photo Boxes is a great idea. These boxes are made specifically to the standard photographic sizes and come with dividers to help you categorize your photos within.
Photos can be stored directly into these boxes and will be protected by the buffering the archival box board offers. If you want added protection you can put each photo into a polypropylene pocket as mentioned earlier or in an acid free Paper Envelope The beauty of using an envelope is that you can write the details of your photograph on the outside using a Soft Leaded Pencil
One thing to consider when storing your photographs this way is the era your photographs were printed in. If they are new, they tend to stick to one another as time goes by, so using the paper envelopes or enclosures can be a good idea to prevent this happening.