The best way to preserve photos and documents
There’s nothing more important than memories. Especially those from long ago and even family ones that came before your time. The preservation of such memories usually comes in the form of precious photos and documents. We’ve done the legwork for you and come up with the tips and tricks you need to know to ensure your black and white pics and old documents stand the test of time.
Work out its future use
It is important to think about how you want to use your documents and photos in the future. This will impact how and where you store them. For instance, if it’s your birth certificate there may be times when you need to use the original and therefore you will need to store it somewhere that you can easily retrieve it without unsettling other documents it's stored with. So it’s a good idea to separate photos and documents into frequent use and non-frequent use. You may also want to do the same for very precious ones and not so precious ones. Then you can make/label your folder, boxes and so on accordingly for storage.
Go digital
As well as physical copies, it's worthwhile to have digital copies of everything too. For instance, you may need to get a document out of storage for a date rather than having the supply a document to someone – and in the case it would be much easier if you had a folder on a computer that housed all of your documents and photos in sub folders. Ah, isn’t organisation grand! Remember if you’re naming lots of documents, be sure to be as descriptive as possible so that you can use the search tool rather than going into various folders and trawling through countless images and documents. For example, for an image you may want to use something like, “Mother’s Day picnic Sydney 1984” or “Grandma Jennifer Coles birth certificate”. Then you can further organise folders by creating them by event, family, surname or by type of record. Creating digital versions of your documents also makes them easier to print and share, too, which is very handy.
Make it compatible
When saving your photos and documents, make sure you save them in a format that will be compatible when sending, sharing and printing too. Jpeg and Pdf are the most common format for these uses.
Handling and care
It should go without saying that you should never eat food and drinks around your documents and photos. You should also ensure any surface areas surrounding where you get documents out and place them onto, should be clean and dry. And the most important one, always ensure hands are clean or that you wear disposable cotton or surgical-type gloves and you hold documents and photos on the sides and corners to minimise fingerprints and other damage. When carrying these types of things from room to room or around, use a rigid support system, such a piece of cardboard to transport things around.
Preserve and storage
Photographs and paper documents are prone to various types of deterioration. The prime causes being atmospheric pollutants, physical fragility and chemical instability. A storage area with a stable climate is recommended. Avoid high temperatures and humidity levels. Temps between 18 to 20°C ad at a relative humidity between 45 to 50% are desirable. Note that wide fluctuations in this can physically stress documents and accelerate their deterioration. A sustained relative humidity over 65% is when mould growth can occur. A cupboard in an internal room that does not contact external walls can help buffer photographic records from daily temperature and humidity fluctuations. Ensure you turn off the light when you don’t need it on and inspect storage areas regularly for insects, water leaks, structured damage or other events that may threaten them. Lighting is an important one as material degrade more quickly when exposed to light. Don’t apply labels or stamps directly onto photographs or documents – this should be done to the packaging. The best thing to use is a soft, 2B graphite pencil. Never use metal pins, staples, paper clips, rubber bands or adhesive tape to secure these things. Corrugated board storage boxes can provide a convenient micro environment by buffering documents from the full effects of temperature and humidity. For storage within the boxes or cupboards, simple archival enclosure such as folders, wallets and paper cards protect paper-based items against things like light and dust. Choose a high-quality paper product for long-term storage.