How to store old photos

April 29, 2022 6:33 PM

I'm going through old family photo albums and scanning the photos. What's the best way to store the original photos post-scanning?

Issues I've run into:

• They don't want to stick back to the original album pages.
• I bought some new pages and they don't really want to stick to those either.
• I'd prefer something more compact than the current albums. (40 pages = 4" binder!)
• I'm afraid if I put them in a box, adhesive will remain on the back of the photos, causing them to stick to / ruin each other.
• Searches for 4x6 acid free tissue (to put between the photos) didn't turn up much and I'd rather not have to cut up a bunch of tissue paper, since this chore is tedious enough already. What did come up was about 10¢ a sheet, which is going to add up fast...

posted by Blue Jello Elf to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

You should be able to find acid free index cards, which you can use to stick between photos and also to write notes about the photos without writing on the prints themselves. They are thicker than tissue paper but needing an additional photo box sounds like it’s preferable to you than having albums. If you decide you want an album, there are clear binder pages with pockets for each photo to slip into, which can add up in price but involves no adhesive and each one is protected from the others. If it seems like there are only a few photos with adhesive stuck to them, you can get clear photo protector sleeves for individual ones, or even just cut up the aforementioned binder pages.

The fact is, archiving is expensive, and tedious. There’s a reason things get lost. If these photos are important to you to keep in physical form and not just digitally, you have to decide what your budget is for materials and time. It’s the old problem of fast, cheap, and quality. You can have two but not all three, or maybe enough of all three but not the fastest, cheapest, or best.
posted by Mizu at 7:35 PM on April 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

Australia's National Film and Sound Archive explains how it's done.
posted by flabdablet at 7:56 PM on April 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

Oh, if the location on your profile is accurate, stop by Glazer’s and talk to them in person. They have archival storage things and might have specific in stock recommendations or ideas for your particular needs. I’ve had excellent interactions with them. Very knowledgeable and not pushy.
posted by Mizu at 11:22 PM on April 29, 2022 [1 favorite]