Tips for the Home

1. All storage materials should be acid-free (boxes, albums, paper, sheet protectors, plastic covers).
2. Store photographs away from light and in a dry place. Ideally, they should be stored in a sealed container. To prevent water damage, do not store on the floor.
3. LABEL photographs with full names, date, and event.
4. Use permanent ink pens like fine point Sharpies for labeling, except for older black and white photographs. Be sure to label the photographs on the bottom edge staying clear of any import sections of the photographs, such as faces.
5. Instead of fancy and costly scrapbooking albums, consider using a regular binder, Avery Super Heavyweight (5 mil) acid-free sheet protectors, acid-free card stock, and clear photo corners.
6. If you do not have time to put pictures in albums, use archival photo boxes.
7. If you tend to have random pictures floating around the house, define one place for collecting them.
8. If you do not have time to label pictures as they come in, make sure to create section tabs in your storage box for each year. Place the pictures one behind the other as they come in.
9. Two ways to preserve historical photographs are scanning or photocopying.
10. LABEL, LABEL, LABEL!!!