How to Protect Photos Before Putting in a Photo Album 

Why do we print photos? Are those printed photos going to look as good 10, 20, 30 years from now as they look today? What should you do to protect those photos before storing them in a photo album? 

In this blog post, we’ll explore why it’s important to think about protecting your photos and what can be done to keep those photos in relatively good condition for decades to come.

Printed photos are memories to be preserved. 

We have developed this habit of taking thousands of photos on our phones that most people today don’t really understand the joy of sifting through old photos and reliving those memories. 

That can only happen with well-preserved printed photos but putting those photos in a photo album or photo box isn’t enough. You need to think about certain factors that may affect the quality of those printed photos over time.

Ways to Protect Your Photos before Putting in a Photo Album

Before deciding to put photos in a photo album, there are a few things you need to consider to protect them.

Everyone takes a lot of photos and this is why it’s important to choose the photos you want to keep for the long term. Also, it’s wise to invest in index cards that can be stored with photos. You can mention the location, date, people in the photo and other important details on these index cards. 

Writing something on the back of the photo will affect photo quality. Always use a pencil to write things.

The most important factor that is going to affect the life of printed photos is the quality of prints. Make sure you choose a printing service known for high-quality photos. Pay special attention to details and colour accuracy.

Once you get the printed photos, make sure to keep them away from direct sunlight or exposure to moisture and never handle photos with wet hands. Water isn’t a friend of the printing ink or paper. 

Rules for Storing Photos to Preserve Memories

If you think that throwing printed photos in a shoebox is a good idea, you’re not alone. There are plenty of people who do that but those photos don’t last long. This is due to the reason that those boxes contain an acidic compound known as lignin that may eat through photos as it is acidic in nature.

You might also be tempted by those plastic boxes advertised on various sites as being acid-free. However, nobody really knows whether that plastic box will or won’t interact with the printed photos over several decades. This is why you should stick to time-tested photo albums. Here are the things you need to consider when choosing photo albums:

• Choose a photo album that comes with acid-free plastic sleeves.
• Make sure to choose a photo album that allows you to reorganise photo pages
• Don’t forget to include an index card with the photos with relevant details
• Store photos in a location that has a relative humidity between 15% to 65%. Humidity shouldn’t be too high or too low as high humidity may lead to insect infestations whereas low humidity may cause the photo paper to become brittle.
• Store your photos in a location that doesn’t get too hot as high temperatures lead to faster degradation of paper and ink. Also, stay away from locations with large temperature fluctuations such as a garage.
• Always store photos in a location that is not exposed to direct light as light may break down images.
• Stay away from cheap photo albums or photo boxes. Never glue photos directly onto paper as it will harm the quality of photos.
• It is also important to neither underfill or overfill the photo album.
• Consider investing in archive-friendly containers to preserve your photos for the next generation.

Final Thoughts

Taking those photos and getting them printed is the easy part. You want to preserve your memories for the coming generations. 

It’s fine to back up your photos in the cloud but nobody knows how those digital storage options are going to shape up in the next few decades. This is why you need to print photos and take action to preserve the quality of those photos.

Choose the right solution for storing those photos. Also, make sure to organise your photos with the help of index cards. You maybe won’t remember 20 years from now where those photos were taken, what was the occasion or who are the people in those photos. Index cards are a great help in reliving those memories.

To conclude, don’t throw printed photos in a shoebox and call it a day. Preserving those photos isn’t that complex or time-consuming. You just need to choose the right products and spend some time organising things to protect your memories for decades to come.

Buy Photo Albums and Photo Books from Photoland’s Large Collection

Here at Photoland, we offer a wide range of photo albums, photo frames and other products to help you preserve special memories for decades to come. We also offer a high-quality photo printing service.

Please call us today for your photo album choices at (02) 9235 1933 or contact us via our website.