Storing Your Photographic Collection: A Guide to Choosing the Proper Materials for Long-Term Storage
This technical bulletin offers guidelines for the long-term preservation of photographic collections. One of the first steps to this achievement is the re-house of collection materials in storage folders and boxes that meet the proper storage criteria. Placing photographic objects in direct contact with good quality materials limits the amount of acids and other pollutants that will damage your photographs over time. When purchasing supplies, the most important factor is to ONLY buy materials that have passed the Photographic Activities Test (PAT), which ensures the storage materials do NOT react with the photographic image.
EXAMPLES OF GOOD MATERIALS TO USE
Enclosures
If housing supplies are constructed of paper or paperboard, make sure they are lignin-free and either buffered or non-buffered. In the case of plastic materials, use only the following types of plastic: polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyester. And make sure these materials have passed the PAT test as well.
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ENCLOSURES |
Paper envelope
Balanced seam, no thumb cut preferred |
For film and prints |
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Paper 4-flap enclosure
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For film and glass negatives and other photos on glass |
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Plastic enclosures
“L” sleeve and other designs |
For prints |
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Folder with interleaving
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For prints, especially over-size or panoramic |
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Plastic pocket page
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For prints or new film
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Containers
Storage boxes should also be constructed of good quality materials and pass the PAT test. Boxes for photographic materials come in standard sizes according to the format of the photographic material. As a general rule, vertical boxes provide easier access to materials than horizontal boxes. Make sure to pad out any extra space in a box with good quality rigid support materials, like alkaline blue board or mat board; excess space should be filled to provide a solid support for the photographic materials. Placing rigid materials every few inches within the box will also provide a solid support to your floppy photographic prints, minimizing their ability to curl.
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CONTAINERS |
Flip-top box
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Vertical storage for all negatives and smaller prints |
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Telescoping box
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Vertical storage for all negatives, smaller prints, mounted prints, slides |
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Drop-side box
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Horizontal storage for all prints and negatives, in enclosures and folders
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Museum case or Solander box
*boxes made prior to the late 2000’s did not pass the PAT test |
Horizontal storage for matted prints
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Supports and albums
Support boards and interleaving tissues should be made of good quality materials and pass the PAT test. To avoid abrasions and to prevent photographic emulsions from sticking to each other when humidity fluctuates, place a sheet of interleaving tissue between each photograph when stacking. Always stack photographs with the emulsion facing in the same direction, never face to face. In addition to providing rigid support within storage boxes, good quality boards can be used to make custom storage folders for oversized photographic materials, such as panoramas.
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PAPERS & BOARDS |
Matboard
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For mats, box dividers, custom housings, etc. |
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Alkaline corrugated blue board
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For folders, box dividers, custom housings, etc. |
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Interleaving paper
e.g. Microchamber, Phototex, Renaissance |
In folders and original albums |
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Photographic albums with magnetic pages contain poor quality plastic overlays and acidic paper board supports with adhesive materials that will degrade photographic materials overtime. It is recommended to replace those styles of photographic albums with those that contain good quality materials.
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ALBUMS |
3-ring binder |
For plastic pocket pages or album pages |
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Album |
For prints
For paper pages with coversheets or plastic pocket pages
Secure objects onto pages with photo-corners |
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Markers
Labeling your photographic materials should be done with care. As a rule of thumb, mark the photograph using a graphite pencil with as little pressure as possible on the back side (verso) only, preferably in the margin. Labeling your storage enclosure and container is also recommended.
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MARKING HOUSINGS |
Soft pencil
4B or 6B |
For paper and paperboard
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Sharpie permanent black marker
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For plastic enclosures only |
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MARKING PHOTOGRAPH |
Soft pencil 4B or 6B |
For paper supports and mounts
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Solid graphite pencil 4B or 6B
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For resin-coated supports
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EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS NOT TO BE USED
There are many reputable supply companies that manufacture and sell the proper storage materials recommended for photographic collections. These companies also sell many other products that are good quality and useful for other types of archival and art materials, but those materials might not suitable to use for your photographic materials. Remember again the rule that materials for storing photographic collections must pass the PAT.
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LABELING AND ATTACHMENTS |
Material |
Examples |
Problems with photographs |
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Blue pencil
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Use only soft graphite pencils on the back of photographs.
Other writing media can fade, rub off, or bleed during a disaster resulting in staining of the photograph and a loss of information. |
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Pressure-sensitive labels
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The pressure-sensitive adhesive on the label will damage photographs, become harder to remove, and/or fail over time so that the informational content is lost.
A foil backing will not address these problems. |
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Paperclips or staples
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Do not use any paper clips or staples, even rust-proof ones.
Over time, they will create permanent dents in the photograph. Clips containing iron will rust in high humidity creating stains and weakened areas. |
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Self-adhesive notes
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Do not use any brand, even temporarily.
Like other pressure-sensitive adhesives, the adhesive on the Post-it will cause staining and deterioration in the photograph as it ages and become difficult to remove. |
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Rubber bands
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Rubber bands contain sulfur and other compounds that will discolor photographs. They decay over time and fall apart so that they no longer function. |
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ADHESIVES AND MOUNTING |
Tapes
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Pressure-sensitive tapes will damage photographs, become harder to remove, and/or fail over time. |
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Adhesives |
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Many adhesives will damage photographs, become harder to remove and/or fail over time. |
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“Magnetic” albums |
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Photographs adhere to pages over time and become stained by the rubber-based adhesive that creates the sticky page. |
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CLEANING PRODUCTS |
Photo cleaning spray and wipes |
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May dissolve or otherwise damage photographs including removing surface coatings.
Do not attempt to clean photos without the advice and supervision of a conservator. |
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Rubber sponges |
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Contain sulfer-based materials that will degrade the silver in a photogrhic image. |
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BOARDS AND PAPER |
Foamcore or foamboard
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Poor quality and acidic materials will potentially cause chemical deterioration of the photograph leading to fading, staining, embrittlement. Weak and poorly constructed housing materials will endanger the physical integrity of the photograph.
They should not be used for boxes, dividers, mats, framing, etc.
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Colored mat boards and papers
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Brown corrugated board
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Acidic cores
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Interleaving or enclosures
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This paper may cause deterioration in photographic images and stick irreversibly to gelatin in very high humidity, even if it passes the PAT. |
*Compiled, written, and revised by Barbara Lemmen, Jessica Keister and Rachel Wetzel for CCAHA.